I remotely run apps like nmap, SFTP, etc from an SSH shell. The problem is that I cannot shutdown the machine running the shell until the processes have finished. Is it possible to setup a shell that can be disconnected without killing the running processes and allow me to log back into them?

Thanks!

have you investigated "NOHUP"?

google it, if not.


not sure it's your answer, but might be.......

this site has something on nohup:
http://www.cpqlinux.com/jobcontrol.html

The answer to your prayers is called "screen". It is installed by default on many distributions, if it is not your distro should provide a package. It is very useful: SSH to a remote host and type screen to enter a screen session. Start whatever time consuming task you like, and then press Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+C to create a new window in the screen session. This will spawn a new shell where you can do what you want. Create evene more windows using the same command. To switch between two windows quickly, use Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+A again. As you can see, Ctrl+A puts screen in command mode. Ctrl+A, Ctrl+D will detach from the screen session. You can disconnect from the host and log on again later and use screen -r to resume your session. To go to a specific screen window, type Ctrl+A followed by a number. Screen will exit when all active windows are closed (or the shells within have exited).


Håkan

Excellent... Thanks!