I have a Windows computer with OpenSSH installed, which enables me to remotely access and launch a server application. The application features a console window that accepts command inputs.
My aim is to utilize SSH to remotely monitor the running process and execute commands. Is there an OpenSSH command or a workaround to accomplish this task? Do I need a separate program or API that acts as a temporary shell for the server?
Alternatively, it would be useful to execute commands on a running process without viewing its output.
Thank you.
Update: There is a Linux solution called “screen” that functions as a terminal multiplexer, allowing users to connect or disconnect from different sessions. Unfortunately, I haven’t discovered a similar solution for Windows yet.
1 Answer
Introduction
OpenSSH is a free and open-source software suite used for secure communication between two untrusted networks. It is widely used for remote login and remote file transfer between machines. OpenSSH is available for most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. In this blog post, we will discuss how to log in and start a server application remotely using OpenSSH on a Windows machine.
Setting up OpenSSH on Windows
Before we dive into how to log in and start a server application remotely using OpenSSH on a Windows machine, let’s first discuss how to set up OpenSSH on Windows. Microsoft has included OpenSSH in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019. If you are using an older version of Windows, you will need to install OpenSSH manually.
To install OpenSSH on Windows, follow these steps:
1. Download the OpenSSH package from the official website.
2. Extract the package to a desired location.
3. Open PowerShell as an administrator.
4. Navigate to the extracted location.
5. Run the following command: .install-sshd.ps1
Once OpenSSH is installed, you can log in and start a server application remotely.
Logging in remotely using OpenSSH
To log in remotely using OpenSSH, follow these steps:
1. Open PowerShell on your local machine.
2. Run the following command: ssh username@remotehost
3. Enter your password when prompted.
4. You should now be logged in remotely.
Starting a server application remotely using OpenSSH
To start a server application remotely using OpenSSH, follow these steps:
1. Log in remotely using OpenSSH (as described in the previous section).
2. Navigate to the directory where the server application is located.
3. Run the following command: start cmd /k "serverapplication.exe"
4. The server application should now be running remotely.
Viewing a running process remotely using OpenSSH
To view a running process remotely using OpenSSH, follow these steps:
1. Log in remotely using OpenSSH (as described in the previous section).
2. Run the following command: tasklist
3. This will display a list of running processes on the remote machine.
4. Find the process ID (PID) of the server application you want to view.
5. Run the following command: tasklist /fi "pid eq [PID]", replacing [PID] with the actual process ID.
6. This will display detailed information about the process, including its memory usage and CPU time.
Issuing commands to a running process remotely using OpenSSH
To issue commands to a running process remotely using OpenSSH, follow these steps:
1. Log in remotely using OpenSSH (as described in the previous section).
2. Find the process ID (PID) of the server application you want to issue commands to (as described in the previous section).
3. Run the following command: taskkill /pid [PID] /f, replacing [PID] with the actual process ID.
4. This will forcibly terminate the process.
5. Run the following command to restart the server application: start cmd /k "serverapplication.exe"
Conclusion
In this blog post, we discussed how to log in and start a server application remotely using OpenSSH on a Windows machine. We also discussed how to view a running process and issue commands to a running process remotely using OpenSSH. With these tools, you can remotely manage your server applications with ease.
So the application starts a shell when you run it. do you dismiss it and logout, and then want access that shell again later? perhaps tmux or screen are a good bet for you, so you can keep the session with the application shell running in the background, and pull it back up whenever you want. Just an idea.