.mxtsessions file format

mxtsessions_format.md

.mxtsessions file format

Introduction

This document tries to give a description of the .mxtsession files used in the proprietary software MobaXterm. Sadly this format, as efficient as it is, is too obscure to encourage legitimate use cases of this format as there is no public documentation available.

The software licence of MobaXterm, for both Home and Pro editions, allows to "observe, study or test the functioning of the Software in order to determine the ideas and principles which are the basis of the Software, when performing the loading, display, execution, transmission or storage of the Software" and this study has been done in full under those terms.

The studied format is the one of version 23.6: sessions last modified (but not necessarily exported) before this version will have fewer fields.

Projects

If your project uses the information shared here feel free to talk about it in the comments, and I'll add it to the list.

PHP Libraries:

• Sessionator, by myself allows to compose session files from PHP by building connection objects and exporting them all at once to different formats (MobaXterm being the first one).

Utilities:

• mobaConverterGo, by dbauer23 converts .mxtsessions files to JSON and vice-versa, which is useful for some jq manipulation magic.
• mobaxterm2ssh, by gplv2 is a CLI Node/JS script that converts SSH sessions from a .mxtsessions file to a .ssh/config file.
• OpenXterm, by yarete03 is a CLI Python script that supports the .mxtsessions format to connect to servers.

Overall format

.mxtsessions files follow the INI format, using a Windows-1252/CP1252 charset and Windows (CR LF) line delimiters: it can be tested by using the "Euro" € character in a session title. Which means that Unicode characters can't be used anywhere, especially in session names and comments, and will need to be transformed if present in some source data.

They're basically an extract of all "Bookmarks" sections from the "main" %APPDATA%/MobaXterm/MobaXterm.ini configuration file (or the MobaXterm.ini file next to MobaXterm.exe if you run a Portable version).

Their content is roughly the same whether they are :

• a full export (right-click on "User sessions" and click "Export all sessions to file"),
• a partial export (right-click on a session folder and click "Export sessions from this folder"),
• a "Shared" export (right-click on a session folder or at the root folder and click "Share these sessions with my team").

Folders

A full or "fully shared" export starts with:

[Bookmarks]
SubRep=
ImgNum=42

Being the main folder, SubRep ("sub-repertory") is empty (the name is forced to "User sessions" by the software) and ImgNum is 42 (icon of a folder with a person above it): this icon cannot be changed in the software. Following those two properties are the sessions saved under the folder, one per line (see section below).

A partial or "partially shared" export starts with:

[Bookmarks]
SubRep=The folder selected for export
ImgNum=41

Here ImgNum will be whatever it was set to prior to the export, but SubRep will be the name of the "root partial folder".

Sub-folders follow this naming convention:

[Bookmarks_1]
SubRep=Subfolder name
ImgNum=41

In this case, "SubRep" needs to be filled with the directory name that would be displayed on-screen. The default ImgNum is the empty blue folder (icon ID 41).

The number after "Bookmarks_" indicates the placement order on-screen, from top to bottom.

Sub-sub-folders have a "SubRep" property like "Folder1\Folder2", with as many sub-folders as necessary.

Annotated list of folder icons

The icons in the following screenshot are the property of MOBATEK SARL.

Sessions

Session lines looks like this:

Reference Session= #109#0%localhost%22%<default>%%-1%-1%%%%%0%0%0%%%-1%0%0%0%%1080%%0%0%1%%0%%%%0%-1%-1%0#MobaFont%10%0%0%-1%15%236,236,236%30,30,30%180,180,192%0%-1%0%%xterm%-1%0%_Std_Colors_0_%80%24%0%0%-1%<none>%%0%0%-1%-1#0# #-1
Deck=#109#0%192.168.137.40%22%deck%%0%0%%%%%0%0%0%%%-1%0%0%0%%1080%%0%0%1%#MobaFont%10%0%0%-1%15%236,236,236%30,30,30%180,180,192%0%-1%0%%xterm%-1%0%_Std_Colors_0_%80%24%0%1%-1%<none>%%0%0%-1%-1#0# #-1

If you export a session (Right click -> "Save session to file") you'll get a .moba file containing only one session line.

The value is the session name, and can contain spaces.

The property is an ordered list, separated by the '#' character, of session characteristics, and some of them can contain a second dimension of characteristics separated by the '%' character. The number of session characteristics in a line or parent characteristic depend on the version under which the session was last saved: it is assumed that new versions of the software add new characteristic indexes while some older ones (among the unidentified ones) may become ignored.

SSH Session lines

By comparing sessions with a changed parameter against a reference session, the full list has been identified as:

1. "; logout" if "Display reconnection message" is unchecked in "Bookmark settings", empty if it's checked.

2. The icon number of the session (see list below) (the default for SSH is 109)

3. The first group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character (quotes indicate literal strings or numbers):

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Section	Note
   0	Session type	0		For SSH connections it's always "0". Other session types have other identifiers.
   1	Remote host		Basic SSH settings	Cannot be empty
   2	Port	22	Basic SSH settings	(self-explanatory)
   3	Username (specific or "")	(empty)	Basic SSH settings	The default login is set in-app and its default is the Windows login
   4	?	(empty)		Seems always empty for SSH.
   5	X11-Forwarding	-1	Advanced SSH settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   6	Compression	-1	Advanced SSH settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   7	Execute command (at login)	(empty)	Advanced SSH settings	';' in the text field is changed to "__PTVIRG__" in the setting, '"' by '__DBLQUO__' and '|' by '__PIPE__'
   8	SSH Gateway host list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its hostname. If multiple, their hostnames separated by "__PIPE__".
   9	SSH Gateway port list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its port. If multiple, their ports separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. 22__PIPE__22).
   10	SSH Gateway user list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its username. If multiple, their usernames separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. userHost1__PIPE__userHost2).
   11	Do not exit after (login) command ends	0	Advanced SSH settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   12	Don't specify username	0 if index 3 (username) is filled, -1 if it's not		enabled "-1", disabled "0" (specific username used)
   13	Remote environment	0	Advanced SSH settings	Interactive shell "0", LXDE "1", ... (long list of DEs) (TODO complete the list)
   14	Private key path, if set	(empty)	Advanced SSH settings	'C' drive letter in the path is changed to "_CurrentDrive_" in the setting
   15	SSH Gateway private key list	(empty) if 0 or 1 gateway, __PIPE__ if two, …	Network settings	If one gateway, its private key (optional). If multiple, their private keys (optional) separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. pathKeyHost1__PIPE__pathKeyHost2). Two separators can follow each other if a key is absent. Same 'C' drive letter replacement as above.
   16	SSH-browser type (File browser)	-1	Advanced SSH settings (auto from 24/25)	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   17	Follow SSH path (experimental) (in File browser)	0	Advanced SSH settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   18	?	0
   19	Proxy type	0	Network settings	None "0", Socks4 "1", Socks5 "2", Http "3", Telnet "4", Local "5"
   20	Proxy host	(empty)	Network settings	(self-explanatory)
   21	Proxy port	1080	Network settings	(the default is set even if the Proxy type is "None")
   22	Proxy login	(empty)	Network settings	(self-explanatory)
   23	Adapt locales on remote server	0	Expert SSH settings	enabled "-1" ("try to send the local language settings to the server"), disabled "0"
   24	File Browser: SCP over SFTP	0	Advanced SSH settings (set from selection choices)	enabled (SCP) "-1", disabled (SSH or None) "0"
   25	File Browser Protocol	1	Advanced SSH settings (set from selection choices)	disabled "0", SFTP "1", SCP Speed "2", SCP Normal "3"
   26	Local proxy command	(empty)	Network settings (only when Proxy type "Local" is selected)	If index 19 is "5", the local proxy command (recognizes the internal variables %host, %port, %user, %pass, and uses %% for a literal percentage, of course the '%' character is changed to __PERCENT__ in the session line to avoid clashing with the separator)
   				-- The fields below were not in sessions I saved before v22.3, but maybe they were only added after going to the "Expert SSH settings" section --
   27	SSH protocol version	0	Expert SSH settings	auto "0", SSHv2 "1", SSHv1 (insecure) "2"
   28	Key Exchange algorithms	(empty)	Expert SSH settings	Default equals to: ecdh,dh-gex-sha1,dh-group14-sha1,rsa,WARN,dh-group1-sha1
   29	Host key types	(empty)	Expert SSH settings	Default equals to: ed448,ed25519,ecdsa,rsa,WARN,dsa
   30	Ciphers	(empty)	Expert SSH settings	Default equals to: aes,chacha20,3des,WARN,des,blowfish,arcfour
   31	Disconnect if authentication succeeds trivially	0	Expert SSH settings	enabled "-1" (disconnects if the connection could be done without password or token), disabled "0"
   32	Prefer hostkey algorithms for which a hostkey is already known	-1	Expert SSH settings	enabled "-1" (adjust the preference order so that known host keys from this server are moved to the top of the list), disabled "0"
   33	Attempt authentication using the SSH agent	-1	Expert SSH settings	enabled "-1" (internal agent or external PuTTY agent, set in global settings), disabled "0"
   34	Allow agent forwarding	0	Expert SSH settings	enabled "-1" (open forwarded connections back to your local agent), disabled "0"

4. The second group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character:

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Sub-section	Note
   0	Terminal font	MobaFont	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	Any installed font + the builtin "MobaFont"
   1	Font size	10	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font
   2	Terminal font Bold	0	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   3	?	0
   4	Append Windows PATH to shell env	-1	Terminal settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   5	Terminal charset	15	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	ISO-8859-1 "0", ISO-8859-15 "13", UTF-8 "15", CP850 "22", Font encoding "40" (too many other settings to list here)
   6	Foreground (standard text) if not global	236,236,236	Terminal settings : Color settings > Basic terminal colors	R,G,B (default given for "Dark background / Light text")
   7	Background color if not global	30,30,30	Terminal settings : Color settings > Basic terminal colors	R,G,B (default given for "Dark background / Light text")
   8	Cursor color if not global	180,180,192	Terminal settings : Color settings > Cursor settings	R,G,B (default given for "Dark background / Light text")
   9	Cursor type	0	Terminal settings : Color settings > Cursor settings	Block "0", Underline "1", Line "2", Blinking block "3", Blinking underline "4", Blinking line "5"
   10	Backspace sends ^H	-1	Terminal settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0" (sends ^? instead)
   11	Log output	0	Terminal settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   12	Log folder path	(empty)	Terminal settings	<> for the executable path (ex: portable app), path otherwise ('C' drive replacement as usual)
   13	Terminal type	xterm	Terminal settings	List in v22.3: xterm, xterm-r6, vt100, vt100+, vt220, vt400, vt900, OpenVMS, OpenVMS2, Netterm100, Netterm220, ShiftFnKeys, ESC[n~, SCO, Byobu, xterm-256color
   14	Lock terminal title	-1	Bookmark settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0" (allows the shell to change the tab title)
   15	?	0
   16	Colors scheme	_Std_Colors_0_	Terminal settings : Color settings > Terminal colors	Default is for "Current global color theme" (safer choice). Any other choice changes the number of fields by turning index 16 into 16 colors also separated by '%'.
   17	Terminal rows	80	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal size	(applicable if force fixed in index 19)
   18	Terminal columns	24	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal size	(applicable if force fixed in index 19)
   19	Force fixed rows/columns	0	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal size	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   20	Syntax highlighting	1	Terminal settings	None "0", Standard keywords "1", Unix shell script "2", Cisco "3", Perl "4", SQL "5", Custom 1 "101", ... (all custom settings refer to local settings done outside of the session file)
   21	Show bold font as brighter color	-1	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font Color settings > Terminal colors	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   22	Custom macro type	<none>	Advanced SSH settings	"<none>" or "<custom macro>"
   23	Custom macro text	(empty)	Advanced SSH settings	each line starts with "12:2:0:" and ends with "__PIPE__" (currently buggy, they get concatenated in v22.3)
   24	Paste delay	0	Terminal settings	Auto "0", no delay "1", 10ms "2", 20ms "3", 30ms "4", 40ms "5", 50ms "6", 60ms "7", 70ms "8", 80ms "9", 90ms "10", 100ms "11", 200ms "12", 360ms "13"
   25	Font Charset	1	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	ANSI "1" (English), DEFAULT "0" (System), ARABIC "178", GREEK "161", TURKISH "162", VIETNAMESE "163", EASTEUROPE "238", RUSSIAN (Cyrillic) "204", BALTIC "186"
   26	Font Antialiasing	-1	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   27	Font Ligatures	-1	Terminal settings : Font settings > Terminal font	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   28	Expert settings	(empty)	Terminal settings : Expert settings	A sub-sub-string with items separated by "," if defined and different from the globals, see below. The full "all by default" string is "1001111111110000000000,x2,1,,,,,R,S,Any,0," for SSH (added in 24.0)

   The "Expert settings" sub-sub-string is made of the following items, separated by ",":

   Sub-index	Expert setting	Default value	Sub-section	Note
   0	Terminal features (booleans)	1001111111110000000000	Terminal features	Yet another nested setting, see below
   1	Answerback to ^E	x2	Terminal features	"x2" is "xterm-256color", TODO find other values
   2	Auto-copy selected text	1	Copy/paste settings	checked "1", unchecked "0"
   3	Add left delimiters	(empty)	Copy/paste settings	This and the 3 below configure the delimiters used when selecting a word in the terminal by double-clicking
   4	Add right delimiters	(empty)	Copy/paste settings	(see above)
   5	Remove left delimiters	(empty)	Copy/paste settings	(see above)
   6	Remove right delimiters	(empty)	Copy/paste settings	(see above)
   7	Reconnect	R	Reconnection keys	F1 to F12, 0 to 9, A to Z, SPACE, HOME, END, PAGE_UP, PAGE_DOWN, DEL, ESC, TAB, RETURN, SUBTRACT, DIVIDE, ADD, MULTIPLY
   8	Save	S	Reconnection keys	(same as above)
   9	Exit	Any	Reconnection keys	(same as above + "Any" for "Any other key")
   10	Bell Type	0	Terminal features	None "0", Default sound "1", Visual "2", PC speakers "3"
   11	Scrollback lines	(empty)	Terminal features	Empty is treated as 360000, any other value is the number of lines to keep

   The "Terminal features (booleans)" sub-sub-sub-string is made of the following items, with their values concatenated directly:

   For each feature, the value is "1" if checked and, "0" if unchecked.

   Sub-index	Terminal feature	Default value
   0	Display scrollbar	1
   1	Implicit CR in every LF	0
   2	Implicit LF in every CR	0
   3	Flush log files frequently	1
   4	Ctrl+Alt is different from AltGr	1
   5	Enable xterm-style mouse reporting	1
   6	Enable switching to the alternate screen	1
   7	Enable scrollback clearing	1
   8	Enable destructive backspace	1
   9	Enable character set configuration	1
   10	Enable arabic text shaping	1
   11	Enable bidirectional text display	1
   12	Force local echo on	0
   13	Force local echo off	0
   14	Force local line editing on	0
   15	Force local line editing off	0
   16	Force application cursor keys mode on	0
   17	Force application cursor keys mode off	0
   18	Set application cursor keys on by default	0
   19	Force application keypad mode on	0
   20	Force application keypad mode off	0
   21	Set application keypad on by default	0

5. Start session in: "0" for "Normal tab" (default), "1" for "Detached tab", "2" for "Maximized detached tab", "3" for "Fullscreen".

6. The "Comments" field: empty if empty (default), else the comment with any '#' changed to "__DIEZE__", no % is allowed in the field.

7. Custom tab color: "-1" if unchecked (default), if checked the decimal value of the RGB color ("536870911" for the default color (whitish), "0" for black, "255" for pure red, "65280" for pure green, "16711680" for pure blue)

RDP Session lines

By comparing sessions with a changed parameter against a reference session, the full list has been identified as:

1. "; logout" if "Display reconnection message" is unchecked in "Bookmark settings", empty if it's checked.

2. The icon number of the session (see list below) (the default for RDP is 91)

3. The first group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character (quotes indicate literal strings or numbers):

   Index	RDP Property	Default Value	Section	Note
   0	Session type	4		For RDP connections it's always "4".
   1	Remote host	localhost	Basic Rdp settings	Cannot be empty
   2	Port	3389	Basic Rdp settings	(self-explanatory)
   3	Username (specific)	(empty)	Basic Rdp settings	The default login is set in-app and its default is the Windows login
   4	Admin console	0	Connection settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   5	Redirect ports	0	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   6	Redirect drives	0	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   7	Redirect printers	0	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   8	?	-1
   9	Enhanced graphics	0	Display settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   10	Resolution	0	Display settings	Fit to terminal "0", Fit to screen "1", 640x480 "2", 800x600 "3", 1024x768 "4", 1152x864 "5", 1280x720 "6", 1280x968 "7", 1280x1024 "8", 1400x1050 "9", 1600x1200 "10", 1920x1080 "11", 1276x936 "12", 1916x988 "13", 1920x1200 "14", 1280x800 "15", 1360x768 "16", 1366x768 "17", 1440x900 "18", 1536x864 "19", 1600x900 "20", 1680x1050 "21", 2048x1152 "22", 2560x1080 "23", 2560x1440 "24", 3440x1440 "25", 3840x2160 "26"
   11	?	-1
   12	Remote command	(empty)	Connection settings	';' in the text field is changed to "__PTVIRG__" in the setting, '"' by '__DBLQUO__' and '|' by '__PIPE__'
   13	SSH Gateway host list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its hostname. If multiple, their hostnames separated by "__PIPE__".
   14	SSH Gateway port list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its port. If multiple, their ports separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. 22__PIPE__22).
   15	SSH Gateway user list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its username. If multiple, their usernames separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. userHost1__PIPE__userHost2).
   16	Redirect audio	0	Local resources	No audio "0", Redirect audio "1", Play on remote server "2"
   17	Native authentication	0	Connection settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   18	SSH Gateway private key list	(empty) if 0 or 1 gateway, __PIPE__ if two, …	Network settings	If one gateway, its private key (optional). If multiple, their private keys (optional) separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. pathKeyHost1__PIPE__pathKeyHost2). Two separators can follow each other if a key is absent. 'C' drive letter in the path is changed to "_CurrentDrive_" in the setting.
   19	Redirect clipboard	-1	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   20	RDP Gateway	(empty)	Connection settings	Gateway hostname (to also put in Expert RDP settings, see below)
   21	Forward keyboard shortcuts	-1	Connection settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   22	Display settings bar	-1	Display settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   23	?	0
   24	Use CredSSP	-1	Before 24.2: Connection settings From 24.2: Expert RDP settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0 (to also put in Expert RDP settings, see below)
   25	Redirect microphone	0	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   26	Autoscale	-1	Display settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   27	Zoom	0	Display settings	no "0", auto "1", 25% "2", 50% "3", 75% "4", 100% "5", 125% "6", 150% "7", 175% "8", 200% "9", 250% "10", 300% "11", 360% "12"
   28	Color depth	0	Display settings	auto "0", 8 bits "1", 16 bits "2", 24 bits "3", 32 bits "4"
   29	Redirect smartcards	0	Local resources	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   30	Server authentication	0	Connection settings	none "0", force "1", prompt "2"
   31	Expert RDP settings	(empty)	Connection settings	A sub-sub-string with items separated by "," if defined and different from the globals, see below. The full "all by default" string is "100000100000,0,,,0,0" (added in 24.2)

   The "Expert RDP settings" sub-sub-string is made of the following items, separated by ",":

   Sub-index	Expert setting	Default value	Sub-section	Note
   0	Connection features & Graphic settings (booleans)	100000100000	Connection features & Graphic settings	Yet another nested setting, see below
   1	Use RDP Gateway	0	Gateway settings	Never "0", Detect "1", Always "2"
   2	Server	(empty)	Gateway settings	Same as index 20 above for compatibility reasons
   3	Login	(empty)	Gateway settings	Used when sub-index 5 is set to 2 or 3
   4	?	0
   5	Authentication	0	Gateway settings	Same as end server "0", Prompt during connection "1", Specify login/password "2", Use smartcard "3"

   The "Connection features & Graphic settings (booleans)" sub-sub-sub-string is made of the following items, with their values concatenated directly:

   For each feature, the value is "1" if checked and, "0" if unchecked.

   Sub-index	Terminal feature	Sub-section	Default value	Note
   0	Use CredSSP	Connection features	1	Also set index 24 above for compatibility reasons
   1	Remote credentials guard	Connection features	0
   2	Use a web account	Connection features	0	Microsoft Entra ID SSO for Azure Virtual Desktop
   3	Automatic reconnection	Connection features	0
   4	Multi monitors (fullscreen on all monitors)	Connection features	0
   5	Restricted admin	Connection features	0	Prevents the transmission of reusable credentials
   6	Auto-adapt graphics	Graphic settings	1	Disable to change the 4 next items, else adapts according to the detected bandwidth
   7	Display wallpaper	Graphic settings	0
   8	Display themes	Graphic settings	0
   9	Fonts smoothing	Graphic settings	0
   10	Desktop composition	Graphic settings	0	Enable remote desktop composition
   11	Hardware mode	Graphic settings	0	Use the hardware for graphics decoding

4. The second group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character, is identical to the SSH one but only the "Lock terminal title" (index 14) is used in RDP:

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Note
   0	Terminal font	MobaFont	Any installed font + the builtin "MobaFont"
   ...

5. Start session in: "0" for "Normal tab" (default), "1" for "Detached tab", "2" for "Maximized detached tab", "3" for "Fullscreen".

6. The "Comments" field: empty if empty (default), else the comment with any '#' changed to "__DIEZE__", no % is allowed in the field.

7. Custom tab color: "-1" if unchecked (default), if checked the decimal value of the RGB color ("536870911" for the default color (whitish), "0" for black, "255" for pure red, "65280" for pure green, "16711680" for pure blue)

VNC Session lines

By comparing sessions with a changed parameter against a reference session, the full list has been identified as:

1. "; logout" if "Display reconnection message" is unchecked in "Bookmark settings", empty if it's checked.

2. The icon number of the session (see list below) (the default for VNC is 128)

3. The first group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character (quotes indicate literal strings or numbers):

   Index	RDP Property	Default Value	Section	Note
   0	Session type	5		For VNC connections it's always "5".
   1	Remote hostname or IP address	localhost	Basic Vnc settings	Cannot be empty
   2	Port	5900	Basic Vnc settings	(self-explanatory)
   3	Auto scale display to fit the terminal size without scrollbars	-1	Advanced Vnc settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   4	View only	0	Advanced Vnc settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   5	SSH Gateway host list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its hostname. If multiple, their hostnames separated by "__PIPE__".
   6	SSH Gateway port list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its port. If multiple, their ports separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. 22__PIPE__22).
   7	SSH Gateway user list	(empty)	Network settings	If one gateway, its username. If multiple, their usernames separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. userHost1__PIPE__userHost2).
   8	SSH Gateway private key list	(empty) if 0 or 1 gateway, __PIPE__ if two, …	Network settings	If one gateway, its private key (optional). If multiple, their private keys (optional) separated by "__PIPE__" (ex. pathKeyHost1__PIPE__pathKeyHost2). Two separators can follow each other if a key is absent. 'C' drive letter in the path is changed to "_CurrentDrive_" in the setting.
   9	Display VNC settings bar	-1	Advanced Vnc settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   10	Use new embedded VNC engine	0	Advanced Vnc settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   11	Use SSL tunneling to secure the connection	0	Advanced Vnc settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0". If enabled, also enables "new embedded VNC engine" on index 10.
   12	Use Unix login	(empty)	Advanced Vnc settings
   13	Proxy type	0	Network settings	None "0", Socks4 "1", Socks5 "2", Http "3", Telnet "4", Local "5" (setting a proxy also enables "new embedded VNC engine" on index 10)
   14	Proxy host	(empty)	Network settings	(self-explanatory)
   15	Proxy port	1080	Network settings	(the default is set even if the Proxy type is "None")
   16	Proxy login	(empty)	Network settings	(self-explanatory)
   17	?	(empty)

4. The second group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character, is identical to the SSH one but only the "Lock terminal title" (index 14) is used in VNC:

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Note
   0	Terminal font	MobaFont	Any installed font + the builtin "MobaFont"
   ...

5. Start session in: "0" for "Normal tab" (default), "1" for "Detached tab", "2" for "Maximized detached tab", "3" for "Fullscreen".

6. The "Comments" field: empty if empty (default), else the comment with any '#' changed to "__DIEZE__", no % is allowed in the field.

7. Custom tab color: "-1" if unchecked (default), if checked the decimal value of the RGB color ("536870911" for the default color (whitish), "0" for black, "255" for pure red, "65280" for pure green, "16711680" for pure blue)

SFTP Session lines

By comparing sessions with a changed parameter against a reference session, the full list has been identified as:

1. "; logout" if "Display reconnection message" is unchecked in "Bookmark settings", empty if it's checked.

2. The icon number of the session (see list below) (the default for SFTP is 140)

3. The first group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character (quotes indicate literal strings or numbers):

   Index	RDP Property	Default Value	Section	Note
   0	Session type	7		For SFTP connections it's always "7".
   1	Remote hostname or IP address	localhost	Basic Sftp settings	Cannot be empty
   2	Port	22	Basic Sftp settings	(self-explanatory)
   3	Username (specific only)	(empty)	Basic Sftp settings	The default login when empty is set in-app and its default is the Windows login
   4	UTF-8 Charset	-1	Advanced Sftp settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   5	Compression	0	Advanced Sftp settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   6	Remote startup folder	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings	Both relative and absolute paths seem to be allowed.
   7	ASCII mode	0	Advanced Sftp settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   8	2-steps authentication	0	Advanced Sftp settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   9	Use private key	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings	Private key path. 'C' drive letter in the path is changed to "_CurrentDrive_" in the setting.
   10	Proxy settings	0	Advanced Sftp settings - Proxy	No proxy "0", Socks4 Proxy "1", Socks4 Proxy with authentication "2", Socks5 Proxy "3", Socks5 Proxy with authentication "4", Web proxy "5", Web proxy with basic authentication "6", Web proxy with digest authentication "7", Web proxy with NTLM authentication "8"
   11	Proxy server	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings - Proxy	(self-explanatory)
   12	Proxy port	1080	Advanced Sftp settings - Proxy	(the default is set even if the Proxy type is "None")
   13	Proxy username	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings - Proxy
   14	Proxy password	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings - Proxy	WARNING: The password is stored plaintext!
   15	Local startup folder	(empty)	Advanced Sftp settings	The folder path, without replacement it seems ("C:\" stays as-is)
   16	Preserve file dates	-1	Advanced Sftp settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"

4. The second group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character, is identical to the SSH one but only the "Lock terminal title" (index 14) is used in SFTP:

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Note
   0	Terminal font	MobaFont	Any installed font + the builtin "MobaFont"
   ...

5. Start session in: "0" for "Normal tab" (default), "1" for "Detached tab", "2" for "Maximized detached tab", "3" for "Fullscreen".

6. The "Comments" field: empty if empty (default), else the comment with any '#' changed to "__DIEZE__", no % is allowed in the field.

7. Custom tab color: "-1" if unchecked (default), if checked the decimal value of the RGB color ("536870911" for the default color (whitish), "0" for black, "255" for pure red, "65280" for pure green, "16711680" for pure blue)

Browser Session lines

By comparing sessions with a changed parameter against a reference session, the full list has been identified as:

1. "; logout" if "Display reconnection message" is unchecked in "Bookmark settings", empty if it's checked.

2. The icon number of the session (see list below) (the default for Browser is 313)

3. The first group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character (quotes indicate literal strings or numbers):

   Index	RDP Property	Default Value	Section	Note
   0	Session type	11		For Browser connections it's always "11".
   1	Remote hostname or IP address	localhost	Basic Browser settings	Cannot be empty
   2	Display top bar	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0", 0 only if all "Display X" below are disabled too
   3	Display back button	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   4	Display forward button	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   5	Display refresh button	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   6	Display stop button	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   7	Display home button	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   8	Display address bar	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   9	External popup windows	0	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   10	IE Emulation level	0	Advanced Browser settings	No emulation "0", IE7 "1", IE8 "2", IE9 "3", IE10 "4", IE11 "5"
   11	Browser engine	0	Advanced Browser settings	Internet Explorer "0", Google Chrome "1", Mozilla Firefox "2", Microsoft Edge "3"
   12	Edge - Display top bar	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   13	Edge - Enable context menus	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   14	Edge - External popup windows	0	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   15	Edge - Enable Smartscreen	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   16	Edge - Allow insecure localhost	0	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   17	Edge - Use Edge stored passwords	-1	Advanced Browser settings	enabled "-1", disabled "0"
   18	Edge - Proxy	0	Advanced Browser settings	System proxy settings "0", No proxy (direct connection) "1", Autodetect proxy "2", Specify a proxy server "3", Specify a proxy script "4"
   19	Edge - Proxy server or script	(empty)	Advanced Browser settings	Proxy server host or .pac file URL depending on the above setting
   20	Edge - Proxy port	(empty)	Advanced Browser settings	Proxy port

4. The second group of session characteristics, separated by the '%' character, is identical to the SSH one but only the "Lock terminal title" (index 14) is used in SFTP:

   Index	SSH Property	Default Value	Note
   0	Terminal font	MobaFont	Any installed font + the builtin "MobaFont"
   ...

5. Start session in: "0" for "Normal tab" (default), "1" for "Detached tab", "2" for "Maximized detached tab", "3" for "Fullscreen".

6. The "Comments" field: empty if empty (default), else the comment with any '#' changed to "__DIEZE__", no % is allowed in the field.

7. Custom tab color: "-1" if unchecked (default), if checked the decimal value of the RGB color ("536870911" for the default color (whitish), "0" for black, "255" for pure red, "65280" for pure green, "16711680" for pure blue)

Annotated list of session icons

The icons in the following screenshot are the property of MOBATEK SARL.

Default icons per session type

Session type	Default session icon
SSH	109
Telnet	98
Rsh	100
Xdmcp	88
RDP	91
VNC	128
FTP	130
SFTP	140
Serial	131
File	84
Shell	97
Browser	313
Mosh	145
Aws S3	343
WSL	151

@Ruzgfpegk I would be happy to contribute to a “.mxtsession” repository.

My tool uses a json-fied version of your documentation as a lookup table for searching data/config.json. Perhaps this can be added to a repository in the future and made available to others.

Hi. Thank you for this groundwork. I created a tool using this docs to convert to an ssh client config file. https://github.com/gplv2/mobaxterm2ssh

Hi,

Thank you for the work. I make below regex pattern to extract needful information from Portable export of SSH sessions. Although not complete, can help data extraction from export file.

SSH_pattern = r'(?<Servername>[\w. ()]+)=#(?<Type>\d+)#0%(?<IP>[\w.]+)%(?<port>\d+)%%%([\w.-]+)%([\d-]+)%%%([\w.-]+)%%\d%([\w.-]+)%([\w.-]+)%%%([\w.-]+)%([\w.-]+)%([\w.-]+)%([\w.-]+)%%\d+%%\d%\d%\d#'

Hi,
I’ve started creating a Python client to connect remotely with shared Moba sessions, even without using the Moba app. This will allow other operating systems apart from Windows to access this common storage for sessions (https://github.com/yarete03/OpenXterm.git).

I plan to gradually implement more functionality over time. I haven’t used the gist yet because I’ve been reading the .mxtsessions file on my own, but I’ll likely make use of the gist in the future.

I’d appreciate the creation of the repository you mentioned, and I’d be happy to contribute to it as well.

@yarete03 @gplv2 Thanks for mentioning your projects, I added them to the list!

I'm trying to catch up with the 24.x changes of the format (it's already done for the "Expert SSH settings" from 24.0, I still have to cover the equivalent RDP settings from 24.2), and then I'll move on to finding better ways to present/filter all this info.

The org will be (unless renamed) https://github.com/MobaXDoc and I've sent an invite to @yarete03 and @dbauer23 who expressed interest, even if nothing's there for now.

New RDP settings from 24.2 added.