Executing commands remotely using scripts
 

For routine tasks i have to execute commands on machines running both winxp and linux. I usually do it via telnet. But the process is very manual as i have to authenticate for each machine then specify the command.

Is there any way that i could automate this job using a script or so?

Thanks.

Might need to elaborate on 'this job' if you are expecting help.

This could most probably be achieved by using certificate as authentication instead of passwords, and writing a script.

Read about the 'expect' command to get some clue how a script would be written.

job for example might be shutting down the machines during lunch.

Maybe search for 'cron' then if you are looking to do something at the same time every period

It definitely is periodic sometime but not always like suppose i would like to run swap my dhcp server from machine 1 to machine 2. I stop to dhcp server machine 1 and start dhcp server machine 2.

Expect is really nice , but i got some learning to do. I was "expecting" something easier.

Thanks.

ssh with key-based auth.

you could try using the putty tools, plink, pscp etc....

I agree with bratmon, ssh with certificate authentication is the way to go. From your desktop, create public and private key and then upload the public key to the server(s) you need to authenticate on. Then you can execute a local script to run remote commands via ssh.

For example:

ssh sounds like the thing. But i don't know much about ssh. If you guys could please give me some references. I have a super slow net connection so direct links would be of much help.

Thanks

What version of Linux are you using? Well it really doesn't matter that much. This link should help you to setup key based authentication.

http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Network/SecuringSSH

If you are familiar with the perl scripting language it can be done with the help of the expect module. http://search.cpan.org/~rgiersig/Expect-1.15/Expect.pod