Using SSH to Run Commands on a Router or Switch

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

SSH is more than just a shell. You can copy files from and to a server or piece of network gear with it. You can use it to tunnel traffic. Possibly my favorite, though, is to use SSH to run a command on a remote box without interacting with a shell.

One of my biggest pet peeves with IOS (or pretty much any Cisco OS) is the lack of complex filtering. Let’s say I want to look at all the downed ports and interfaces on modules 3 and 6 of my 6509. I can’t easily do that with command from the IOS, but, on my Linux box, I can use multiple grep commands to get exactly what I want really easily. Let’s work through the example, shall we?

Ssh on Aaron's Worthless Words

Using SSH to Run Commands on a Router or Switch