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SSH Remote Shell with Multiple Commands
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Demonstrates running several commands one after another in a single remote shell session, retrieving each command's output separately. No PTY is requested, so each command is followed by an echoed marker that signals where its output ends.
Background: Interleaving commands and reads in one shell requires a way to know where each command's output stops. An interactive session would use the shell prompt, but without a PTY the shell is non-interactive and never prints one — so the dependable technique is to append
echo SOME_MARKER to each command and read up to that marker. Retrieving the text also clears the receive buffer, which matters here: if a marker were left buffered, the next receive would match it immediately and return the wrong output.Chilkat Zig Downloads
const std = @import("std");
const chilkat = @import("chilkat");
pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
const alloc = init.arena.allocator();
// This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.
// Demonstrates running several commands one after another in a single remote shell session,
// retrieving each command's output separately.
//
// No PTY is requested, so the shell runs non-interactively and never prints a command prompt.
// Because there is no prompt to synchronize on, each command is followed by an "echo" of a
// unique marker, and the output is read up to that marker.
const ssh = try chilkat.Ssh.init();
defer ssh.deinit();
const hostname = "ssh.example.com";
const port = 22;
ssh.connect(hostname, 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;
};
const channel_num = ssh.openSessionChannel();
if (channel_num < 0) {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
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.
ssh.sendReqShell(channel_num) catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
// 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.
ssh.setReadTimeoutMs(15000);
const case_sensitive = true;
// ---- 1st command: change directory ----
ssh.channelSendString(channel_num, "cd /tmp; echo END_OF_CMD_1\n", "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
ssh.channelReceiveUntilMatch(channel_num, "END_OF_CMD_1", "utf-8", case_sensitive) catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
// Retrieving the text also clears the receive buffer, which matters: if the next marker were
// left in the buffer, the following receive would match immediately.
var cmd_output: [:0]const u8 = ssh.getReceivedText(alloc, channel_num, "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{cmd_output});
// ---- 2nd command: directory listing ----
ssh.channelSendString(channel_num, "ls; echo END_OF_CMD_2\n", "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
ssh.channelReceiveUntilMatch(channel_num, "END_OF_CMD_2", "utf-8", case_sensitive) catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
cmd_output = ssh.getReceivedText(alloc, channel_num, "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{cmd_output});
// ---- 3rd command: long listing, then finish the session ----
ssh.channelSendString(channel_num, "ls -l\n", "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
// No more input will be sent.
ssh.channelSendEof(channel_num) catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
ssh.channelReceiveToClose(channel_num) catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
cmd_output = ssh.getReceivedText(alloc, channel_num, "utf-8") catch {
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try ssh.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
return;
};
std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{cmd_output});
ssh.disconnect();
}