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Java

Poll an SSH Channel for Incoming Data

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Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.ChannelPoll method, which polls a channel for incoming messages, waiting at most the given number of milliseconds. The first argument is the channel number and the second is the poll timeout; pass 0 for a nonblocking poll.

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: ChannelPoll gives you an explicit, per-call wait, which is what an event loop or responsive UI needs — poll briefly, do other work, poll again. Importantly, the timeout you pass governs the wait: shorter ReadTimeoutMs or IdleTimeoutMs values do not cut it short. A -2 return simply means nothing new arrived, which is normal when polling.

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Chilkat2 Java
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Ssh;

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Demonstrates the Ssh.ChannelPoll method, which polls a channel for incoming messages, waiting
        // at most the given number of milliseconds.  The 1st argument is the channel number and the 2nd
        // is the poll timeout.  Pass 0 for a nonblocking poll.

        Ssh ssh = new Ssh();

        int sshPort = 22;
        try {
            ssh.connect("ssh.example.com", sshPort);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            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.
        String password = "mySshPassword";

        try {
            ssh.authenticatePw("mySshLogin", password);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        int channelNum = ssh.openSessionChannel();
        if (channelNum < 0) {
            System.out.println(ssh.getLastErrorText());
            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.
        try {
            ssh.sendReqShell(channelNum);

            ssh.channelSendString(channelNum, "date\n", "utf-8");
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // Wait up to 3 seconds for channel data.
        int pollTimeoutMs = 3000;
        // 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.
        int result = ssh.channelPoll(channelNum, pollTimeoutMs);
        if (result == -1) {
            System.out.println(ssh.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        if (result == -2) {
            System.out.println("No channel data arrived before the timeout.");
        }

        if (result == 0) {
            System.out.println("EOF or channel close was processed.  Buffered data may still remain.");
        }

        if (result > 0) {
            System.out.println("Total bytes buffered: " + result);
        }

        String output;
        try {
            output = ssh.getReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8");
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        System.out.println(output);

        ssh.disconnect();
    }
}