SSH/Telnet control

Anthony_Mott · September 26, 2013, 7:56pm

Does anyone know of an SSH/telnet/terminal plugin for Xojo? I want to write an application to automate logging in to network devices (routers, firewalls, etc.) and execute commands. There are several .NET ActiveX/COM controls from companies like WeOnlyDo, Dart and so on to accomplish this but none for Xojo. I do not want to use a shell program such as the OS SSH and telnet functions.

I’ve been a VB.Net programmer for years and have recently started using it again simply for lack of third-party controls for Xojo. I really do like programming with Xojo and I love the fact that it creates stand-alone applications but the lack of third-party support has stopped me more than once.

Any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.

John_McKernon · September 27, 2013, 12:46am

Alex Restrepo had a Telnet project in his collection, it dates from around 2005 but probably still works.

Norman_P · September 27, 2013, 1:10am

It should
I just opened that code in Xojo
Not sure its posted publicly anywhere

Oliver_Osswald · September 27, 2013, 6:09am

You may want to ask Kem Tekinay for his SudoShell class (www.mactechnologies.com)

John_Hansen · September 27, 2013, 6:17am

Have a look on this one: http://www.justaddsoftware.net/RealSoftware_files/SSHShellExample.rbp

One very important issue. You should never use telnet if you can avoid it, as all communication is unencrypted. And these days all new firewalls supports SSH.

Johnny_Harris · September 27, 2013, 10:53am

Chilkat Software has an active-x component for Windows OS. I use their .net component in a couple of projects. If I remember correctly a couple of years ago I was able to use it with RS.

John_Hansen · September 27, 2013, 4:11pm

How To Use WinSCP To Send SSH (Secure Shell) Commands

I just realized it’s possible to use winzip with activex.

Download:

Installation package: http://winscp.net/download/winscp517setup.exe
.NET assembly?/?COM library http://winscp.net/download/winscp517automation.zip
(copy WinScp.dll to location of your installed winscp application and Follow the readme_automation.txt file )

Right now I don’t have much time to write a better example. But with the below code I manage to create an empty file on my server.

  Dim sessionOptions As OLEObject
  Dim Session As OLEObject
  
  sessionOptions = New OLEObject("WinSCP.SessionOptions")
  
  //sessionOptions.Protocol = Protocol.Sftp  // Xojo OleObject don't support enum.
  sessionOptions.Protocol = 0  // RS Oleobject don't support enum  I tried with different numbers and this one works.
  
  
  sessionOptions.HostName = "MyHostName"
  sessionOptions.UserName = "MyUserName"
  sessionOptions.Password = "MyPassword"
  sessionOptions.SshHostKeyFingerprint = "ssh-rsa 1024 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx"  // See http://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_script_hostkey
  
  session = new OLEObject("WinSCP.Session")
  
  session.Open(sessionOptions)
    
  session.ExecuteCommand("/bin/touch /tmp/MyNewFile.txt")

  exception err as oleexception
    msgbox err.message

You can obtain the rsa finger print by invoke following command on your SSH server:
ssh-keygen -lf <file-path-to-rsa_key.pub>

Example:
ssh-keygen -lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub

Christopher_Ridgeway · October 31, 2013, 12:33am

Any examples of how to transfer a file from local to remote via ssh using this example ?

John_Hansen · October 31, 2013, 7:30am

SFTP Example:

Here is a simple example howto upload multiple files from winscp’s Portable executables.

Download:

Portable executables: http://winscp.net/download/winscp517.zip
.NET assembly?/?COM library http://winscp.net/download/winscp517automation.zip
(copy WinScp.dll to location of your installed winscp application and Follow the readme_automation.txt file )

[code]
Dim sessionOptions As OLEObject
Dim Session As OLEObject

sessionOptions = New OLEObject(“WinSCP.SessionOptions”)

//sessionOptions.Protocol = Protocol.Sftp // Xojo OleObject don’t support enum.
sessionOptions.Protocol = 0 // RS Oleobject don’t support enum I tried with different numbers and this one works.

sessionOptions.HostName = “MyHostName”
sessionOptions.UserName = “MyUserName”
sessionOptions.Password = “MyPassword”
sessionOptions.SshHostKeyFingerprint = “ssh-rsa 1024 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx” // See http://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_script_hostkey

session = new OLEObject(“WinSCP.Session”)

session.Open(sessionOptions)

// Copy files from windows to a Linux platform
session.PutFiles(“C:\\temp\\XOJO\\*”, “/tmp/XOJO/”, false) //When set to true, deletes source local file(s) after transfer.

//more info about commands see http://winscp.net/eng/docs/library_session#methods

exception err as oleexception
msgbox err.message[/code]

Mike_Cotrone · November 16, 2013, 3:39pm

You can use my TELNET class I wrote. https://forum.xojo.com/6669-my-telnet-class-for-xojo/p1#p46561

scott_boss · November 16, 2013, 9:13pm

if your class is not on the third party plugins/controls page of the docs, you should get Paul to add it.

Robert_Ivens · November 16, 2013, 10:44pm

Sorry Mike,

But in the real world Telnet is dead. SSH is king.
On Mac OS X you can link into OpenSSH but on Windows you are out of luck.
Anyone has written a x-plat class/plugin for this?

Mike_Cotrone · November 17, 2013, 1:46am

Robert trust me I do know However I am writing apps to connect to devices that do not have SSH enabled. Many times people may still need a TELNET class for Xojo at some point

Thanks!

Robert_Ivens · November 17, 2013, 1:00pm

Fair enough

Do you know perhaps if there is a cross-platform SSH class/plugin for Xojo? I looked around but couldn’t find it.

Mike_Cotrone · November 17, 2013, 2:35pm

Unfortunately not yet. Kem Tekinay wrote an interactive shell for ssh, but everything I have seen so far people are using the shell for ssh. That is only good for Linux and Mac though.