Node js exec how to enter the passphrase for public key in terminal when git clone in a single line

Question

I am writing a script in node.js to clone a git repository.

 const { exec } = require('child_process');
 exec('git clone <path>.git', (err, stdout, stderr) => {
        if(err){
          return;
        }

        console.log(`stdout: ${stdout}`);
        console.log(`stderr: ${stderr}`);
      });

I need to pass the passphrase key in order to clone using the public key. How to pass it in the single line as an argument for exec('git clone <path>.git'

Passphrase should pass as a param and it should not be saved

Rather than moving in to 2 steps is it possible to do in a single step?

[SSH Key - Still asking for password and passphrase](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21095054/ssh-key-still-asking-for-password-and-passphrase). — AbhinavD, May 08 '18 at 03:23
Looks related to: https://stackoverflow.com/a/66892397/3054025 — Antoni4, Sep 01 '21 at 12:38

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 08 '18 at 04:17

1

Looks like git clone will not take a passphrase on the command line. But your node script can read command line arguments. Then you should be able to pass the credentials to the git using node-expect.

answered May 08 '18 at 04:17

Timir

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You're right, it's not being actively maintained. The other alternatives are a) node-expect substitutes from npm, b) expect/shell script wrapper over git, exec'ed from your node script, c) replace the node script altogether by expect/shell script – Timir May 08 '18 at 05:11

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 10 '18 at 21:58

1

In order to clone a repository I have used the following library

    var cmd = require('node-cmd');
    cmd.get(
      `
        git clone <repo-name>
      `,
      function(err, data, stderr){
          console.log(data);
        }
      );

And it worked like a charm

answered May 10 '18 at 21:58

not 0x12

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`cmd.get` does not exist anymore; only `cmd.run`, which unfortunately has the same error of not supporting password input (out-of-the-box). – Martin Bories Dec 12 '20 at 12:40
which version still has "cmd.get"? – Antoni4 Jan 19 '21 at 10:41
behind the scenes it looks like node-cmd uses child_process, so I don't see how it would make any difference – Antoni4 Jan 19 '21 at 11:11

Node js exec how to enter the passphrase for public key in terminal when git clone in a single line

2 Answers2