Xbase++

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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LOCAL nSuccess
LOCAL oSsh
LOCAL nSshPort
LOCAL cPassword
LOCAL nChannelNum
LOCAL nResult
LOCAL cOutput

nSuccess := 0

//  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.

oSsh := CreateObject("Chilkat.Ssh")

nSshPort := 22
nSuccess := oSsh:Connect("ssh.example.com", nSshPort)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

//  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.
cPassword := "mySshPassword"

nSuccess := oSsh:AuthenticatePw("mySshLogin", cPassword)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

nChannelNum := oSsh:OpenSessionChannel()
IF (nChannelNum < 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

//  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.
nSuccess := oSsh:SendReqShell(nChannelNum)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

nSuccess := oSsh:ChannelSendString(nChannelNum, "uname -a" + Chr(10), "utf-8")
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

//  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.
nResult := oSsh:ChannelRead(nChannelNum)
IF (nResult == -1)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

IF (nResult == -2)
    ? "No channel data arrived before the timeout."
ENDIF

IF (nResult == 0)
    ? "EOF or channel close was processed.  Buffered data may still remain."
ENDIF

IF (nResult > 0)
    ? "Total bytes buffered: " + Str(nResult)
ENDIF

cOutput := oSsh:GetReceivedText(nChannelNum, "utf-8")
IF (oSsh:LastMethodSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

? cOutput

oSsh:Disconnect()

oSsh:destroy()