phpseclib - attempting to connect to an HP procurve switch returns error: SSH command execution is not supported

Question

i'm trying to use phpseclib's NET_SSH2 library to connect to an HP switch. just to test / get started, i'm trying to log on, and then run a 'show interfaces brief' command on the switch. But after it logs me on, i get an error message :

 SSH command execution is not supported. 

here's the code:

<?php
set_include_path(get_include_path() . PATH_SEPARATOR . '../phpseclib');
include('Net/SSH2.php');
define('NET_SSH2_LOGGING', true); //turn on logging.

$ssh = new Net_SSH2('10.10.10.10'); //starting the ssh connection to localhost
if (!$ssh->login('', 'password')) { //if you can't log on...
  exit('Login Failed');
}
else  {
echo 'logged in<br>';
}
echo 'Attempting command: <br>';
$output = $ssh->exec('show interfaces brief');    
echo $output.'<br>';
echo 'Error message is: <br>';
$log = $ssh->getLog(NET_SSH2_LOG_COMPLEX);
foreach ($log as $logitem)  {
echo $logitem.'<br>';
}
?>

The output that this returns is:

 logged in
 Attempting command:

 Notice: Connection closed prematurely in /var/www/phpseclib/Net/SSH2.php on line 1941
 SSH command execution is not supported.
 Error message is:
 <-
 ->
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT (0.0015s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT (0s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_KEXDH_INIT (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_KEXDH_REPLY (0.5123s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS (0s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT (0.1962s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_USERAUTH_REQUEST (0.0001s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_USERAUTH_BANNER (0.0014s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_USERAUTH_SUCCESS (0.0392s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_OPEN (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_OPEN_CONFIRMATION (0.0204s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_SUCCESS (0.1011s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_DATA (0s)
 -> NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_DATA (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_EOF (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST (0s)
 <- NET_SSH2_MSG_CHANNEL_CLOSE (0s)

 Notice: Connection closed prematurely in /var/www/phpseclib/Net/SSH2.php on line 1941

Line 1941 in ssh2.php is the "user_error" line you see below:

 function _send_binary_packet($data)
{
    if (feof($this->fsock)) {
        user_error('Connection closed prematurely', E_USER_NOTICE);
        return false;
    }

What I've done so far:

1. I've logged in manually via ssh and made sure that I can run the same command.
2. i've gone through the switch's web config page to make sure there's nothing else I need to turn on etc. for ssh.
3. I've been checking phpseclib's forums for any similar issues.

I'm using version 1.53 2010/10/24 01:24:30 of the phpseclib.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

You aren't able to use the exec command on HP Procurve Switches. You have to emulate an interactive shell (unfortunately).

Here is something I've made in order to basically have a batch console in order to configure more than one switch at a time. I'd put a list of IP addresses in a file called switches.txt, separating each address with a new line (be sure to leave a new line at the end of the file as well). It's very messy, and I only used it once and didn't put much thought into it, but it did save me a lot of time instead of manually logging into over a hundred switches. I can't wait until I get Procurve Manager...

Also, I didn't take the time to properly implement and STDOUT reading, so you cannot see any output given to the switch, but I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult.

<?php

require ('Net/SSH2.php');
$cnt = 0;
$ssh = array();
$ips = array();
echo "\n";

$handle = fopen('switches.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($handle)) {
    $ip = trim(fgets($handle)); 
    $ips[$cnt] = $ip;

    //SSH Setup

    $ssh[$cnt] = new Net_SSH2($ip);
    echo "Logging into device: ".$ip."\n";
    if (!$ssh[$cnt]->login('USERNAMEHERE', 'PASSWORDHERE')) {
        exit ('Login Failed');
    }
    $cnt++;

}
fclose($handle);

//Initial Post Login Setup
sleep(1);
for ($i=0; $i<sizeof($ssh); $i++) {
echo "Performing Post Login Setup (1/2) on device: ".$ips[$i]."\n";
$ssh[$i]->write("\n");
}
sleep(1);
for ($i=0; $i<sizeof($ssh); $i++) {
echo "Performing Post Login Setup (2/2) on device: ".$ips[$i]."\n";
$ssh[$i]->write("conf\n");
}
sleep(1);


//Command Loop
while (true) {
    //Device Loop
    echo "\nBatch Input# ";
    $in = fopen('php://stdin', 'r');
    $buffer = fgets($in);
    for ($i=0; $i<sizeof($ssh); $i++) {
        $ssh[$i]->write($buffer);
        //echo "Wrinting command: $buffer  ;  To Device: ".$ips[$i].";\n";
    }   
}
fclose($handle);
?>