ssh remote command preserve quoted argument

honestiron · 09-17-2009, 04:41 PM

Hi all,

I have a python script on one server (serv_one) and I am trying to execute it remotely from another (serv_two). The python script takes an argument with spaces. If I execute it locally:

Code:

foo@serv_one> script.py --o "arg one"

"arg one" is preserved, of course. ( argv = [ '--o', 'arg one' ] )

However, when I execute it remotely:

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one script.py --o "arg one"

the double quotes around "arg one" are dismissed ( argv = [ '--o', 'arg', 'one' ].

I've tried many combinations of single quotes/double quotes/backslashes, etc, to no avail.

One hack solution I came up with, since I have the flexibility, was to replace all spaces in the quoted argument with a character that would be invalid in the argument (before the ssh call), and replace those with spaces in script.py. I would probably like to avoid this solution if at all possible.

I've actually had some time looking for a solution to this on google and surprisingly not much help -- considering this seems like it would be fairly common.

Anyway, if anyone knows how to solve this that would be great.

Both machines are running 64-bit RH5.3, python 2.5.

Thanks!

TBC Cosmo · 09-17-2009, 05:28 PM

Have you tried

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one "script.py --o arg one"

lutusp · 09-17-2009, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honestiron

Hi all,

I have a python script on one server (serv_one) and I am trying to execute it remotely from another (serv_two). The python script takes an argument with spaces. If I execute it locally:

Code:

foo@serv_one> script.py --o "arg one"

"arg one" is preserved, of course. ( argv = [ '--o', 'arg one' ] )

However, when I execute it remotely:

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one script.py --o "arg one"

the double quotes around "arg one" are dismissed ( argv = [ '--o', 'arg', 'one' ].

I've tried many combinations of single quotes/double quotes/backslashes, etc, to no avail.

One hack solution I came up with, since I have the flexibility, was to replace all spaces in the quoted argument with a character that would be invalid in the argument (before the ssh call), and replace those with spaces in script.py. I would probably like to avoid this solution if at all possible.

I've actually had some time looking for a solution to this on google and surprisingly not much help -- considering this seems like it would be fairly common.

Anyway, if anyone knows how to solve this that would be great.

Both machines are running 64-bit RH5.3, python 2.5.

Thanks!

Try this:

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one "script.py --o \"arg one\""

honestiron · 09-17-2009, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBC Cosmo

Have you tried

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one "script.py --o arg one"

Thanks Cosmo, but that one didn't work either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutusp

Try this:

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one "script.py --o \"arg one\""

Lutusp, also negative.

Also just tried

Code:

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one script.py --o '"arg one"'

Scratching my head here...

chrism01 · 09-17-2009, 11:50 PM

Doesn't Python have a getopts equiv ?
http://docs.python.org/library/getopt.html
NB: I'm not a Python programmer...

honestiron · 09-18-2009, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Doesn't Python have a getopts equiv ?
http://docs.python.org/library/getopt.html
NB: I'm not a Python programmer...

Yea I am using that to parse the command line options but before getopt is even called, "arg one" has been split into two separate arguments.

estabroo · 09-18-2009, 09:23 AM

this works for me

foo@serv_two> ssh ... foo@serv_one script.py --o \"arg one\"

ssh foo@serv_one /tmp/spit.pl --o \"arg one\"
foo@serv_one's password:
[--o]
[arg one]

and that script is

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

foreach $arg (@ARGV) {
        print "[$arg]\n";
}

honestiron · 09-18-2009, 12:23 PM

So, I had left out a couple of details for simplicity's sake. I'm actually calling the whole command through python's popen3 module, which should've worked fine but I was unaware of certain scripts on the remote client side that process the command (to make sure it's valid, etc) and it was there that quoted arguments were getting mangled!

Anyway, problem identified. Thanks for everyone's help.