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I store in a file named ssh_hosts.txt a list of hostnames. In a shell script, I loop over the hostnames in ssh_hosts.txt and execute a command on the named host via SSH. The shell script is shown below.

The problem is that the script exits after processing the first host. But if I do something other than execute a command on the named host via ssh, the script will run to completion.

In the example below, I've commented out the call to ssh and replaced it with a simple echo of the current host name. This will run to completion.

I am executing this script from a bash shell running under the following Cygwin version on Windows 7:

$ uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-6.1 myHostname 1.7.16(0.262/5/3) 2012-07-20 22:55 i686 Cygwin

These SSH versions are involved:

$ ssh -V
OpenSSH_6.0p1, OpenSSL 1.0.1c 10 May 2012

$ ssh myUsername@remoteHost 'ssh -V'
myUsername@remoteHost password:
OpenSSH_6.7p1 Debian-5+deb8u3, OpenSSL 1.0.1t  3 May 2016

Here is the shell script:

#!/bin/bash

if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
   echo "Usage: $(basename $0) <user name>"
   exit 1
fi

USER="$1"

while IFS='' read -r ssh_host || [[ -n "$ssh_host" ]];
do
   # This line will execute for all hosts listed in ssh_hosts.txt.
   echo $ssh_host

   # This line will execute for *only the first* host in ssh_hosts.txt.
   # ssh $USER@$ssh_host 'echo $(whoami)@$(hostname)'
done < ssh_hosts.txt

How may I get this shell script to execute over all hosts in ssh_hosts.txt rather than just over the first host?

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3 Answers 3

4

I think you are making it too complicated:

for ssh_host in $(cat ssh_hosts.txt)
do
   echo $ssh_host
   ssh $user@$ssh_host ....
done

Also, search github for gsh, which is a perl program that will do more if you do this often.

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  • I would have loved to have selected all of the offered answers as "the" answer--they were all very good and I sure appreciate people's time in offering them--, but ultimately I picked this one because it most simply and directly solved my specific problem. Thank you to dave_thompson_085, virtex, dgoo2308, and eggo!
    – Dave
    Jun 16, 2017 at 11:19
5

You have two programs in your loop both reading from stdin: read and ssh. When your loop runs, the read command will read the first line from ssh_hosts.txt, then ssh slurps up the rest. That's why you only see it connect to the first host.

I know of two solutions to this problem. One is to rewrite your loop so it doesn't redirect from stdin. A good way to do this is with the for loop that eggo has in his post.

The other solution is to pass the -n option to ssh:

ssh -n $USER@$ssh_host 'echo $(whoami)@$(hostname)'

This tells ssh not to use stdin, leaving the full contents of your ssh_hosts.txt to the read command. This solution requires your ssh sessions to not require any interaction with the user, including prompting for a password (so use ssh keys for authentication).

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  • Ahhh stdin, thank you for explaining the underlying problem!
    – Dave
    Jun 16, 2017 at 11:14
3

You need to fork it as the ssh will mess up your loop.

I got a script on hand for updating my authorised keys, I did this with 2 scripts:

  • run.sh: read your host list and fork the do_command.sh script
  • do_command.sh: make connection with control socket, execute commands and close

As an extra bonus:

  • all hosts are connected simultaneous
  • multiple commands are executed with one connection
  • a log file with the results

Main script: run.sh

#!/bin/bash
TIMEOUT=60
COUNT=0
rm -rf log
mkdir log
while read -u10 HOST ; do ( ./do_command.sh $HOST & ); done 10< ssh_hosts.txt
sleep 1
for f in log/*.pid; do
    [ -e "$f" ] && VMN=`ls log/*.pid`
    echo "waiting for process to finish"
    break
done
while [ "$VMN" != "" ]
do

  sleep 3
  COUNT=$(($COUNT+3))
  if (("$COUNT" != "$TIMEOUT"))
    then
        VMN=""
        for f in log/*.pid; do
            [ -e "$f" ] && VMN=`ls log/*.pid`
            break
        done
        if [ "$VMN" != "" ]
        then
            echo "waiting already "$COUNT" seconds ..."
            #for VM in $VMN; do 
                #myPID=$(<"$VM")
                #echo -e "\t pid:$myPID \t $VM "

                #done
        fi
    else
        echo -e "\n!!! timeout, waiting for remaining processes's to shutdown"
        for VM in $VMN; do
            myPID=$(<"$VM")
            ITEM=$(sed -e 's/.pid//;s/log\///' <<<"$VM")
            LOGX="log/$ITEM.log"
            echo -e "killing $myPID -> item: $ITEM \t log: $LOGX" 
            kill -9 $myPID 
            rm -rf $VM
            echo -e "\n ###### main Process ###### \n\n \t Killed due to Time out \nFAILED $ITEM" >>$LOGX
            echo "$ITEM Killed due to Time out" >>log/error.txt
        done
        rm -fv log/*.sock
        VMN=''
    fi
done
if [ -f log/error.txt ] 
then
    rm -fv log/*.sock
    echo -e "\n##### FAIL ##############\n"
    cat log/error.txt
    echo
    exit 1
fi
echo

Action script: do_command.sh

#!/bin/bash
exec 5<&1 
exec 6<&2
echo "PROCESS $1"
myPID=$$
echo $$ >"log/$1.pid"
chmod 777 "log/$1.pid"
exec 1> "log/$1.log" 2>&1
echo "PROCESS $1"
SOCKET="log/$1_$myPID.sock"
TARGET="root@$1"
echo "Connecting to $TARGET .... "
ssh -f -N -M -o ControlPath=$SOCKET $TARGET
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Could not connect $1, Cleanup "
    echo "Could not connect $1, exit " >>log/error.txt
    #ssh -S $SOCKET -O exit $TARGET
    rm -fv "log/$1.pid"
    rm -fv $SOCKET
    echo "FAILED $TARGET">&6
    echo "FAILED $TARGET"
    exit 1
fi

# Do the thing you need to do
# This script copy a file to the remote and executes 2 commands
#
scp -o ControlPath=$SOCKET authorized_keys $TARGET:.ssh/new_authorized_keys

# Execute a command:
ssh -o ControlPath=$SOCKET $TARGET "mv -fv .ssh/authorized_keys .ssh/old_authorized_keys && cp -fv .ssh/new_authorized_keys .ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys"

# Another remote command:   
ssh -o ControlPath=$SOCKET $TARGET "ls -la .ssh"

# And Close the socket 
ssh -S $SOCKET -O exit $TARGET

sleep 1
echo Cleanup
rm -fv "log/$1.pid"
rm -fv $SOCKET
echo "SUCCESS $TARGET"
echo "SUCCESS $TARGET">&5
exit 0
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  • Very nice solution, and yes, the problem I'm trying to solve is that of creative an effective SSH key (both host and user keys) management solution.
    – Dave
    Jun 16, 2017 at 11:15
  • @Dave don't forget to mark as answered Jun 22, 2017 at 8:11

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