B4X

SSH Commands to a Sophos Router Device Console

Demonstrates establishing an SSH session with a Sophos XG router and sending commands in its device console session. The router presents a numbered main menu; the example selects the Device Console entry and then runs commands at the resulting console> 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.

Background: Menu-driven appliances require the client to navigate the interface exactly as a human would — read the menu, send the keystroke that selects an entry, then wait for the next prompt. Because the prompt changes as you move between menu levels, the pattern you match on must change too, which is why this example matches the menu text first and console> afterward.

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Dim success As Boolean = False

'  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 Sophos XG router and sending commands in its
'  device console session.
'  
'  Note: QuickShell allocates a PTY, which is what a device console expects.  Navigating the
'  device's menus is a matter of reading up to each prompt and sending the expected keystrokes.

Dim ssh As ChilkatSsh
ssh.Initialize("ssh")

Dim port As Int = 22
success = ssh.Connect("172.16.16.16", port)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  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.
Dim password As String = "mySshPassword"

success = ssh.AuthenticatePw("mySshLogin", password)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


Dim channelNum As Int = ssh.QuickShell
If channelNum < 0 Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  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.ReadTimeoutMs = 15000

Dim caseSensitive As Boolean = True

'  The router presents a numbered main menu ending with "Select Menu Number [0-7]: ".
success = ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(channelNum, "Select Menu Number", "utf-8", caseSensitive)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


Dim cmdOutput As String = ssh.GetReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8")
If ssh.LastMethodSuccess = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If

Log(cmdOutput)

'  Choose menu item 4 (Device Console), exactly as if typing it in a terminal.
success = ssh.ChannelSendString(channelNum, "4" & Chr(10), "utf-8")
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


'  The device console prompt is "console>".
success = ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(channelNum, "console>", "utf-8", caseSensitive)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


cmdOutput = ssh.GetReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8")
If ssh.LastMethodSuccess = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If

Log(cmdOutput)

'  Send a console command and read its output up to the next prompt.
success = ssh.ChannelSendString(channelNum, "dnslookup host google.com" & Chr(10), "utf-8")
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


success = ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(channelNum, "console>", "utf-8", caseSensitive)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


cmdOutput = ssh.GetReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8")
If ssh.LastMethodSuccess = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If

Log(cmdOutput)

'  Additional commands follow the same pattern.
success = ssh.ChannelSendString(channelNum, "dnslookup host microsoft.com" & Chr(10), "utf-8")
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


success = ssh.ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(channelNum, "console>", "utf-8", caseSensitive)
If success = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


cmdOutput = ssh.GetReceivedText(channelNum, "utf-8")
If ssh.LastMethodSuccess = False Then
    Log(ssh.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If

Log(cmdOutput)

ssh.Disconnect