ssh2

What is ssh2?

The ssh2 npm package is a client and server module for SSH and SFTP written in pure JavaScript for node.js. It provides an interface to connect to and interact with SSH servers, allowing for the execution of commands, file transfers, local and remote port forwarding, and more.

What are ssh2's main functionalities?

Executing Commands on Remote Server

This code sample demonstrates how to execute a command (in this case, 'uptime') on a remote server using the ssh2 package.

const { Client } = require('ssh2');

const conn = new Client();
conn.on('ready', () => {
  console.log('Client :: ready');
  conn.exec('uptime', (err, stream) => {
    if (err) throw err;
    stream.on('close', (code, signal) => {
      console.log('Stream :: close :: code: ' + code + ', signal: ' + signal);
      conn.end();
    }).on('data', (data) => {
      console.log('STDOUT: ' + data);
    }).stderr.on('data', (data) => {
      console.log('STDERR: ' + data);
    });
  });
}).connect({
  host: '192.168.100.100',
  port: 22,
  username: 'frylock',
  privateKey: require('fs').readFileSync('/here/is/my/key')
});

SFTP File Transfer

This code sample shows how to transfer a file from a local path to a remote path using SFTP with the ssh2 package.

const { Client } = require('ssh2');

const conn = new Client();
conn.on('ready', () => {
  console.log('Client :: ready');
  conn.sftp((err, sftp) => {
    if (err) throw err;
    sftp.fastPut(localPath, remotePath, {}, (err) => {
      if (err) throw err;
      console.log('File transferred successfully!');
      conn.end();
    });
  });
}).connect({
  host: '192.168.100.100',
  port: 22,
  username: 'frylock',
  privateKey: require('fs').readFileSync('/here/is/my/key')
});

TCP Port Forwarding

This code sample illustrates how to set up TCP port forwarding from the local machine to a remote destination using the ssh2 package.

const { Client } = require('ssh2');

const conn = new Client();
conn.on('ready', () => {
  console.log('Client :: ready');
  conn.forwardOut('127.0.0.1', 12345, 'www.google.com', 80, (err, stream) => {
    if (err) throw err;
    stream.on('close', () => {
      console.log('TCP :: CLOSED');
      conn.end();
    }).on('data', (data) => {
      console.log('TCP :: DATA: ' + data);
    });
    stream.end('GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: www.google.com\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n');
  });
}).connect({
  host: '192.168.100.100',
  port: 22,
  username: 'frylock',
  privateKey: require('fs').readFileSync('/here/is/my/key')
});

Other packages similar to ssh2

node-ssh

node-ssh is an SSH2 client module that provides a higher-level API for interacting with SSH servers. It simplifies tasks like executing commands and handling file transfers. Compared to ssh2, node-ssh is built on top of ssh2 and offers a more promise-based API, which can be easier to use for some developers.

simple-ssh

simple-ssh is another SSH client for node.js that aims to provide a simpler and more intuitive API than ssh2. It offers a chainable API for executing multiple commands in sequence. While it may be easier for beginners, it is not as feature-rich as ssh2 and may not be suitable for more complex SSH interactions.