SSH Commands to a Cisco Switch

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Demonstrates establishing an SSH session with a Cisco switch (or similar device) and sending commands in a device console session. Each command is sent, and its output is read up to the device's next prompt.

Note: QuickShell allocates a PTY, which is what a network device console expects. The device presents an interactive prompt, and each command's output is read up to the next prompt.

-- Important: See this note about string length limitations for strings returned by sp_OAMethod calls.
--
CREATE PROCEDURE ChilkatSample
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @hr int
    DECLARE @iTmp0 int
    DECLARE @sTmp0 nvarchar(4000)
    DECLARE @success int
    SELECT @success = 0

    --  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    --  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    --  Demonstrates establishing an SSH session with a Cisco switch (or similar device) and sending
    --  commands in a device console session.
    --  
    --  Note: QuickShell allocates a PTY, which is what a network device console expects.  The device
    --  presents an interactive prompt, and each command's output is read up to the next prompt.

    DECLARE @ssh int
    EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.Ssh', @ssh OUT
    IF @hr <> 0
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Failed to create ActiveX component'
        RETURN
    END

    DECLARE @port int
    SELECT @port = 22
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'Connect', @success OUT, '172.16.16.100', @port
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    --  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.
    DECLARE @password nvarchar(4000)
    SELECT @password = 'mySshPassword'

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'AuthenticatePw', @success OUT, 'mySshLogin', @password
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    --  Start a shell session.
    DECLARE @channelNum int
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'QuickShell', @channelNum OUT
    IF @channelNum < 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    --  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.
    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @ssh, 'ReadTimeoutMs', 15000

    DECLARE @caseSensitive int
    SELECT @caseSensitive = 1

    --  The switch presents a prompt ending in "#".  Reading up to it confirms the session is ready.
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'ChannelReceiveUntilMatch', @success OUT, @channelNum, '#', 'utf-8', @caseSensitive
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    DECLARE @cmdOutput nvarchar(4000)
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'GetReceivedText', @cmdOutput OUT, @channelNum, 'utf-8'
    EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iTmp0 OUT
    IF @iTmp0 = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT @cmdOutput

    --  Send a command and read its output up to the next prompt.
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'ChannelSendString', @success OUT, @channelNum, 'show clock' + CHAR(10), 'utf-8'
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'ChannelReceiveUntilMatch', @success OUT, @channelNum, '#', 'utf-8', @caseSensitive
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    --  Retrieving the text also clears the receive buffer, which matters: if the prompt were left
    --  buffered, the next receive would match it immediately and return the wrong output.
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'GetReceivedText', @cmdOutput OUT, @channelNum, 'utf-8'
    EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iTmp0 OUT
    IF @iTmp0 = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT @cmdOutput

    --  Additional commands follow the same send / read-to-prompt / retrieve pattern.
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'ChannelSendString', @success OUT, @channelNum, 'show version' + CHAR(10), 'utf-8'
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'ChannelReceiveUntilMatch', @success OUT, @channelNum, '#', 'utf-8', @caseSensitive
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'GetReceivedText', @cmdOutput OUT, @channelNum, 'utf-8'
    EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iTmp0 OUT
    IF @iTmp0 = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ssh, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT @cmdOutput

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ssh, 'Disconnect', NULL

    EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ssh


END
GO