Using Channels with Paramiko

Question

I am working on converting a tool from Ruby to Python, and the Ruby version uses Net::SSH to connect to a remote host, and send commands and retrieve responses/data. I have

Answer 1

exec_command() is enough if the SSH server supports running commands (like ssh user@host "cmd; cmd; ...". But some SSH servers (e.g. network devices like switches, routers, ...) only supports starting an interactive session. Then you need to use invoke_shell() which returns a Channel.

Transport and Channel are all SSH terms (other than Paramiko's). See following RFCs for more info:

• rfc4251 - The SSH Protocol Architecture
• rfc4252 - The SSH Authentication Protocol
• rfc4253 - The SSH Transport Layer Protocol
• rfc4254 - The SSH Connection Protocol