SSH

Reference Manual

Version 4.9

Table of Contents

ssh_client_channel

Module

ssh_client_channel

Module Summary

-behaviour(ssh_client_channel). (Replaces ssh_channel)

Since

Module ssh_client_channel was introduced in OTP 21.0.

Description

Note

This module replaces ssh_channel.

The old module is still available for compatibility, but should not be used for new programs. The old module will not be maintained except for some error corrections

SSH services (clients and servers) are implemented as channels that are multiplexed over an SSH connection and communicates over the SSH Connection Protocol. This module provides a callback API that takes care of generic channel aspects for clients, such as flow control and close messages. It lets the callback functions take care of the service (application) specific parts. This behavior also ensures that the channel process honors the principal of an OTP-process so that it can be part of a supervisor tree. This is a requirement of channel processes implementing a subsystem that will be added to the ssh applications supervisor tree.

Note

When implementing a ssh subsystem for daemons, use -behaviour(ssh_server_channel) (Replaces ssh_daemon_channel) instead.

Don't

Functions in this module are not supposed to be called outside a module implementing this behaviour!

Exports

call(ChannelRef, Msg) ->
 OTP 21.0
call(ChannelRef, Msg, Timeout) -> Reply | {error, Reason}
 OTP 21.0

Types

ChannelRef = pid()
As returned by start_link/4
Msg = term()
Timeout = timeout()
Reply = term()
Reason = closed | timeout

Makes a synchronous call to the channel process by sending a message and waiting until a reply arrives, or a time-out occurs. The channel calls Module:handle_call/3 to handle the message. If the channel process does not exist, {error, closed} is returned.

cast(ChannelRef, Msg) -> ok
OTP 21.0

Types

ChannelRef = pid()
As returned by start_link/4
Msg = term()

Sends an asynchronous message to the channel process and returns ok immediately, ignoring if the destination node or channel process does not exist. The channel calls Module:handle_cast/2 to handle the message.

enter_loop(State) -> _
OTP 21.0

Types

State = term()
as returned by init/1

Makes an existing process an ssh_client_channel (replaces ssh_channel) process. Does not return, instead the calling process enters the ssh_client_channel (replaces ssh_channel) process receive loop and become an ssh_client_channel process. The process must have been started using one of the start functions in proc_lib, see the proc_lib(3) manual page in STDLIB. The user is responsible for any initialization of the process and must call init/1.

init(Options) -> {ok, State} | {ok, State, Timeout} | {stop, Reason}
OTP 21.0

Types

Options = [{Option, Value}]
State = term()
Timeout = timeout()
Reason = term()

The following options must be present:

{channel_cb, atom()}

The module that implements the channel behaviour.

{init_args(), list()}

The list of arguments to the init function of the callback module.

{cm, ssh:connection_ref()}

Reference to the ssh connection as returned by ssh:connect/3.

{channel_id, ssh:channel_id()}

Id of the ssh channel as returned by ssh_connection:session_channel/2,4.

Note

This function is normally not called by the user. The user only needs to call if the channel process needs to be started with help of proc_lib instead of calling start/4 or start_link/4.

reply(Client, Reply) -> _
 OTP 21.0

Types

Client = opaque()
Reply = term()

This function can be used by a channel to send a reply to a client that called call/[2,3] when the reply cannot be defined in the return value of Module:handle_call/3.

Client must be the From argument provided to the callback function handle_call/3. Reply is an arbitrary term, which is given back to the client as the return value of call/[2,3].

start(SshConnection, ChannelId, ChannelCb, CbInitArgs) ->
OTP 21.0
start_link(SshConnection, ChannelId, ChannelCb, CbInitArgs) -> {ok, ChannelRef} | {error, Reason}
 OTP 21.0

Types

SshConnection = ssh:connection_ref()
As returned by ssh:connect/3
ChannelId = ssh:channel_id()
As returned by ssh_connection:session_channel/[2,4].
ChannelCb = atom()
Name of the module implementing the service-specific parts of the channel.
CbInitArgs = [term()]
Argument list for the init function in the callback module.
ChannelRef = pid()

Starts a process that handles an SSH channel. It is called internally, by the ssh daemon, or explicitly by the ssh client implementations. The behavior sets the trap_exit flag to true.

Callback Functions

The following functions are to be exported from a ssh_client_channel callback module.

Callback timeouts

The timeout values that can be returned by the callback functions have the same semantics as in a gen_server. If the time-out occurs, handle_msg/2 is called as handle_msg(timeout, State).

Exports

Module:code_change(OldVsn, State, Extra) -> {ok, NewState}
 OTP 21.0

Types

OldVsn = term()
In the case of an upgrade, OldVsn is Vsn, and in the case of a downgrade, OldVsn is {down,Vsn}. Vsn is defined by the vsn attribute(s) of the old version of the callback module Module. If no such attribute is defined, the version is the checksum of the BEAM file.
State = term()
Internal state of the channel.
Extra = term()
Passed "as-is" from the {advanced,Extra} part of the update instruction.

Converts process state when code is changed.

This function is called by a client-side channel when it is to update its internal state during a release upgrade or downgrade, that is, when the instruction {update,Module,Change,...}, where Change={advanced,Extra}, is given in the appup file. For more information, refer to Section 9.11.6 Release Handling Instructions in the System Documentation.

Note

Soft upgrade according to the OTP release concept is not straight forward for the server side, as subsystem channel processes are spawned by the ssh application and hence added to its supervisor tree. The subsystem channels can be upgraded when upgrading the user application, if the callback functions can handle two versions of the state, but this function cannot be used in the normal way.

Module:init(Args) -> {ok, State} | {ok, State, timeout()} | {stop, Reason}
 OTP 21.0

Types

Args = term()
Last argument to start_link/4.
State = term()
Reason = term()

Makes necessary initializations and returns the initial channel state if the initializations succeed.

For more detailed information on time-outs, see Section Callback timeouts.

Module:handle_call(Msg, From, State) -> Result
 OTP 21.0

Types

Msg = term()
From = opaque()
Is to be used as argument to reply/2
State = term()
Result = {reply, Reply, NewState} | {reply, Reply, NewState, timeout()} | {noreply, NewState} | {noreply , NewState, timeout()} | {stop, Reason, Reply, NewState} | {stop, Reason, NewState}
Reply = term()
Will be the return value of call/[2,3]
NewState = term()
Reason = term()

Handles messages sent by calling call/[2,3]

For more detailed information on time-outs,, see Section Callback timeouts.

Module:handle_cast(Msg, State) -> Result
 OTP 21.0

Types

Msg = term()
State = term()
Result = {noreply, NewState} | {noreply, NewState, timeout()} | {stop, Reason, NewState}
NewState = term()
Reason = term()

Handles messages sent by calling cast/2.

For more detailed information on time-outs, see Section Callback timeouts.

Module:handle_msg(Msg, State) -> {ok, State} | {stop, ChannelId, State}
 OTP 21.0

Types

Msg = timeout | term()
ChannelId = ssh:channel_id()
State = term()

Handles other messages than SSH Connection Protocol, call, or cast messages sent to the channel.

Possible Erlang 'EXIT' messages is to be handled by this function and all channels are to handle the following message.

{ssh_channel_up, ssh:channel_id(), ssh:connection_ref()}

This is the first message that the channel receives. It is sent just before the init/1 function returns successfully. This is especially useful if the server wants to send a message to the client without first receiving a message from it. If the message is not useful for your particular scenario, ignore it by immediately returning {ok, State}.

Module:handle_ssh_msg(Msg, State) -> {ok, State} | {stop, ChannelId, State}
 OTP 21.0

Types

Msg = ssh_connection:event()
ChannelId = ssh:channel_id()
State = term()

Handles SSH Connection Protocol messages that may need service-specific attention. For details, see ssh_connection:event().

The following message is taken care of by the ssh_client_channel behavior.

{closed, ssh:channel_id()}

The channel behavior sends a close message to the other side, if such a message has not already been sent. Then it terminates the channel with reason normal.

Module:terminate(Reason, State) -> _
 OTP 21.0

Types

Reason = term()
State = term()

This function is called by a channel process when it is about to terminate. Before this function is called, ssh_connection:close/2 is called, if it has not been called earlier. This function does any necessary cleaning up. When it returns, the channel process terminates with reason Reason. The return value is ignored.

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