Belier (the french word for ram) is now in Debian, thanks to Christian Perrier.
Belier allows opening a shell or executing a command on a remote host through a SSH connection. The main feature of Belier is its ability to cross several intermediate computers before realizing the job.
- Belier reaches the final host through intermediate machines.
- You can execute commands with any account available on the remote host.
- It is possible to switch account on intermediate computers before accessing the final host.
- It is also possible to swith the network ports from one host to another.
- You can open a data tunnel through every host you cross to the final host.
- Belier generates one script for each final computer to reach.
Belier aims to give a single system administrator a tool to work independently, without requiring to modify anything on the computers he has to cross, just using the current SSH configurations of every machines he has to work with, centralizing the needed information for connections on the administrator’s workstation.
Or you could use some special openssh config:
http://glandium.org/blog/?p=308
Hi Glandium,
I read this post a while ago, and I think the complexity of the process confirms Belier is worth a try for people having such a need. The syntax Belier uses for its configuration file is far clearer and minimalist.
Moreover you’re basically just chaining ssh connections. Belier offers interesting features you can’t have with your ssh config, as switching from an account to another on the same host or using a tunnel data, allowing you to copy files from the source host to the final host directly.
chaica: My setup has to be done only once and you can then connect to *any* host through jump hosts, setup X forwarding, port forwarding, agent forwarding, sftp, or whatever you can do directly, because in the end, this is exactly what happens: your local ssh is connected directly to the final host. You can also change user and port on any jump host, though the syntax for port doesn’t fit for scp, but that could be changed.
“You can also change user and port on any jump host”
I meant to switch from a user to another one while beeing on the host, e.g :
ssh toto@middlehost && su – admin && ssh root@lasthost
Belier allow to make such a connection.
Another disavantage I see with chaining ssh connections is you’re going to be asked for passwords, or you’ll have to exchange ssh keys on every host you’ll cross. That’s precisely why Belier manages these both situations, adapting to the existing hosts without requiring any modifications, never prompting you for info. The connection is fully automated whatever the hosts configurations are.
Did you find out how to pass keys (ssh-agent) through belier connections?