Run ssh and immediately execute command

Question

I'm trying to find UNIX or bash command to run a command after connecting to an ssh server. For example:

ssh name@ip "tmux list-sessions"

The above code works, it lists the sessions, but it then immediately disconnects. Putting it in the sshrc on the server side works, but I need to be able to type it in client side. I want to be able to run a command, it logs in, opens up the window, then runs the command I've set. Ive tried

[command] | ssh name@ip

ssh name@ip [command]

ssh name@ip "[command]"

ssh -t name@ip [command]

You want to run a command, and then be left in an interactive shell on the remote server? — Barmar, Aug 29 '13 at 23:54
@tripleee according to dates not this but another question is duplicate. — zviad, Apr 27 '18 at 08:50
@zviad The age of a question is a secondary or tertiary concern when marking something as a duplicate. I don't have a strong opinion either way in this particular case, though I feel that perhaps the other question is more likely to be recognized as asking about this particular problem by new users who are looking for a solution to this. Ideally, a site moderator could merge the two questions if they both have valuable answers, though I have never seen that in practice. — tripleee, Apr 30 '18 at 07:25
`ssh name@server "command; bash -i"` if you would like to send command to a remote server and stay connected — JP Zhang, Nov 01 '19 at 17:13

score 358 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 21 '22 at 10:51

358

ssh -t 'command; bash -l'

will execute the command and then start up a login shell when it completes. For example:

ssh -t user@domain.example 'cd /some/path; bash -l'

edited Jun 21 '22 at 10:51

Stephen Ostermiller

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answered Aug 29 '13 at 23:56

Barmar

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Forgot my own syntax, almost gave up on this! For anyone else, just suffix any command with "; bash -l". Perhaps you could change it to '[command]; bash -l' or something for clarities sake? I'll change my question. Thanks! – cadlac Sep 01 '13 at 08:38
10

I think it's even better to `exec bash -l`. – Jo So Sep 01 '13 at 09:08
That's great, but what if you want the command to show up in the bash history? – bsmoo Jan 30 '15 at 23:33
Don't know a good way to push a command into the history. – Barmar Jan 30 '15 at 23:37
4

Works well but this hides the command prompt for me. Is there are way to make it display in the usual way? – pythonjsgeo Feb 18 '15 at 02:18
I get the command prompt when I try it. Check your shell startup scripts to see what they test when setting the prompt, and figure out why it's not being set in this case. – Barmar Feb 18 '15 at 19:48
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But what if the script you are attempting to run requires bash environment variables? – NobleUplift Oct 20 '15 at 14:23
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@NobleUplift You could put an explicit `source .bash_profile` before the command – Barmar Oct 20 '15 at 15:23
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ssh -i "key.pem" ec2-user@ec2-XX-XX-XX-XX.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com -t 'sudo su' but it does not switch to the superuser – Nusrat Nuriyev Sep 17 '17 at 19:49
@CEOatApartico Not sure what that has to do with this question, which is about going into a shell after executing some other command. – Barmar Sep 18 '17 at 18:41
For people using Homestead, this worked for me: `homestead.bat ssh -- -t 'cd /home/vagrant/Code/mysite/; ./vendor/bin/phpunit; /bin/bash'` (https://stackoverflow.com/a/22529114/470749) – Ryan Oct 05 '17 at 14:39
I normally change the shell to `bash` after loging in. Trying to automate this via above is not working. Any help if it this is achievable? I am trying `ssh $host -t "bash; cd workspace;" – mtk Oct 13 '17 at 11:46
@mtk https://serverfault.com/questions/368054/run-an-interactive-bash-subshell-with-initial-commands-without-returning-to-the – Barmar Oct 13 '17 at 15:47
Works great. After getting into the login shell I want to kick up a Rails console, something like this: `ssh 123.123.123.123 -t 'cd myapp; bash -l; rails console'`. Any ideas? Thanks. – Joshua Pinter Oct 30 '17 at 16:40
@JoshuaPinter Why do you need `bash`? Just `ssh -123.123.123.123 -t 'cd myapp; rails console'`. – Barmar Oct 30 '17 at 17:25
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@Barmar I get a Rails error that only shows up when I don't use `bash -l`. The error is `database configuration does not specify adapter`. Maybe it's a bash environment thing. I tried `source .bashrc` but that didn't help. Not sure how to find out what's going on with `bash -l` that makes it work fine. – Joshua Pinter Oct 31 '17 at 03:10
Try sourcing your `.profile` or `.bash_profile`. – Barmar Oct 31 '17 at 03:20
Jo so's answer is correct. On macOS, the only way I can being an ssh session and then automatically open say, Gnome disks is: `ssh -Y root@cheese exec gnome-disks` – Tomachi Mar 26 '19 at 15:40

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 31 '13 at 00:34

This isn't quite what you're looking for, but I've found it useful in similar circumstances.

I recently added the following to my $HOME/.bashrc (something similar should be possible with shells other than bash):

if [ -f $HOME/.add-screen-to-history ] ; then
    history -s 'screen -dr'
fi

I keep a screen session running on one particular machine, and I've had problems with ssh connections to that machine being dropped, requiring me to re-run screen -dr every time I reconnect.

With that addition, and after creating that (empty) file in my home directory, I automatically have the screen -dr command in my history when my shell starts. After reconnecting, I can just type Control-P Enter and I'm back in my screen session -- or I can ignore it. It's flexible, but not quite automatic, and in your case it's easier than typing tmux list-sessions.

You might want to make the history -s command unconditional.

This does require updating your $HOME/.bashrc on each of the target systems, which might or might not make it unsuitable for your purposes.

This is quite useful, but what I've noticed is that the history will be cleared, except for the new command on a fresh login. Do you know why that happens and how you can prevent that? I just noticed that after I commented out the line in .bashrc the full history is now available. — Andy, Jul 22 '16 at 06:19

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 21 '18 at 23:55

4

You can use the LocalCommand command-line option if the PermitLocalCommand option is enabled:

ssh username@hostname -o LocalCommand="tmux list-sessions"

For more details about the available options, see the ssh_config man page.

edited Jun 21 '18 at 23:55

Darryl Hein

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answered Aug 29 '13 at 23:43

gypaetus

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For me, (OS X) this had to be `ssh -o "LocalCommand tmux list-sessions" user@hostname`. – Erik Nomitch Sep 16 '15 at 11:24
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This answer is based on misunderstanding the question. The question is about running a command on the remote server immediately after connecting. LocalCommand (as the name implies) runs a command on the local machine. – robo Feb 15 '16 at 19:46
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RemoteCommand is the option you are looking for here. `ssh name@ip -t -o RemoteCommand="tmux ls; bash"` See: https://man.openbsd.org/ssh_config#RemoteCommand – Hockey Jun 23 '21 at 08:16

Run ssh and immediately execute command

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