How to check SSH credentials are working or not - ssh

I have a large number of devices around 300
I have different creds to them
SSH CREDS, API CREDS
So as I cannot manually SSH to all those devices and check the creds are working or not
I am thinking of writing a script and pass the device IP's to the script and which gives me as yes as a result if the SSH creds are working and NO if not working.
I am new to all this stuff! details will be appreciated!
I will run this script on a server from where I can ssh to all the devices.

Your question isn't clear as to what sort of credentials you use for connecting to each host: do all hosts have the same connection method, for instance?
Let's assume that you use ssh's authorised keys method to log in to each host (i.e. you have a public key on each host within the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file). You can run ssh with a do nothing command against each host and look at the exit code to see if the connection was successful.
HOST=1.2.3.4
ssh -i /path/to/my/private.key user#${HOST} true > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0]; then echo "Error, could not connect to ${HOST}"; fi
Now it's just a case of wrapping this in some form of loop where you cycle through each host (and choose the right key for each host, perhaps you could name each private key after the name or IP address of the target host). The script will go out all those hosts for which a connection was not possible. Note that this script assumes that true is available on the target host, otherwise you could use ls or similar. We pipe all output to /dev/null/ as we're only interested in the ability to connect.
EDIT IN RESPONSE TO OP CLARIFICATION:
I'd strongly recommend not using username/password for login, as the username and password will likely be held in your script somewhere, or even in your shell history, if you run the command from the command line. If you must do this, then you could use expect or sshpass, as detailed here: https://srvfail.com/how-to-provide-ssh-password-inside-a-script-or-oneliner/
The ssh command shown does not spawn a shell, it literally logs in to the remote server, executes the command true (or ls, etc), then exits. You can use the return code ($? in bash) to check whether the command executed correctly. My example shows it printing out an error message for non-zero return codes, but to print out YES on successful connection, you could do this:
if [ $? -eq 0]; then echo "${HOST}: YES"; fi

Related

Expect script not working and terminal closes immediately

I don't know what's wrong with the script. I set up a new profile on Iterm terminal to run the script, but it never works and closes immediately. Here's the script:
#!/usr/bin/expect -f
set timeout 120
set secret mysecret
set username asdf
set host {123.456.789.010}
set password password123
log_user 0
spawn oathtool --totp --base32 $secret
expect -re \\d+
sleep 400
set otp $expect_out(0,string)
spawn ssh -2 $username#$host
expect "*assword:*"
send "$password\n"
expect "Enter Google Authenticator code:"
send "$otp\n"
interact
First, test you ssh connection with:
ssh -v <auser>#<apassword>
That will validate the SSH session works.
Make sure to not use ssh -T ..., since you might need a terminal for expect commands to work.
Second, add at least an echo at the beginning of the script, to see if it is called:
puts "Script running\r"
Third, see if a bash script, with part of it using expect as in here, would work better in this case

Prevent rsync from trying to ask for a password

How do I prevent rsync from trying to ask for a password for the remote server login?
Note: I am not asking how to set up public key authenticated SSH. I know how to set up public key authenticated SSH. What I am asking is how to prevent rsync from trying to ask for a password if public key authentication fails, like what scp's -B flag does. I am using rsync in a script here, so if it tries to ask for a password, my script will hang, waiting for input that will never come. I want the rsync command to instead fail, so my script can detect the failure and exit gracefully.
Just pass options to the underlying ssh command used by rsync:
rsync -e 'ssh -oBatchMode=yes [other ssh options]' [rest of rsync command]
From the rsync manual:
-e, --rsh=COMMAND specify the remote shell to use
From the ssh manual:
BatchMode
If set to “yes”, passphrase/password querying will be disabled.
This option is useful in scripts and other batch jobs where no
user is present to supply the password. The argument must be
“yes” or “no”. The default is “no”.
This emulates the bahavior os scp -B.

Create script/shortcut to login via ssh

My issue is that everytime I have to login to a given account on a linux server (there are many) I have to go pull a text file not I have to look at the username and ip.
Example: "ssh some_user#xxx.xxx.xxx.x -pxxxxx"
I want to make my life a little easier by creating a shortcut, e.g. "ssh some_user"...
I searched and could not find an answer, likely not using the right terminology.
Thanks!
You can use the ssh client configuration file (.ssh/config). If you have to type ssh -p 1234 mylogin#my.server.with.a.long.name.com, you can populate your config file with
host server
hostname my.server.with.a.long.name.com
user mylogin
port 1234
Then you can simply type ssh server and it will have the same effect. You can have as many entries in your .ssh/config file as you want and even use wildcards (*)
If you are using a recent version of bash, you can furthermore make use of the command_not_found_handle function:
command_not_found_handle () {
if grep "host $1" ~/.ssh/config &>/dev/null; then
ssh $#
else
printf "Sorry: Command not found: $1\n"
return 127
fi
}
Then you can connect simply with
server
I dont know if I understood your problem correct, but a proper ssh config file make life muuuch easier. No IP, no domain, no password, not even a username.
See the man page: http://linux.die.net/man/5/ssh_config
I like things like ssh vm, or scp vm:... no more scp blablubb#192.168.226.xy:...+ passphrase.
Also see ssh-keygen and ssh-copy-id for asymmetric key exchange. Will get you rid of typing passwords.
Generally I recommend to read a ssh tutorial.

How to do remote ssh non-interactively

I am trying to connect to a remote host from my local host through the below command.But there was a setting in the remote host that soon after we login it will prompt to enter a badge ID,password and reason for logging in, because it was coded like that in profile file on remote-host How can I overcome those steps and login directly non-interactively, without disturbing the code in profile.
jsmith#local-host$ ssh -t -t generic_userID#remote-host
Enter your badgeID, < exit > to abort:
Enter your password for <badgeID> :
Enter a one line justification for your interactive login to generic_userID
Small amendment: to overcome remote server expect approach is required, but in case local script connects to bunch of remote servers, which configuration may be broken, just use SSH options:
ssh -f -q -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null USER#TARGETSYSTEM
This will omit ask for password in case there is no ssh_key setup, exit silently and continue with script/other hosts.
Puts ssh to background with -f, which is required when calling ssh command from sh (batch) file to remove local console redirect to remote input (implies -n).
Look into setting up a wrapper script around expect. This should do exactly what you're looking for.
Here are a few examples you can work from.
I have upvoted Marvin Pinto's answer because there is every reason to script this, in case there are other features in the profile that you need, such as Message of the Day motd.
However, there is a quick and dirty alternative if you don't want to make a script and you don't want other features from the profile. Depending on your preferred shell on the remote host, you can insist that the shell bypasses the profile files. For example, if bash is available on the remote host, you can invoke it with:
ssh -t -t generic_userID#remote-host bash --noprofile
I tested the above on the macOS 10.13 version of OpenSSH. Normally the command at the end of the ssh invocation is run non-interactively, but the -t flag allows bash to start an interactive shell.
Details are in the Start-up files section of the Bash Reference Manual.

Which is the best way to bring a file from a remote host to local host over an SSH session?

When connecting to remote hosts via ssh, I frequently want to bring a file on that system to the local system for viewing or processing. Is there a way to copy the file over without (a) opening a new terminal/pausing the ssh session (b) authenticating again to either the local or remote hosts which works (c) even when one or both of the hosts is behind a NAT router?
The goal is to take advantage of as much of the current state as possible: that there is a connection between the two machines, that I'm authenticated on both, that I'm in the working directory of the file---so I don't have to open another terminal and copy and paste the remote host and path in, which is what I do now. The best solution also wouldn't require any setup before the session began, but if the setup was a one-time or able to be automated, than that's perfectly acceptable.
zssh (a ZMODEM wrapper over openssh) does exactly what you want.
Install zssh and use it instead of openssh (which I assume that you normally use)
You'll have to have the lrzsz package installed on both systems.
Then, to transfer a file zyxel.png from remote to local host:
antti#local:~$ zssh remote
Press ^# (C-Space) to enter file transfer mode, then ? for help
...
antti#remote:~$ sz zyxel.png
**B00000000000000
^#
zssh > rz
Receiving: zyxel.png
Bytes received: 104036/ 104036 BPS:16059729
Transfer complete
antti#remote:~$
Uploading goes similarly, except that you just switch rz(1) and sz(1).
Putty users can try Le Putty, which has similar functionality.
On a linux box I use the ssh-agent and sshfs. You need to setup the sshd to accept connections with key pairs. Then you use ssh-add to add you key to the ssh-agent so you don't have type your password everytime. Be sure to use -t seconds, so the key doesn't stay loaded forever.
ssh-add -t 3600 /home/user/.ssh/ssh_dsa
After that,
sshfs hostname:/ /PathToMountTo/
will mount the server file system on your machine so you have access to it.
Personally, I wrote a small bash script that add my key and mount the servers I use the most, so when I start to work I just have to launch the script and type my passphrase.
Using some little known and rarely used features of the openssh
implementation you can accomplish precisely what you want!
takes advantage of the current state
can use the working directory where you are
does not require any tunneling setup before the session begins
does not require opening a separate terminal or connection
can be used as a one-time deal in an interactive session or can be used as part of an automated session
You should only type what is at each of the local>, remote>, and
ssh> prompts in the examples below.
local> ssh username#remote
remote> ~C
ssh> -L6666:localhost:6666
remote> nc -l 6666 < /etc/passwd
remote> ~^Z
[suspend ssh]
[1]+ Stopped ssh username#remote
local> (sleep 1; nc localhost 6666 > /tmp/file) & fg
[2] 17357
ssh username#remote
remote> exit
[2]- Done ( sleep 1; nc localhost 6666 > /tmp/file )
local> cat /tmp/file
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
...
Or, more often you want to go the other direction, for example if you
want to do something like transfer your ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub file from
your local machine to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file of the remote
machine.
local> ssh username#remote
remote> ~C
ssh> -R5555:localhost:5555
remote> ~^Z
[suspend ssh]
[1]+ Stopped ssh username#remote
local> nc -l 5555 < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub &
[2] 26607
local> fg
ssh username#remote
remote> nc localhost 5555 >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
remote> cat ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2ZQQQQBIwAAAQEAsgaVp8mnWVvpGKhfgwHTuOObyfYSe8iFvksH6BGWfMgy8poM2+5sTL6FHI7k0MXmfd7p4rzOL2R4q9yjG+Hl2PShjkjAVb32Ss5ZZ3BxHpk30+0HackAHVqPEJERvZvqC3W2s4aKU7ae4WaG1OqZHI1dGiJPJ1IgFF5bWbQl8CP9kZNAHg0NJZUCnJ73udZRYEWm5MEdTIz0+Q5tClzxvXtV4lZBo36Jo4vijKVEJ06MZu+e2WnCOqsfdayY7laiT0t/UsulLNJ1wT+Euejl+3Vft7N1/nWptJn3c4y83c4oHIrsLDTIiVvPjAj5JTkyH1EA2pIOxsKOjmg2Maz7Pw== username#local
A little bit of explanation is in order.
The first step is to open a LocalForward; if you don't already have
one established then you can use the ~C escape character to open an
ssh command line which will give you the following commands:
remote> ~C
ssh> help
Commands:
-L[bind_address:]port:host:hostport Request local forward
-R[bind_address:]port:host:hostport Request remote forward
-D[bind_address:]port Request dynamic forward
-KR[bind_address:]port Cancel remote forward
In this example I establish a LocalForward on port 6666 of localhost
for both the client and the server; the port number can be any
arbitrary open port.
The nc command is from the netcat package; it is described as the
"TCP/IP swiss army knife"; it is a simple, yet very flexible and
useful program. Make it a standard part of your unix toolbelt.
At this point nc is listening on port 6666 and waiting for another
program to connect to that port so it can send the contents of
/etc/passwd.
Next we make use of another escape character ~^Z which is tilde
followed by control-Z. This temporarily suspends the ssh process and
drops us back into our shell.
One back on the local system you can use nc to connect to the
forwarded port 6666. Note the lack of a -l in this case because that
option tells nc to listen on a port as if it were a server which is
not what we want; instead we want to just use nc as a client to
connect to the already listening nc on the remote side.
The rest of the magic around the nc command is required because if
you recall above I said that the ssh process was temporarily
suspended, so the & will put the whole (sleep + nc) expression
into the background and the sleep gives you enough time for ssh to
return to the foreground with fg.
In the second example the idea is basically the same except we set up
a tunnel going the other direction using -R instead of -L so that
we establish a RemoteForward. And then on the local side is where
you want to use the -l argument to nc.
The escape character by default is ~ but you can change that with:
-e escape_char
Sets the escape character for sessions with a pty (default: ‘~’). The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a line. The escape character followed by a dot
(‘.’) closes the connection; followed by control-Z suspends the connection; and followed by itself sends the escape character once. Setting the character to “none” disables any
escapes and makes the session fully transparent.
A full explanation of the commands available with the escape characters is available in the ssh manpage
ESCAPE CHARACTERS
When a pseudo-terminal has been requested, ssh supports a number of functions through the use of an escape character.
A single tilde character can be sent as ~~ or by following the tilde by a character other than those described below. The escape character must always follow a newline to be interpreted
as special. The escape character can be changed in configuration files using the EscapeChar configuration directive or on the command line by the -e option.
The supported escapes (assuming the default ‘~’) are:
~. Disconnect.
~^Z Background ssh.
~# List forwarded connections.
~& Background ssh at logout when waiting for forwarded connection / X11 sessions to terminate.
~? Display a list of escape characters.
~B Send a BREAK to the remote system (only useful for SSH protocol version 2 and if the peer supports it).
~C Open command line. Currently this allows the addition of port forwardings using the -L, -R and -D options (see above). It also allows the cancellation of existing remote port-
forwardings using -KR[bind_address:]port. !command allows the user to execute a local command if the PermitLocalCommand option is enabled in ssh_config(5). Basic help is avail‐
able, using the -h option.
~R Request rekeying of the connection (only useful for SSH protocol version 2 and if the peer supports it).
Using ControlMaster (the -M switch) is the best solution, way simpler and easier than the rest of the answers here. It allows you to share a single connection among multiple sessions. Sounds like it does what the poster wants. You still have to type the scp or sftp command line though. Try it. I use it for all of my sshing.
In order to do this I have my home router set up to forward port 22 back to my home machine (which is firewalled to only accept ssh connections from my work machine) and I also have an account set up with DynDNS to provide Dynamic DNS that will resolve to my home IP automatically.
Then when I ssh into my work computer, the first thing I do is run a script that starts an ssh-agent (if your server doesn't do that automatically). The script I run is:
#!/bin/bash
ssh-agent sh -c 'ssh-add < /dev/null && bash'
It asks for my ssh key passphrase so that I don't have to type it in every time. You don't need that step if you use an ssh key without a passphrase.
For the rest of the session, sending files back to your home machine is as simple as
scp file_to_send.txt your.domain.name:~/
Here is a hack called ssh-xfer which addresses the exact problem, but requires patching OpenSSH, which is a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.
Here is my preferred solution to this problem. Set up a reverse ssh tunnel upon creating the ssh session. This is made easy by two bash function: grabfrom() needs to be defined on the local host, while grab() should be defined on the remote host. You can add any other ssh variables you use (e.g. -X or -Y) as you see fit.
function grabfrom() { ssh -R 2202:127.0.0.1:22 ${#}; };
function grab() { scp -P 2202 $# localuser#127.0.0.1:~; };
Usage:
localhost% grabfrom remoteuser#remotehost
password: <remote password goes here>
remotehost% grab somefile1 somefile2 *.txt
password: <local password goes here>
Positives:
It works without special software on either host beyond OpenSSH
It works when local host is behind a NAT router
It can be implemented as a pair of two one-line bash function
Negatives:
It uses a fixed port number so:
won't work with multiple connections to remote host
might conflict with a process using that port on the remote host
It requires localhost accept ssh connections
It requires a special command on initiation the session
It doesn't implicitly handle authentication to the localhost
It doesn't allow one to specify the destination directory on localhost
If you grab from multiple localhosts to the same remote host, ssh won't like the keys changing
Future work:
This is still pretty kludgy. Obviously, it would be possible to handle the authentication issue by setting up ssh keys appropriately and it's even easier to allow the specification of a remote directory by adding a parameter to grab()
More difficult is addressing the other negatives. It would be nice to pick a dynamic port but as far as I can tell there is no elegant way to pass that port to the shell on the remote host; As best as I can tell, OpenSSH doesn't allow you to set arbitrary environment variables on the remote host and bash can't take environment variables from a command line argument. Even if you could pick a dynamic port, there is no way to ensure it isn't used on the remote host without connecting first.
You can use SCP protocol for tranfering a file.you can refer this link
http://tekheez.biz/scp-protocol-in-unix/
The best way to use this you can expose your files over HTTP and download it from another server, you can achieve this using ZSSH Python library,
ZSSH - ZIP over SSH (Simple Python script to exchange files between servers).
Install it using PIP.
python3 -m pip install zssh
Run this command from your remote server.
python3 -m zssh -as --path /desktop/path_to_expose
It will give you an URL to execute from another server.
In the local system or another server where you need to download those files and extract.
python3 -m zssh -ad --path /desktop/path_to_download --zip http://example.com/temp_file.zip
For more about this library: https://pypi.org/project/zssh/
You should be able to set up public & private keys so that no auth is needed.
Which way you do it depends on security requirements, etc (be aware that there are linux/unix ssh worms which will look at keys to find other hosts they can attack).
I do this all the time from behind both linksys and dlink routers. I think you may need to change a couple of settings but it's not a big deal.
Use the -M switch.
"Places the ssh client into 'master' mode for connection shar-ing. Multiple -M options places ssh into ``master'' mode with confirmation required before slave connections are accepted. Refer to the description of ControlMaster in ssh_config(5) for details."
I don't quite see how that answers the OP's question - can you expand on this a bit, David?