C
C
Receive from an SSH Channel Until a Pattern Matches
See more SSH Examples
Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch method, which receives text until the accumulated text matches a pattern. The arguments are the channel number, the pattern, the charset, and whether matching is case-sensitive. Existing buffered text is checked before waiting for more network data.
Important: Set the ReadTimeoutMs property before calling this method. It defaults to 0, meaning no limit, so without it the call waits forever if the received data never contains a match.
Background: Driving a shell channel means knowing when the remote side has finished talking. With no PTY requested the shell is non-interactive and never prints a prompt, so the reliable signal is a marker you deliberately echo after your command. This method automates "read until you see X." The pattern syntax is deliberately minimal: literal characters plus
*, which matches zero or more characters and can span line breaks. ? and bracket classes are not supported, and backslash does not escape a literal *.Chilkat C Downloads
#include <C_CkSsh.h>
void ChilkatSample(void)
{
BOOL success;
HCkSsh ssh;
int sshPort;
const char *password;
int channelNum;
BOOL caseSensitive;
const char *output;
success = FALSE;
// Demonstrates the Ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch method, which receives text until the
// accumulated text matches a pattern. The 1st argument is the channel number, the 2nd is the
// pattern, the 3rd is the charset, and the 4th selects case-sensitive matching. The pattern
// supports literal characters plus "*", which matches zero or more characters.
ssh = CkSsh_Create();
sshPort = 22;
success = CkSsh_Connect(ssh,"ssh.example.com",sshPort);
if (success == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
// Normally you would not hard-code the password in source. You should instead obtain it
// from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
password = "mySshPassword";
success = CkSsh_AuthenticatePw(ssh,"mySshLogin",password);
if (success == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
channelNum = CkSsh_OpenSessionChannel(ssh);
if (channelNum < 0) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
// Start a shell WITHOUT requesting a PTY. Without a PTY the shell sees it is connected to a
// raw data pipe and enters non-interactive mode: it suppresses the command prompt, does not
// echo typed commands back, and skips interactive login scripts. The output is therefore
// clean and easily parseable -- but because no prompt is ever sent, code must not wait for
// one. Instead, have each command print a predictable marker, or wait for EOF / channel close.
success = CkSsh_SendReqShell(ssh,channelNum);
if (success == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
// There is no prompt to wait for, so make the command itself announce when it has finished
// by echoing a marker after it.
success = CkSsh_ChannelSendString(ssh,channelNum,"ls -l /tmp; echo DONE_MARKER\n","utf-8");
if (success == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
// IMPORTANT: Set a read timeout before receiving until a match. ReadTimeoutMs defaults to 0,
// which means no limit -- without it, this call waits forever if the received data never
// contains a match.
CkSsh_putReadTimeoutMs(ssh,15000);
// Receive until the marker appears in the output.
caseSensitive = FALSE;
success = CkSsh_ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(ssh,channelNum,"DONE_MARKER","utf-8",caseSensitive);
if (success == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
output = CkSsh_getReceivedText(ssh,channelNum,"utf-8");
if (CkSsh_getLastMethodSuccess(ssh) == FALSE) {
printf("%s\n",CkSsh_lastErrorText(ssh));
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
return;
}
printf("%s\n",output);
CkSsh_Disconnect(ssh);
CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
}