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BHTerminal — macOS

The macOS build of BHTerminal. For the cross-platform overview and the Windows/Linux ports, see the repository root.

A native macOS SSH / SFTP / VNC client — a MobaXterm-style workspace with a session tree, a real terminal, a file browser, and remote-desktop tabs, all in one window.

Built by BiswasHost. Requires macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon or Intel).

Features

  • Sessions sidebar — organize hosts in folders, quick-connect filter, double-click to connect.
  • Real SSH terminal — spawns your system ssh, so ~/.ssh/config, the SSH agent, ProxyJump, keyboard-interactive/2FA, and host-key prompts all just work. Tabs + split panes, broadcast-input to every pane, snippets, and optional session logging.
  • SFTP file browser — drag-and-drop upload/download, rename/delete/mkdir, and a breadcrumb path that follows your terminal's directory as you cd.
  • VNC — connect to remote desktops in the same tabbed window (not a separate app), password auth, opt-in clipboard sharing.
  • SSH tunnels — local / remote / dynamic (SOCKS) port forwards, managed per host, that keep running in the background.
  • Menu-bar mode — close the window and BHTerminal keeps running in the menu bar (tunnels stay up); reopen or quit from the top-bar icon.
  • Launch at login — optional, in Preferences.
  • Secure by design — passwords/passphrases live only in the macOS Keychain (never in the config file), the SFTP connection verifies host keys against ~/.ssh/known_hosts, and the app ships with Hardened Runtime.

Requirements

  • macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later — Apple Silicon or Intel.

Install

Download the latest BHTerminal-x.y.z.dmg or .pkg from the Releases page.

  • DMG: open it, drag BHTerminal onto the Applications folder.
  • PKG: open it and follow the installer (installs to /Applications).

First launch — allowing an unsigned app

BHTerminal is signed but not notarized by Apple (notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account). So the first time you open it, macOS will say it "could not verify BHTerminal is free of malware." This is expected — you just approve it once:

On macOS 15 (Sequoia) / 26 (Tahoe):

  1. Double-click BHTerminal — macOS blocks it and shows the warning. Click Done.
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the "BHTerminal was blocked…" message, and click Open Anyway.
  3. Confirm with Touch ID / your password. BHTerminal opens and won't ask again.

(The .pkg behaves the same way: double-click it, click Done on the "Move to Trash" dialog, then Open Anyway in Privacy & Security. Right-click → Open does not work for this on current macOS, despite what a lot of guides still say.)

You can verify the signature yourself in Terminal:

codesign -dvv /Applications/BHTerminal.app     # Authority=BHTerminal Dev
codesign --verify --deep --strict /Applications/BHTerminal.app   # (no output = valid)

Saved-password prompt

The first time BHTerminal reads a saved host password, macOS asks for your login keychain password (your Mac account password). Enter it and click Always Allow — you'll only see this once. (BHTerminal is signed with a stable certificate, so the grant persists across app updates.)

Migrating from MobaXterm

Import Sessions… lives in the sidebar's + menu (and File → Import Sessions…, ⇧⌘I). Two MobaXterm exports are supported:

Option A — bring your passwords across (recommended)

MobaXterm's password export includes host, port, user and the saved password, so you get a complete migration:

  1. In MobaXterm: Settings → Configuration → General → "MobaXterm passwords management" → Export to file. It asks for your master password and saves a .txt.
  2. In BHTerminal: sidebar + → Import Sessions… → pick that .txt. Every host is created with its password stored in your macOS Keychain.
  3. ⚠️ Delete the .txt afterward — it holds all your passwords in cleartext. BHTerminal's copy is safe in the Keychain.

Note: this export contains no session names or folders (MobaXterm keeps those separately), so hosts arrive named user@host in one folder. Use Option B as well if you want your names and folder tree.

Option B — bring your names + folder structure (no passwords)

  1. In MobaXterm: right-click User sessions → Export sessions (.mxtsessions).
  2. Import that file — session names and nested folders come across; re-enter passwords per host (they go into the Keychain).

Not supported: the encrypted .mobaconf backup

A master-password-protected full configuration (.mobaconf) is encrypted with an undocumented scheme and can't be read directly — export via Option A or B instead. (BHTerminal detects an encrypted .mobaconf and tells you this.)

From an SSH config

An OpenSSH ~/.ssh/config imports too (Host / HostName / Port / User).

Building from source

cd macos            # the macOS app lives here
brew install xcodegen
xcodegen generate
open BHTerminal.xcodeproj

Or package the signed .dmg + .pkg in one step: bash scripts/package.sh.

Then build/run in Xcode, or from the command line:

xcodebuild -scheme BHTerminal -configuration Release build

The project signs with a local self-signed "BHTerminal Dev" code-signing certificate. To build on a fresh machine, create one in Keychain Access → Certificate Assistant → Create a Certificate (Self-Signed Root, type: Code Signing), or change CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY in project.yml to - (ad-hoc).

Credits

License

© 2026 BiswasHost.