Autostart and running as a service

A remote machine is only useful if its agent is running when you need it — which usually means after a power cut, an update, or a reboot you were not there for. Each platform solves this differently.

Three words get mixed up constantly, so:

  • Installed — the files are on disk.
  • Enabled — it will start on its own next time.
  • Running — it is serving files right now.

An agent can be installed and enabled and still not be running. That is the single most common "why is my device offline" answer.

Windows

The installer offers Start Filemote at logon, off by default. Ticking it adds a startup entry for your Windows user that launches the Filemote application at logon; the agent then starts by itself if the application is set to start it.

Consequences worth knowing:

  • It is per user. Nobody's agent runs while nobody is logged in.
  • A machine that reboots and sits at the login screen is offline until someone signs in.
  • The portable and ClickOnce builds add no startup entry at all.

If you need a Windows machine that serves files without anyone logging in, the honest answer today is that it is not what the Windows build is built for — use a Linux host, or leave the machine logged in with the screen locked.

Linux — the systemd unit

The install script creates a filemote-agent unit and enables but does not start it. That combination is deliberate: enabling makes it survive a reboot, and leaving it stopped means a fresh install cannot come up half-configured.

sudo systemctl start filemote-agent      # start it now
sudo systemctl status filemote-agent     # is it running?
sudo systemctl stop filemote-agent       # stop it
sudo systemctl disable filemote-agent    # stop it coming back after a reboot
sudo systemctl enable filemote-agent     # and undo that

The unit runs as your user rather than root, restarts five seconds after a failure, is capped at 8 GB of memory and 80% CPU, and logs to journald.

Installing with --no-autostart skips the unit entirely; you then run FilemoteAgent yourself, or write your own unit.

macOS — the launchd agent

The install script writes ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.filemote.agent.plist and loads it, so the agent starts at every login and restarts itself if it crashes.

launchctl start com.filemote.agent
launchctl stop  com.filemote.agent
launchctl list | grep com.filemote.agent    # is it loaded?

Like Windows, this is per login: a Mac sitting at the login window is not serving anything. --no-autostart skips the plist, and then neither command applies.

Verifying it actually survives a reboot

Do not trust the setting — test it once:

  1. Reboot the machine.
  2. On Windows and macOS, log in.
  3. Check the device list on the website.

If it comes back, you are done. If it does not, the device shows as offline is the list to work down, and its first item is the one that catches most people.

Turning autostart off later

  • Windows — untick the option by re-running the installer, or remove the startup entry for your user.
  • Linux — sudo systemctl disable filemote-agent.
  • macOS — launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.filemote.agent.plist and delete the file.

None of these uninstall anything or touch your settings; they only stop the agent coming back by itself. Removing Filemote entirely is removing Filemote.

Updated 2026-08-06

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