java - How to get jsch shell command output in String

Question

I am using a JSCH -SSH library to execute command in "shell" channel, but unable to find a way to do 2 things:-

1) How to find whether the command is completely executed on remote unix box ?

2) How to capture the command output in String , instead of printing it on System.out console ?

Below is my code snippet which works fine to display shell command output on system.out

NOTE :I do NOT want to use ,"exec" channel, as it starts a new process for each command and does not remember "session" variables which were exported. I must use "shell" channel.

Below is my code snippet. Any help is appreciated.Thanks for your time.

try{

  String commandToRun = "ls /tmp/*.log 
";
  if(channel.isClosed())
      channel=session.openChannel("shell");
  byte[] bytes = commandToRun.getBytes();
  ByteArrayInputStream bais=new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes);
  channel.setInputStream(bais);
  InputStream ins=channel.getInputStream();
  channel.connect();
  channel.setOutputStream(System.out);//This prints on console. Need 2 capture in String somehow?

  //in-efficient way to allow command to execute completely on remote Unix machine
  //DO NOT know a better way, to know when command is executed completely
  Thread.sleep(5000L);
}
 catch(Exception e){
  System.out.println("Exception  in executeCommand() --->"+ e.getMessage());
  e.printStackTrace();
}

Answer 1

My solution may not be needed anymore for the OP, but anyone else who is searching for a solution to cover both conditions 1) waiting for the commands to finish on remote machine; and 2) capturing output as string; you can try this:

public class SshConnectionManager {

private static Session session;
private static ChannelShell channel;
private static String username = "";
private static String password = "";
private static String hostname = "";


private static Session getSession(){
    if(session == null || !session.isConnected()){
        session = connect(hostname,username,password);
    }
    return session;
}

private static Channel getChannel(){
    if(channel == null || !channel.isConnected()){
        try{
            channel = (ChannelShell)getSession().openChannel("shell");
            channel.connect();

        }catch(Exception e){
            System.out.println("Error while opening channel: "+ e);
        }
    }
    return channel;
}

private static Session connect(String hostname, String username, String password){

    JSch jSch = new JSch();

    try {

        session = jSch.getSession(username, hostname, 22);
        Properties config = new Properties(); 
        config.put("StrictHostKeyChecking", "no");
        session.setConfig(config);
        session.setPassword(password);

        System.out.println("Connecting SSH to " + hostname + " - Please wait for few seconds... ");
        session.connect();
        System.out.println("Connected!");
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("An error occurred while connecting to "+hostname+": "+e);
    }

    return session;

}

private static void executeCommands(List<String> commands){

    try{
        Channel channel=getChannel();

        System.out.println("Sending commands...");
        sendCommands(channel, commands);

        readChannelOutput(channel);
        System.out.println("Finished sending commands!");

    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("An error ocurred during executeCommands: "+e);
    }
}

private static void sendCommands(Channel channel, List<String> commands){

    try{
        PrintStream out = new PrintStream(channel.getOutputStream());

        out.println("#!/bin/bash");
        for(String command : commands){
            out.println(command);
        }
        out.println("exit");

        out.flush();
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("Error while sending commands: "+ e);
    }

}

private static void readChannelOutput(Channel channel){

    byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];

    try{
        InputStream in = channel.getInputStream();
        String line = "";
        while (true){
            while (in.available() > 0) {
                int i = in.read(buffer, 0, 1024);
                if (i < 0) {
                    break;
                }
                line = new String(buffer, 0, i);
                System.out.println(line);
            }

            if(line.contains("logout")){
                break;
            }

            if (channel.isClosed()){
                break;
            }
            try {
                Thread.sleep(1000);
            } catch (Exception ee){}
        }
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("Error while reading channel output: "+ e);
    }

}

public static void close(){
    channel.disconnect();
    session.disconnect();
    System.out.println("Disconnected channel and session");
}


public static void main(String[] args){
    List<String> commands = new ArrayList<String>();
    commands.add("ls -l");

    executeCommands(commands);
    close();
}
}

This solution is also useful if you need to send multiple commands at a time and keep the channel open to reuse it later.