Automating running command on Linux from Windows using PuTTY

Question

I have a scenario where I need to run a linux shell command frequently (with different filenames) from windows. I am using PuTTY and WinSCP to do that (requires login name and password). The file is copied to a predefined folder in the linux machine through WinSCP and then the command is run from PuTTY. Is there a way by which I can automate this through a program. Ideally I would like to right click the file from windows and issue the command which would copy the file to remote machine and run the predefined command (in PuTTy) with the filename as argument.

Answer 1

There could be security issues with common methods for auto-login. One of the most easiest ways is documented below:

• Running Putty from the Windows Command Line

And as for the part the executes the command In putty UI, Connection>SSH> there's a field for remote command.

4.17 The SSH panel

The SSH panel allows you to configure options that only apply to SSH sessions.

4.17.1 Executing a specific command on the server

In SSH, you don't have to run a general shell session on the server. Instead, you can choose to run a single specific command (such as a mail user agent, for example). If you want to do this, enter the command in the "Remote command" box. http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.53/htmldoc/Chapter4.html

in short, your answers might just as well be similar to the text below:

• let Putty run command in remote server

Answer 2

Putty usually comes with the "plink" utility.
This is essentially the "ssh" command line command implemented as a windows .exe.
It pretty well documented in the putty manual under "Using the command line tool plink".

You just need to wrap a command like:

plink root@myserver /etc/backups/do-backup.sh

in a .bat script.

You can also use common shell constructs, like semicolons to execute multiple commands. e.g:

plink read@myhost ls -lrt /home/read/files;/etc/backups/do-backup.sh

Answer 3

You can write a TCL script and establish SSH session to that Linux machine and issue commands automatically. Check http://wiki.tcl.tk/11542 for a short tutorial.

Answer 4

You can create a putty session, and auto load the script on the server, when starting the session:

putty -load "sessionName" 

At remote command, point to the remote script.

Answer 5

You can do both tasks (the upload and the command execution) using WinSCP. Use WinSCP script like:

option batch abort
option confirm off
open your_session
put %1%
call script.sh
exit

Reference for the call command:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/scriptcommand_call

Reference for the %1% syntax:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/scripting#syntax

You can then run the script like:

winscp.exe /console /script=script_path\upload.txt /parameter file_to_upload.dat

Actually, you can put a shortcut to the above command to the Windows Explorer's Send To menu, so that you can then just right-click any file and go to the Send To > Upload using WinSCP and Execute Remote Command (=name of the shortcut).

For that, go to the folder %USERPROFILE%\SendTo and create a shortcut with the following target:

winscp_path\winscp.exe /console /script=script_path\upload.txt /parameter %1

See Creating entry in Explorer's "Send To" menu.

Answer 6

Here is a totally out of the box solution.

1. Install AutoHotKey (ahk)
2. Map the script to a key (e.g. F9)

3. In the ahk script, a) Ftp the commands (.ksh) file to the linux machine

   b) Use plink like below. Plink should be installed if you have putty.

plink sessionname -l username -pw password test.ksh

or

plink -ssh example.com -l username -pw password test.ksh

All the steps will be performed in sequence whenever you press F9 in windows.

Answer 7

Code:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace playSound
{
    class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(args[0]);

            Process amixerMediaProcess = new Process();
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.ErrorDialog = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = false;
            amixerMediaProcess.EnableRaisingEvents = true;

            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = string.Format("{0}","-ssh username@"+args[0]+" -pw password -m commands.txt");
            amixerMediaProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "plink.exe";
            amixerMediaProcess.Start();


            Console.Write("Presskey to continue . . . ");
            Console.ReadKey(true);
    }
}

}

Sample commands.txt:

ps

Link: https://huseyincakir.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/send-commands-to-a-remote-device-over-puttyssh-putty-send-command-from-command-line/

Answer 8

Try MtPutty, you can automate the ssh login in it. Its a great tool especially if you need to login to multiple servers many times. Try it here

Another tool worth trying is TeraTerm. Its really easy to use for the ssh automation stuff. You can get it here. But my favorite one is always MtPutty.

Answer 9

In case you are using Key based authentication, using saved Putty session seems to work great, for example to run a shell script on a remote server(In my case an ec2).Saved configuration will take care of authentication.

C:\Users> plink saved_putty_session_name path_to_shell_file/filename.sh

Please remember if you save your session with name like(user@hostname), this command would not work as it will be treated as part of the remote command.