Tcl

Get Text Received on the SSH stderr Buffer

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.GetReceivedStderrText method, which decodes and returns the text accumulated in a channel's separate stderr buffer. The first argument is the channel number and the second is the charset. The stderr buffer is cleared after the text is returned.

Background: This is only meaningful when StderrToStdout is false, which keeps error output in its own buffer instead of merging it into the normal receive buffer. Separating the two lets a program parse a command's real output cleanly while still capturing diagnostics — important because many Unix tools write warnings to stderr that would otherwise corrupt the parsed result. With merging enabled, this buffer stays empty and the text appears via GetReceivedText instead.

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Tcl


load ./chilkat.dll

set success 0

#  Demonstrates the Ssh.GetReceivedStderrText method, which decodes and returns the text in a
#  channel's separate stderr buffer.  The 1st argument is the channel number and the 2nd is the
#  charset.  The stderr buffer is cleared after the text is returned.

set ssh [new_CkSsh]

set sshPort 22
set success [CkSsh_Connect $ssh "ssh.example.com" $sshPort]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

#  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.
set password "mySshPassword"

set success [CkSsh_AuthenticatePw $ssh "mySshLogin" $password]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

#  Keep stderr in its own buffer rather than merging it into the normal receive buffer.
CkSsh_put_StderrToStdout $ssh 0

set channelNum [CkSsh_OpenSessionChannel $ssh]
if {$channelNum < 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

#  Run a command that writes to both stdout and stderr.
set success [CkSsh_SendReqExec $ssh $channelNum "ls /etc/hosts /no/such/path"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

#  IMPORTANT: Set a read timeout.  ReadTimeoutMs defaults to 0, which means no limit -- without
#  it, this call waits forever if the server never sends channel close.
CkSsh_put_ReadTimeoutMs $ssh 15000

set success [CkSsh_ChannelReceiveToClose $ssh $channelNum]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

set stdoutText [CkSsh_getReceivedText $ssh $channelNum "utf-8"]
if {[CkSsh_get_LastMethodSuccess $ssh] == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

puts "STDOUT: $stdoutText"

set stderrText [CkSsh_getReceivedStderrText $ssh $channelNum "utf-8"]
if {[CkSsh_get_LastMethodSuccess $ssh] == 0} then {
    puts [CkSsh_lastErrorText $ssh]
    delete_CkSsh $ssh
    exit
}

puts "STDERR: $stderrText"

CkSsh_Disconnect $ssh

delete_CkSsh $ssh