loading local shell aliases to ssh session dynamicaly

Question

When I log in to some machine using ssh I wish my aliases and functions are there. In other words, log in to some machine I wish I can use my command shortcuts.

I need it be dynamic, every time I'm log in I wish I have updated aliases.

Notes: Very often it is first time log in, without knowing machine and files there. Sometimes it is single log in. Just one time for that machine. It need to be cleaned afterwards, previous configuration has to be restored too.

Answer 1

You can temporarily copy your .bashrc to your remote machine with another name. For example, using .bashrc_temp:

user@local$ scp .bashrc user@remote:~/.bashrc_temp

Afterwards you can log into the remote machine:

user@local$ ssh user@remote

and source the file .bashrc_temp:

user@remote$ source ~/.bashrc_temp

Now you are able to use your .bashrc and your functions. When you are finished with your work you can remove the file ~/.bashrc_temp on the remote machine and logout.

The copying of the file and the login to the remote machine may be achieved with a bash function:

# copy the .bashrc to the remote machine 
# and log into the remote machine.
# parameter $1: user@remote
function s() {
  scp ~/.bashrc $1:~/.bashrc_temp
  ssh $1
}

Update:

You may also consider to copy the .bashrc to /tmp on your remote machine and source /tmp/.bashrc_temp.

Update 2:

You can log into the remote machine by using ssh -t. This will automatically use your temp .bashrc. Updated function s():

function s() {
  scp ~/.bashrc $1:/tmp/.bashrc_temp
  ssh -t $1 "bash --rcfile /tmp/.bashrc_temp ; rm /tmp/.bashrc_temp"
}

Answer 2

jens-na provided an excellent answer. I spent a bit of time and re-worked it a bit to work a teeny bit better. This way, you can pass along any parameter to SSH, such as port numbers. The difference is that it uses the ssh command to upload the .bashrc file, instead of scp, which uses different command parameter names.

You'll also notice that it uploads a different file, .bashrc_remote, so that you can select exactly what you want to source on remote servers, instead of everything

sshs() {
        ssh $@ "cat > /tmp/.bashrc_temp" < ~/.bashrc_remote
        ssh -t $@ "bash --rcfile /tmp/.bashrc_temp ; rm /tmp/.bashrc_temp"
}

Run it as follows:

sshs user@server

The name 'sshs' is for "SSH Source". Use ssh when you don't want to source, and use sshs when you do.

https://gist.github.com/jonahbron/5549848

Answer 3

I think sshrc is what you're looking for: https://github.com/Russell91/sshrc

sshrc works just like ssh, but it also sources ~/.sshrc after logging in remotely.

$ echo "echo welcome" > ~/.sshrc
$ sshrc me@myserver
welcome

$ echo "alias ..='cd ..'" > ~/.sshrc
$ sshrc me@myserver
$ type ..
.. is aliased to `cd ..'

You can use this to set environment variables, define functions, and run post-login commands. It's that simple, and it won't impact other users on the server - even if they use sshrc too. For more advanced configuration, continue reading.

Answer 4

Not sure of the limitations, but I was able to get this to work with something like:

function ssh_with_rc() {
   RC_DATA=`cat ${HOME}/.bashrc | base64 -w 0`
   ssh -t $@ "echo \"${RC_DATA}\" | base64 --decode > /tmp/${USER}_bashrc; bash --rcfile /tmp/${USER}_bashrc; rm /tmp/${USER}_bashrc"
}

alias ssh="ssh_with_rc"

Answer 5

This is what I came up with. It allows you to maintain a normal rc file, but also do everything in one ssh connection (ie only need to login once as opposed to doing an scp first).

#copies some environment over to the remote machine
function ssh() {
  /usr/bin/ssh -t $* "echo `base64 -i ~/bin/remote_ssh_env.sh` | base64 --decode > /tmp/remote_ssh_env.sh; bash --rcfile /tmp/remote_ssh_env.sh"
}

I'm not sure how big that rc file can be though, since it might max out at some point.

Answer 6

I think that https://github.com/fsquillace/pearl-ssh does what you need.

I wrote it long time ago before sshrc was born and it has more benefits compared to sshrc:

• It does not require dependencies on xxd for both hosts (which can be unavailable on remote host)
• Pearl-ssh uses a more efficient encoding algorithm
• It is just ~20 lines of code (really easy to understand!)

For instance:

$> echo "alias q=exit" > ~/.config/pearl/sshrc
$> ssh_pearl [e-mail]
myserver.com $> q
exit

Answer 7

One option to make it work with a single SSH session is to use a variable to store your bash file in rather than copy it.

$ mybash=`cat mybash`
$ ssh -t 127.0.0.1 "echo $mybash > /tmp/mybash; bash --rcfile /tmp/mybash ; rm /tmp/mybash"

Seems to work for me.

Answer 8

I was looking to solve a problem like yours, and realized what I was really looking for was sshfs. Maybe you can use it too?

My problem was that when ssh'ing, I wished to keep my colors, aliases, functions and scripts while working remote.

http://fuse.sourceforge.net/sshfs.html