i2cssh is a csshX (http://code.google.com/p/csshx/) like tool for connecting ssh to multiple machines using ssh. But instead of creating separate windows and having a master window for input, i2cssh uses Iterm2 split panes and allows to "Send input to all sessions" (⌘-shift-I) to send commands to all sessions.
- Opening sessions in the current or new tabs
- Multiple cluster configuration
- Enable broadcast by default
- Multiple profiles
- Configurable SSH and shell parameters
- Custom layouts
$ brew install wouterdebie/repo/i2cssh
Make sure to enable the Python API in Iterm2. Go to Preferences -> General -> Magic -> Enable Python API.
Usage: i2cssh [OPTIONS] [HOSTS_OR_CLUSTER]...
HOSTS: [(login@host [login@host] | login@cluster)]
Options:
General options:
-c, --clusters TEXT Comma-separated list of clusters specified
in ~/.i2csshrc
-m, --machines TEXT Comma-separated list of hosts
-f, --file TEXT Cluster file (one hostname per line)
-t, --tab-split Split servers/clusters into tabs and put all
hosts specified on the command line in one
tab
-T, --tab-split-nogroup Split servers/clusters into tabs and put
each host specified on the command line in a
separate tab
-W, --same-window Use existing window for spawning new tabs
-v, --version Show version
SSH options:
-A, --forward-agent Enable SSH agent forwarding
-l, --login TEXT SSH user name
-e, --environment TEXT Send environment vars (comma-separated list,
need to start with LC_)
-r, --rank Send LC_RANK with the host number as
environment variable
-X, --extra TEXT Additional ssh parameters (e.g.
-Xi=myidentity.pem)
-g, --gateway TEXT Multihop SSH connection gateway string (e.g.
username@gateway) - usually used with -A
-x, --custom-command TEXT Custom command to run instead of SSH. Use
"{host}" to for host substitution (e.g.
"kubectl exec -it {host} -- /bin/bash")
iTerm2 options:
-F, --fullscreen Make the window fullscreen
-b, --broadcast Start with broadcast input (DANGEROUS!)
-nb, --nobroadcast Disable broadcast input
-p, --profile TEXT iTerm2 profile name (default: Default)
-s, --sleep INTEGER Number of seconds to sleep between creating
SSH sessions
-S, --shell TEXT Shell to use when spawning the SSH sessions
(default: $SHELL)
-d, --direction [column|row] Direction that new sessions are created
(default: column)
Layout: [mutually_exclusive]
-C, --columns INTEGER Number of columns (rows will be calculated)
-R, --rows INTEGER Number of rows (columns will be calculated)
--help Show this message and exit.
i2cssh will assume you want to connect to a cluster when only one host is given.
For -c and -m options, the format username@cluster or username@host can be used.
The following commands are exactly the same, however, they might serve different purposes:
$ i2cssh -m user1@host1,user2@host2
$ i2cssh user1@host1 user2@host2
You can combine these options and use them multiple times:
$ i2cssh -m user1@host1,user2@host2 user4@host3 user5@host4
Using the -l option will override all usernames:
$ i2cssh -l foo user1@host1 user2@host2
This will connect to both host1 and host2 as the user foo
The i2csshrc file is a YAML formatted file that contains the following structure:
---
version: 2
[optional parameters]
clusters:
mycluster:
[optional parameters]
hosts:
- host1
- host2Optional parameters can be used globally or per cluster and include:
broadcast: (true/false) # Enable/disable broadcast on start
login: <username> # Use this username for login
profile: <iTerm2 profile> # Use this iTerm profile
rank: (true/false) # Enable sending LC_RANK as an environment variable
columns: <cols> # Amount of columns
rows: <rows> # Amount of rows
sleep: <secs> # Seconds to sleep between creating SSH sessions
direction: (column/row) # Direction that new sessions are created (default: column)
shell: <shell> # Shell to use (default: /bin/bash)
environment: # Send the following enviroment variables
LC_FOO: foo
LC_BAR: bar
extra:
i: myidentity.pem
p: 2222Note: rows and columns can't be used at the same time.
Clusters can also include hosts from other clusters through a cluster specific optional parameter include_from:
version: 2
clusters:
cluster1:
hosts:
- host1
- host2
cluster2:
hosts:
- host3
- host4
include_from:
- cluster1Note that only the hosts will be included, but no additional configuration options. Secondly, includes
aren't transitive, so if cluster1 includes cluster2, which in turn includes cluster3, only the
hosts from cluster2 will be included in cluster1.
The following precedence is used:
global options from config < cluster options from config < command line flags
Make sure the config file is valid YAML (e.g. use spaces instead of tabs)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-A, --forward-agent |
Enable SSH agent forwarding |
-l, --login LOGIN |
This option will override all logins passed in to i2cssh. This goes for global config, cluster config or username@host passed on the command line. |
-e, --environment KEY=VAL |
Allows for passing environment varables to the SSH session. This can be a comma-separated list: -e LC_FOO=foo,LC_BAR=bar |
-F, --fullscreen |
Enable fullscreen on startup. |
-C, --columns COLUMNS |
Set the amount of columns. Can't be used in conjunction with -R. |
-R, --rows ROWS |
Set the amount of columns. Can't be used in conjunction with -C. |
-b, --broadcast |
Enable broadcast on startup. |
-nb, --nobroadcast |
Disable broadcast. This setting can be used to disable any broadcast that was set in the config. |
-p, --profile PROFILE |
Use a specific iTerm profile. |
-f, --file FILE |
Will read nodes from a file. These will be added to any hosts specified on the command line or in the config. |
-c, --clusters clus1,clus2 |
Connect to one or more clusters that are specified in the config. |
-r, --rank |
Send a LC_RANK environment variable different for each host (from 0 to n). |
-m, --machines a,b,c |
Connect to the machines a, b and c |
-t, --tab-split |
Split servers/clusters into tabs, grouping arguments. Tabs are created as follows: hosts after a -m option are put in one tab, each cluster is always in its own tab, all the arguments are in one tab. |
-T, --tab-split-nogroup |
Split servers/clusters into tabs, not grouping arguments. Tabs are created as follows: hosts after a -m option are put in one tab, each cluster is always in its own tab, each argument is in its own tab. |
-W, --same-window |
Do not create new Window, but spawn new cluster tabs in current (last used) iterm window. |
-s, --sleep SLEEP |
Wait SLEEP seconds between starting each ssh session. This will take decimals as well (0.5 for half a second) |
-E, --exec |
Run ssh using exec, rather than just the command in the shell. This causes the pane to close when ssh exits. Note that any errors or logs will disappear. |
-X, --extra EXTRA |
Set extra ssh parameters in the form -Xk=v E.g: i2cssh -Xi=myidentity.pem will result in ssh -i myidentity.pem, or i2cssh -Xp=2222 -XL=8080:localhost:8080 will result in ssh -p 2222 -L 8080:localhost:8080 |
-x, --custom-command |
Use a custom command to connect to the hosts. This will override the default ssh command. Use {host} as a substitution for the actual host will be used. E.g. -x "kubectl exec -it {host} -- /bin/bash" to execute kubectl instead of ssh |
- Better release process (homebrew update after new release)
- Proper handling of resizing and full screen when the window is too small for the amount of rows or columns.
I finally took some time to rewrite i2cssh in python. For a while now Iterm2 has had a python API that allows you to automate a bunch of stuff. This python implementation uses that API to do the same thing as the original ruby script. This should make this app more maintainable, since it doesn't rely on any weird AppleScript bindings and emitting key codes. Secondly, it should be quite a bit faster in generating the ssh windows.
I've regained new interest, so if you find a bug, please report! Make sure to include your configuration!
I know that i2cssh doesn't have all the functionality of csshX, but either let me know what you really need or fork, hack and create a pull request.
- Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet
- Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it
- Fork the project
- Start a feature/bugfix branch
- Commit and push until you are happy with your contribution
Copyright (c) 2011-2023 Wouter de Bie. See LICENSE.txt for further details.