Delphi DLL

SSH Remote Shell with Multiple Commands

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.

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Delphi DLL

var
success: Boolean;
ssh: HCkSsh;
hostname: PWideChar;
port: Integer;
password: PWideChar;
channelNum: Integer;
caseSensitive: Boolean;
cmdOutput: PWideChar;

begin
success := False;

//  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.

ssh := CkSsh_Create();

hostname := 'ssh.example.com';
port := 22;
success := CkSsh_Connect(ssh,hostname,port);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

//  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.
password := 'mySshPassword';

success := CkSsh_AuthenticatePw(ssh,'mySshLogin',password);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

channelNum := CkSsh_OpenSessionChannel(ssh);
if (channelNum < 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

//  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.
success := CkSsh_SendReqShell(ssh,channelNum);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

//  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.
CkSsh_putReadTimeoutMs(ssh,15000);

caseSensitive := True;

//  ---- 1st command: change directory ----
success := CkSsh_ChannelSendString(ssh,channelNum,'cd /tmp; echo END_OF_CMD_1' + #10,'utf-8');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

success := CkSsh_ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(ssh,channelNum,'END_OF_CMD_1','utf-8',caseSensitive);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

//  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.
cmdOutput := CkSsh__getReceivedText(ssh,channelNum,'utf-8');
if (CkSsh_getLastMethodSuccess(ssh) = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add(cmdOutput);

//  ---- 2nd command: directory listing ----
success := CkSsh_ChannelSendString(ssh,channelNum,'ls; echo END_OF_CMD_2' + #10,'utf-8');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

success := CkSsh_ChannelReceiveUntilMatch(ssh,channelNum,'END_OF_CMD_2','utf-8',caseSensitive);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

cmdOutput := CkSsh__getReceivedText(ssh,channelNum,'utf-8');
if (CkSsh_getLastMethodSuccess(ssh) = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add(cmdOutput);

//  ---- 3rd command: long listing, then finish the session ----
success := CkSsh_ChannelSendString(ssh,channelNum,'ls -l' + #10,'utf-8');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

//  No more input will be sent.
success := CkSsh_ChannelSendEof(ssh,channelNum);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

success := CkSsh_ChannelReceiveToClose(ssh,channelNum);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;

cmdOutput := CkSsh__getReceivedText(ssh,channelNum,'utf-8');
if (CkSsh_getLastMethodSuccess(ssh) = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add(cmdOutput);

CkSsh_Disconnect(ssh);

CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);