The node-ssh npm package is a lightweight wrapper for SSH2, providing a simple and easy-to-use API for performing SSH operations. It allows you to connect to remote servers, execute commands, transfer files, and manage SSH connections programmatically.

What are node-ssh's main functionalities?

Connecting to a remote server

This feature allows you to establish an SSH connection to a remote server using the provided host, username, and private key.

const { NodeSSH } = require('node-ssh');
const ssh = new NodeSSH();
ssh.connect({
  host: 'example.com',
  username: 'user',
  privateKey: '/path/to/private/key'
}).then(() => {
  console.log('Connected to the server');
}).catch(err => {
  console.error('Error connecting to the server:', err);
});

Executing commands on a remote server

This feature allows you to execute shell commands on the connected remote server and retrieve the output.

ssh.execCommand('ls -la', { cwd: '/home/user' }).then(result => {
  console.log('STDOUT: ' + result.stdout);
  console.log('STDERR: ' + result.stderr);
}).catch(err => {
  console.error('Error executing command:', err);
});

Transferring files to a remote server

This feature allows you to transfer files from your local machine to the remote server.

ssh.putFile('/local/path/to/file.txt', '/remote/path/to/file.txt').then(() => {
  console.log('File transferred successfully');
}).catch(err => {
  console.error('Error transferring file:', err);
});

Transferring files from a remote server

This feature allows you to download files from the remote server to your local machine.

ssh.getFile('/local/path/to/file.txt', '/remote/path/to/file.txt').then(() => {
  console.log('File downloaded successfully');
}).catch(err => {
  console.error('Error downloading file:', err);
});

Other packages similar to node-ssh

Node-SSH - SSH2 with Promises

Node-SSH is an extremely lightweight Promise wrapper for ssh2, Period.

Example

var path, node_ssh, ssh, fs

fs = require('fs')
path = require('path')
node_ssh = require('node-ssh')
ssh = new node_ssh()

ssh.connect({
  host: 'localhost',
  username: 'steel',
  privateKey: '/home/steel/.ssh/id_rsa'
})
/*
 Or
 ssh.connect({
   host: 'localhost',
   username: 'steel',
   privateKey: fs.readFileSync('/home/steel/.ssh/id_rsa')
 })
 if you want to use the raw string as private key
 */
.then(function() {
  // Local, Remote
  ssh.putFile('/home/steel/Lab/localPath', '/home/steel/Lab/remotePath').then(function() {
    console.log("The File thing is done")
  }, function(error) {
    console.log("Something's wrong")
    console.log(error)
  })
  // Array<Shape('local' => string, 'remote' => string)>
  ssh.putFiles([{ local: '/home/steel/Lab/localPath', remote: '/home/steel/Lab/remotePath' }]).then(function() {
    console.log("The File thing is done")
  }, function(error) {
    console.log("Something's wrong")
    console.log(error)
  })
  // Local, Remote
  ssh.getFile('/home/steel/Lab/localPath', '/home/steel/Lab/remotePath').then(function(Contents) {
    console.log("The File's contents were successfully downloaded")
  }, function(error) {
    console.log("Something's wrong")
    console.log(error)
  })
  // Putting entire directories
  const failed = []
  const successful = []
  ssh.putDirectory('/home/steel/Lab', '/home/steel/Lab', {
    recursive: true,
    validate: function(itemPath) {
      const baseName = path.basename(itemPath)
      return baseName.substr(0, 1) !== '.' && // do not allow dot files
             baseName !== 'node_modules' // do not allow node_modules
    },
    tick: function(localPath, remotePath, error) {
      if (error) {
        failed.push(localPath)
      } else {
        successful.push(localPath)
      }
    }
  }).then(function(status) {
    console.log('the directory transfer was', status ? 'successful' : 'unsuccessful')
    console.log('failed transfers', failed.join(', '))
    console.log('successful transfers', successful.join(', '))
  })
  // Command
  ssh.execCommand('hh_client --json', { cwd:'/var/www' }).then(function(result) {
    console.log('STDOUT: ' + result.stdout)
    console.log('STDERR: ' + result.stderr)
  })
  // Command with escaped params
  ssh.exec('hh_client', ['--json'], { cwd: '/var/www', stream: 'stdout', options: { pty: true } }).then(function(result) {
    console.log('STDOUT: ' + result)
  })
})

API

class SSH{
  connect(config: SSH2Config): Promise<this>
  requestSFTP(): Promise<SSH2SFTP>
  requestShell(): Promise<SSH2Shell>
  mkdir(path: string, method: 'sftp' | 'exec' = 'sftp', givenSftp?: Object): Promise<string>
  exec(command: string, parameters: Array<string>, options: { cwd?: string, options?: Object, stdin?: string, stream?: 'stdout' | 'stderr', 'both' } = {}): Promise<Object | string>
  execCommand(command: string, options: { cwd: string, stdin: string } = {}): Promise<{ stdout: string, options?: Object, stderr: string, signal: ?string, code: number }>
  putFile(localFile: string, remoteFile: string, sftp: ?Object = null, opts: ?Object = null): Promise<void>
  getFile(localFile: string, remoteFile: string, sftp: ?Object = null, opts: ?Object = null): Promise<void>
  putFiles(files: Array<{ local: string, remote: string }>, sftp: ?Object = null, maxAtOnce: number = 5, opts: ?Object = null): Promise<void>
  putDirectory(localDirectory: string, remoteDirectory: string, options: ?{ recursive: boolean, tick(localPath, remotePath, error): any, validate(localPath): boolean } = null, sftp: ?Object = null, opts: ?Object = null): Promise<boolean>
  dispose(): void
}

License

This project is licensed under the terms of MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.

4.2.3

Fix passing options in execCommand

Keywords

FAQs

What is node-ssh?

Is node-ssh popular?

Is node-ssh well maintained?

Package last updated on 19 Jul 2017

Did you know?

Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.

Install