Check for Success of SFTP transfer using expect

kasthana · 06-02-2008, 05:43 PM

Hi

I wrote an expect script to transfer some files between two machines.
I am calling this expect script through another shell script.

I want to know the status of transfer and delete the files from local machine which were successfully transferred.

My expect script is working just fine but I am unable to check the status of transfer.

Thanks

matthewg42 · 06-03-2008, 09:49 AM

Why not just use scp and test the return value? e.g.

Code:

#!/bin/bash

scp /source/file user@host:/destination/directory/
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "It worked"
else
    echo "Oh noes.  I has erorz"
fi

kasthana · 06-03-2008, 09:52 AM

Thanks for response !! I am bound to use SFTP and that too using expect coz I can't exchange keys to make it passwordless. Could you tell me how can I check for the transfer status using SFTP and the above mentioned scenario.

thanks

matthewg42 · 06-03-2008, 10:26 AM

Well, firstly I must say that putting passwords in an expect script is almost always a terrible idea, both from a security and maintainability standpoint.

Here's an example expect script for using FTP: link. The trick to detecting if it was a success or not is to know what the failure error message might look like, and have an expect clause for it. If you detect an error, call

Code:

exit 1

Then, in your shell script, test $? as in the example with scp above.

kasthana · 06-03-2008, 10:55 AM

Thx for reply.. Can I get the contents of ls on remote machine in some variable ( in my expect script) and then get that variable accesses in my shell script.