I am writing a back end program that telnets into a server, runs some commands and saves all the output from those commands. Something just like Expect.
I would like to use an open source solution that is well supported and runs with JDK 6.
I have found 3 options so far and would like some help deciding which one (or a better suggestion) to use.
commons-net – This is very well supported but I having trouble getting a simple “Log in and do ‘ls’” command working. I would prefer to use this library, if anyone can provide a simple example (and not the example that comes with it that takes input from the user) I would like to go that route.
If I’m unable to use commons-net the next two options are:
JExpect – This is not that hard to use, does what I need but how well supported is it? Will it work with JDK 6, I think so.
Java Telnet Application (jta26) – This was easy to use but I’m not sure how versatile it is. I didn’t see any place to set a timeout value in the TelnetWrapper. I also was not sure if this code is being maintained since the last update to the site was in 2005. (http://www.javassh.org)
I know this is somewhat opinion oriented and hope SO is a good place to help me make a decision so I don’t start down one road and find out later it’s not what I’m looking for.
Thanks.
Found what I was looking for here: http://twit88.com/blog/2007/12/22/java-writing-an-automated-telnet-client/
You will need to modify the prompt variable.
Copy of code:
import org.apache.commons.net.telnet.TelnetClient;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.PrintStream;
public class AutomatedTelnetClient {
private TelnetClient telnet = new TelnetClient();
private InputStream in;
private PrintStream out;
private String prompt = "%";
public AutomatedTelnetClient(String server, String user, String password) {
try {
// Connect to the specified server
telnet.connect(server, 23);
// Get input and output stream references
in = telnet.getInputStream();
out = new PrintStream(telnet.getOutputStream());
// Log the user on
readUntil("login: ");
write(user);
readUntil("Password: ");
write(password);
// Advance to a prompt
readUntil(prompt + " ");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void su(String password) {
try {
write("su");
readUntil("Password: ");
write(password);
prompt = "#";
readUntil(prompt + " ");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public String readUntil(String pattern) {
try {
char lastChar = pattern.charAt(pattern.length() - 1);
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
boolean found = false;
char ch = (char) in.read();
while (true) {
System.out.print(ch);
sb.append(ch);
if (ch == lastChar) {
if (sb.toString().endsWith(pattern)) {
return sb.toString();
}
}
ch = (char) in.read();
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
public void write(String value) {
try {
out.println(value);
out.flush();
System.out.println(value);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public String sendCommand(String command) {
try {
write(command);
return readUntil(prompt + " ");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
public void disconnect() {
try {
telnet.disconnect();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
AutomatedTelnetClient telnet = new AutomatedTelnetClient(
"myserver", "userId", "Password");
System.out.println("Got Connection...");
telnet.sendCommand("ps -ef ");
System.out.println("run command");
telnet.sendCommand("ls ");
System.out.println("run command 2");
telnet.disconnect();
System.out.println("DONE");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Have you looked at the Sadun utils library? I used it once to open a telnet session to a server and send some commands, read a response, and close the connection, it worked fine and it's LGPL
Try http://www.java2s.com/Code/Java/Network-Protocol/ExampleofuseofTelnetClient.htm.
AutomatedTelnetClient
works well. After a long search, nice to see one simple working program:).
I just modified prompt to $
and removed empty spaces at the end and all commands working.