slavki / sshcore

A Cocoa wrapper for libssh2

SSHCore Framework

A Cocoa wrapper for libssh2

Note: I'm obviously not actively developing SSHCore. You might want to try libssh2-for-iOS instead.

SSHCore is a start at wrapping libssh2 into a convenient package for use on iOS. It's currently just a proof of concept so functionality is limited and error handling is very minimal. The whole thing is also quite subject to change. The long-term goal of the project is to provide a simple, drop-in framework that allows iOS applications to interact with SSH servers.

It's been significantly rewritten from the first version to exclusively support the iOS Simulator and devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.). The present implementation is a demo project that can:

• connect to an SSH server using password or key-based authentication
• run commands on the remote server and get any stdout back as an NSString

Currently, SSHCore can only connect to a (stock) Mac OS X system using key-based authentication. The OS X SSH server is configured out of the box to reject password authentication, requiring instead interactive auth.

To Do:

• re-implementation of SCP & SFTP support (removed for version 0.1.0)
• improved authentication support
• actual error handling
• framework architecture

Usage

Here is a simple usage example. Currently, this entire project is an example, so you'll find pretty much the same thing in SSHCoreViewController.m.

To use, copy SSHCore.m & .h and everything from the Supporting Files/Library group into your project. Make sure you add -lz to Other Compiler Flags in your project's settings as SSHCore's libraries require libz.

#import "SSHCore.h"

// create an ssh object
ssh *myssh = [[ssh alloc] init];

// get the libssh2 version
[myssh libssh2ver];

// log in to server using password auth
[myssh initWithHost: @"192.168.0.100"
			   port: 22
			   user: @"user"
				key: @""
			 keypub: @""
		   password: @"password"];
		   
// or log in to server using key (leave password blank)
[myssh initWithHost: @"192.168.0.100"
			   port: 22
			   user: @"user"
				key: @"/path/to/key"
			 keypub: @"/path/to/key.pub"
		   password: @""];

// execute a command on the remote server
NSString *result = [myssh execCommand: "uptime"];
NSLog(@"%@", result);

// close SSH connection & release object
[myssh closeSSH];
[myssh release];

Building Libraries

The precompiled library binaries (*.a) currently only support armv6 and i386. See library-build-notes.txt for steps to build universal binaries of these libraries for all current iOS hardware and the simulator.

Using on OS X

This framework is targeted at iOS only, but Dan Finneran has written a libssh2 wrapper for OS X based on SSHCore that you might want to check out.

License

Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Luke D Hagan All rights reserved. Released under the BSD license.

Includes a copy of libssh2, an open-source library released under the BSD licence. libssh2 is copyright the libssh2 team and respective authors. See http://www.libssh2.org for more information.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.