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Set an Environment Variable on an SSH Channel

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.SendReqSetEnv method, which asks the server to set an environment variable for a session channel. The arguments are the channel number, the variable name, and its value. Send these requests before the exec, shell, or subsystem request.

Background: This is the clean way to pass configuration to a remote command without embedding it in the command line. Be aware that many SSH servers restrict which variables clients may set (OpenSSH's AcceptEnv), so a request can be silently ignored or rejected — do not rely on it without verifying the server's policy.

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const std = @import("std");
const chilkat = @import("chilkat");

pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
    const alloc = init.arena.allocator();

    // Demonstrates the Ssh.SendReqSetEnv method, which asks the server to set an environment
    // variable for a session channel.  The 1st argument is the channel number, the 2nd is the
    // variable name, and the 3rd is its value.  Send it before the exec, shell, or subsystem
    // request.

    const ssh = try chilkat.Ssh.init();
    defer ssh.deinit();

    const ssh_port = 22;
    ssh.connect("ssh.example.com", ssh_port) catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        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.
    const password = "mySshPassword";

    ssh.authenticatePw("mySshLogin", password) catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    // Open a session channel.  A negative return value indicates failure.
    const channel_num = ssh.openSessionChannel();
    if (channel_num < 0) {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    }

    // Set environment variables for the channel.  Multiple variables may be requested.
    ssh.sendReqSetEnv(channel_num, "LANG", "en_US.UTF-8") catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    ssh.sendReqSetEnv(channel_num, "MY_APP_MODE", "production") catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    // Now run the command, which sees the requested environment.
    ssh.sendReqExec(channel_num, "echo $MY_APP_MODE") catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    // 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.
    ssh.setReadTimeoutMs(15000);

    ssh.channelReceiveToClose(channel_num) catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    const output = ssh.getReceivedText(alloc, channel_num, "utf-8") catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{output});

    ssh.disconnect();
}