A syssies guide to (ssh)console and conserver.
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Using sshconsole interactively

sshconsole [-aAfFsS] [-rv] [-e escape sequence] [-M server] [host]

sshconsole is a wrapper script using ssh. console does not support encrypted connections and it is not possible to tunnel the connections through ssh, kerberos or ssl. sshconsole establishes a transparent ssh connection to the console server and runs console locally, and command line arguments are passed though to console so any valid console arguments can be used though the use of

sshconsole [-M hostname]

is discouraged.

Basic usage

To connect to the serial console on a host run sshconsole with the hostname as an argument, the script should connect to the appropriate host and ask for your password (it uses the username of whoever has run the script). i.e. 

[magrathea]iainr: sshconsole heather
Enter iainr's password:
[Enter `^]^]?' for help] (1)
[replay] (2)
Password: 
.



Login incorrect
heather console login: Password: 
^C^E
Login incorrect
heather console login: heather console login:         ^[     
Password: 
Login incorrect
heather console login: 
heather console login: 
heather console login: 
heather console login: ^C^E
heather console login: .
Password: 
heather console login:

(1)
This prompt may vary on how the escape sequence is defined, you can override the built in default of ^]^] using the -e argument.
(2)
By default sshconsole will connect using the -A option which will replay the previous 20 lines, if you override with the -a option then you may have to hit <cr> a couple of times to get the console.

Once attached the terminal should behave as if you were using a dumb terminall physically attached to the serial console. Depending on which program you are using there may be problems with control key combinations if you hit any then let me know and I'll take a look.

If you want to use any of the conserver features then you need to drop out of the session using the escape sequence followed by the one character command. For a list of commands hit the escape sequence followed by ?.

i.e. 
[magrathea]iainr: sshconsole heather
Enter iainr's password:
[Enter `^]^]?' for help]

heather console login: [help] (1)
 .    disconnect                         a    attach read/write
 c    toggle flow control                d    down a console
 e    change escape sequence             f    force attach read/write
 g    group info                         L    toggle logging on/off
 l1   send break (halt host!)            o    (re)open the tty and log file
 p    replay the last 60 lines           r    replay the last 20 lines
 s    spy read only                      u    show host status
 v    show version info                  w    who is on this console
 x    show console baud info             z    suspend the connection
 <cr> ignore/abort command               ?    print this message
 ^R   short replay                       \ooo send character by octal code

(1)
This will display a [ prompt when you type the control sequence and fill in the rest when you hit the 1 character command.

Disconnecting

hitting ^]^]. will cause the session to terminate. 

[magrathea]iainr: sshconsole heather
Enter iainr's password:
[Enter `^]^]?' for help]

heather console login: [disconnect]
Connection to console closed.
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console Non-interactive commands