NAME
Net::SCP::Expect - Wrapper for scp that allows passwords via Expect.
SYNOPSIS
Example 1 - uses login method, longhand scp:
"my $scpe = Net::SCP::Expect->new;"
"$scpe->login('user name', 'password');"
"$scpe->scp('file','host:/some/dir');"
.
Example 2 - uses constructor, shorthand scp:
"my $scpe = Net::SCP::Expect->new(host=>'host', user=>'user',
password=>'xxxx');"
"$scpe->scp('file','/some/dir'); # 'file' copied to 'host' at
'/some/dir'"
.
Example 3 - Copying from remote machine to local host
"my $scpe = Net::SCP::Expect->new(user=>'user',password=>'xxxx');"
"$scpe->scp('host:/some/dir/filename','newfilename');"
See the scp() method for more information on valid syntax.
PREREQUISITES
Expect 1.14. May work with earlier versions, but was tested with 1.14
(and now 1.15) only.
DESCRIPTION
This module is simply a wrapper around the scp call. The primary
difference between this module and *Net::SCP* is that you may send a
password programmatically, instead of being forced to deal with
interactive sessions.
USAGE
Net::SCP::Expect->new(*option=>val*,...)
Creates a new object and optionally takes a series of options (see
OPTIONS below).
METHODS
auto_yes - Set this to 1 if you want to automatically pass a 'yes'
string to any yes or no questions that you may encounter before actually
being asked for a password, e.g. "Are you sure you want to continue
connecting (yes/no)?" for first time connections, etc.
error_handler(*sub ref*)
This sets up an error handler to catch any problems with a call to
'scp()'. If you do not define an error handler, then a simple 'croak()'
call will occur, with the last line sent to the terminal added as part
of the error message.
I highly recommend you forcibly terminate your program somehow within
your handler (via die, croak, exit, etc), otherwise your program may
hang, as it sits there waiting for terminal input.
host(*host*)
Sets the host for the current object
login(*login,password*)
If the login and password are not passed as options to the constructor,
they must be passed with this method (or set individually - see 'user'
and 'password' methods). If they were already set, this method will
overwrite them with the new values.
password(*password*)
Sets the password for the current user
user(*user*)
Sets the user for the current object
scp()
Copies the file from source to destination. If no host is specified, you
will be using 'scp' as an expensive form of 'cp'.
There are several valid ways to use this method
LOCAL TO REMOTE
scp(*source, user@host:destination*);
scp(*source, host:destination*); # User already defined
scp(*source, :destination*); # User and host already defined
scp(*source, destination*); # Same as previous
REMOTE TO LOCAL
scp(*user@host:source, destination*);
scp(*host:source, destination*);
scp(*:source, destination*);
OPTIONS
auto_yes - Set this to 1 if you want to automatically pass a 'yes'
string to any yes or no questions that you may encounter before actually
being asked for a password, e.g. "Are you sure you want to continue
connecting (yes/no)?" for first time connections, etc.
cipher - Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfer.
host - Specify the host name. This is now useful for both
local-to-remote and remote-to-local transfers.
no_check - Set this to 1 if you want to turn off error checking. Use
this if you're absolutely positive you won't encounter any errors and
you want to speed up your scp calls - up to 2 seconds per call (based on
the defaults).
password - The password for the given login.
port - Use the specified port.
preserve - Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from
the original file.
recursive - Set to 1 if you want to recursively copy entire directories.
timeout - Sets the timeout value for your scp operation. The default is
10 seconds.
timeout_auto - Sets the timeout for the 'auto_yes' option. I separated
this from the standard timeout because generally you won't need nearly
as much time as you would for a standard timeout, otherwise your script
will drag considerably. The default is 1 second (which should be
plenty).
timeout_err - Sets the timeout for the additional error checking that
the module does. Because errors come back almost instantaneously, I
thought it best to make this a separate option for the same reasons as
the 'timeout_auto' option above. The default is 1 second.
user - The login name you wish to use.
verbose - Set to 1 if you want verbose output sent to STDOUT.
NOTES
The -q option (disable progress meter) is automatically passed to scp.
The -B option may NOT be set. If you don't want to send passwords, I
recommend using *Net::SCP* instead.
In the event that Ben Trott releases a version of *Net::SSH::Perl* that
supports scp, I recommend using that instead. Why? First, it will be a
more secure way to perform scp. Second, this module is not fast, even
with error checking turned off. Both reasons have to do with TTY
interaction.
Don't whine to me about putting passwords in scripts. Set your
permissions appropriately or use a .rc file of some kind.
FUTURE PLANS
There are a few options I haven't implemented. If you *really* want to
see them added, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
A test suite (yes, I almost have one together) - no really, I promise!
KNOWN BUGS
At least one user has reported warnings related to POD parsing with Perl
5.00503. These can be safely ignored. They do not appear in Perl 5.6 or
later.
I have one unconfirmed report of problems with wildcard characters. I
haven't had a chance to test this yet.
THANKS
Thanks to Roland Giersig (and Austin Schutz) for the Expect module. Very
handy.
AUTHOR
Daniel Berger
[email protected]
