B4X

Read Data from an SSH Channel

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.ChannelRead method, which reads incoming SSH channel messages. The only argument is the channel number; the ReadTimeoutMs property limits how long it waits. Received data is appended to the channel's receive buffer, then retrieved with a GetReceived... method.

The integer return value is -1 on error, -2 if nothing arrived before the timeout, 0 if EOF or channel close was processed, or — when greater than 0 — the total bytes currently buffered for the channel (not the bytes newly received by this call).

Background: SSH reading is a two-step pattern that trips people up at first: the Channel* read/poll methods move bytes from the network into an internal per-channel buffer, and a separate GetReceived... call hands that buffer to your code. A positive return is therefore a buffer total, not a count of what this call fetched. Note that a 0 return means EOF or close — buffered data can still remain and should be drained.

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Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the Ssh.ChannelRead method, which reads incoming SSH channel messages.  The only
'  argument is the channel number.  The ReadTimeoutMs property limits how long it waits.

Dim ssh As ChilkatSsh
ssh.Initialize("ssh")

Dim sshPort As Int = 22
success = ssh.Connect("ssh.example.com", sshPort)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  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.
Dim password As String = "mySshPassword"

success = ssh.AuthenticatePw("mySshLogin", password)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


Dim channelNum As Int = ssh.OpenSessionChannel
If channelNum < 0 Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  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 = ssh.SendReqShell(channelNum)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


success = ssh.ChannelSendString(channelNum, "uname -a" & Chr(10), "utf-8")
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  The return value is: -1 on error, -2 if nothing arrived before the timeout, 0 if EOF or
'  channel close was processed, or the total number of buffered bytes when greater than 0.
Dim result As Int = ssh.ChannelRead(channelNum)
If result = -1 Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


If result = -2 Then
    Log("No channel data arrived before the timeout.")
End If


If result = 0 Then
    Log("EOF or channel close was processed.  Buffered data may still remain.")
End If


If result > 0 Then
    Log("Total bytes buffered: " & result)
End If


Dim output As String = ssh.GetReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8")
If ssh.LastMethodSuccess = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If

Log(output)

ssh.Disconnect