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SSH and Exec

Interactive shell​

Connecting without any command starts a PTY shell session:

ssh alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io

The SSH Proxy allocates a pseudo-terminal (pty-req), starts the workspace default shell (shell request), and forwards your terminal dimensions. Resize events are propagated automatically as you resize your local terminal window.

Remote command execution​

Append a command to execute it in the workspace without opening an interactive shell. No PTY is allocated:

# run a single command and return
ssh alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io ls -la /home/user

# pipe output back to the local machine
ssh alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io cat /etc/os-release

# use in scripts
result=$(ssh alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io hostname)

This uses the exec channel request. Unlike shell sessions, exec sessions do not hold a PTY, so interactive programs that require a terminal should be run through an interactive session instead.

note

signal delivery is supported for exec sessions (allowing SIGINT, SIGTERM, etc. to be forwarded to the running process), but signals are not forwarded for PTY shell sessions.

Environment variables​

Pass environment variables into the session using -o SendEnv or SetEnv:

# send a specific local variable (the server must permit it in its configuration)
ssh -o SendEnv=MY_VAR alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io

# set a variable inline using SetEnv (SSH-2 env request)
ssh -o SetEnv="EDITOR=vim" alice~pod=my-workspace@app.k8shell.io

Environment variables are delivered via the env channel request before the shell or command starts.