Clipboard Sync Utility over SSH (Linux, X11)

Sync your clipboard from host → target over SSH with minimal setup. Built for Ubuntu/Linux desktops using xclip.

Quick Start

1) On the target machine

Install deps:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install xclip openssh-server
sudo systemctl enable --now ssh

Install the receiver (replace :1 with your actual DISPLAY):

./install.sh target --display :1

If clipboard writes fail, allow your user to access the X11 display:

xhost +SI:localuser:$USER

2) On the host machine

Install deps:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install xclip openssh-client

Install and connect (replace user@target-ip):

./install.sh host --target user@target-ip --gen-key --copy-id

This creates:

• ~/.local/bin/clip-sync
• ~/.config/clip-sync/host.env

To run as a service (optional):

./install.sh host --target user@target-ip --install-service

Usage

Start manually:

~/.local/bin/clip-sync run

Send current clipboard once:

~/.local/bin/clip-sync send-once

Optional: notifications (host)

If notify-send is available, the host shows a notification when sync starts/stops. Install it with:

sudo apt install libnotify-bin

Reinstall / Repair (Host)

If the service is failing or you updated the scripts, reinstall everything on the host:

./install.sh host --target user@target-ip --reinstall

Config Files

Host config: ~/.config/clip-sync/host.env

Keys:

• CLIP_TARGET (required): user@target
• CLIP_IDENTITY: path to SSH key (leave empty to use default)
• CLIP_INTERVAL: poll interval in seconds (default 0.5)
• CLIP_REMOTE_CMD: remote command to receive clipboard (default '$HOME/.local/bin/clip-receiver'). Keep $HOME single-quoted in the config so it expands on the target.
• CLIP_HOST_DISPLAY: optional, set if systemd service lacks DISPLAY
• CLIP_XAUTHORITY: optional, set if systemd service lacks XAUTHORITY

Target config: ~/.config/clip-sync/target.env

Keys:

• CLIP_DISPLAY: X11 display used by the target (example :1)

systemd Notes

If the service starts but clipboard access fails, set these values in ~/.config/clip-sync/host.env:

CLIP_HOST_DISPLAY=":0"
CLIP_XAUTHORITY="$HOME/.Xauthority"

Then restart the service:

systemctl --user restart clip-sync.service

Security (Optional)

For least privilege, you can restrict the target key in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys to only run the receiver script.

Wayland

This utility uses X11 xclip. For Wayland, replace with wl-copy/wl-paste and update the scripts.