[BUG?] sftp is echoing back prompt and commands in batch mode

[Ben Lindstrom]

I don't see it as a bug.  As if I'm writing a batch script I want to see 
the echo of the command and the output so if there is a failure I know 
where the failure is.

I could see adding a mode not to echo back the command or prompt.   But 
it isn't a bug to me.

Ben



Vincenzo Romano wrote:
> Thanks, Iain.
> I am willing to hear from other users whether anyone else sees this as a
> bug before filing it.
>
>
> --
> Vincenzo Romano
>
> Il giorno ven 2 nov 2018, 20:03 Iain Morgan<imorgan at nas.nasa.gov>  ha
> scritto:
>
>> If you truly intend this as a bug report, you should file it at
>> bugzilla.mindrot.org.
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 02, 2018 at 12:25:22 +0100, Vincenzo Romano wrote:
>>> Short description: All comands sent to server in batch mode are being
>>> echoed back along with prompt.
>>> Software Version: "OpenSSH_7.9p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1  11 Sep 2018" (as
>>> printed by ssh -V)
>>> Server and client systems: ArchLinux x86_64 fully updated as of
>> 2018-11-02.
>>> ## How to reproduce
>>>
>>> Provided that you have proper SSH key authentication in place, from
>>> command line run:
>>> echo "dir /var" | sftp -b - 0
>>>
>>> ## Expected output
>>>
>>> /var/backups    /var/cache      /var/lib        /var/local      /var/lock
>>> /var/log        /var/mail       /var/opt        /var/puppet     /var/run
>>> /var/spool      /var/tmp        /var/www
>>>
>>> ## Actual output
>>>
>>> sftp>  dir /var
>>> /var/backups    /var/cache      /var/lib        /var/local      /var/lock
>>> /var/log        /var/mail       /var/opt        /var/puppet     /var/run
>>> /var/spool      /var/tmp        /var/www
>>>
>>> Please note the first line is the server prompt followed by the command
>> echo.
>>> ## Workaround
>>>
>>> Expunge the first line from the client output
>>> echo "dir /var" | sftp -b - 0 | tail -n +2
>>>
>>> ## Notes
>>> Batch mode is meant for script automation, not human operations, so
>>> echoing the prompt and the commands doesn't make any sense and creates
>>> problems while processing the output.
>>> A possible solution that's also backward compatible with all scripts
>>> using batch mode is to allow for a special prefix character to
>>> commands to avoid any echoing, just like the "-" is used to avoid a
>>> single failing command to terminate the client. Something like "@" or
>>> "#" would be ok IMHO.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Vincenzo Romano - NotOrAnd.IT
>>> Information Technologies
>>> --
>>> NON QVIETIS MARIBVS NAVTA PERITVS
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> openssh-unix-dev mailing list
>>> openssh-unix-dev at mindrot.org
>>> https://lists.mindrot.org/mailman/listinfo/openssh-unix-dev
>> --
>> Iain Morgan
>>
>
> Il giorno ven 2 nov 2018, 20:03 Iain Morgan<imorgan at nas.nasa.gov>  ha
> scritto:
>
>> If you truly intend this as a bug report, you should file it at
>> bugzilla.mindrot.org.
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 02, 2018 at 12:25:22 +0100, Vincenzo Romano wrote:
>>> Short description: All comands sent to server in batch mode are being
>>> echoed back along with prompt.
>>> Software Version: "OpenSSH_7.9p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1  11 Sep 2018" (as
>>> printed by ssh -V)
>>> Server and client systems: ArchLinux x86_64 fully updated as of
>> 2018-11-02.
>>> ## How to reproduce
>>>
>>> Provided that you have proper SSH key authentication in place, from
>>> command line run:
>>> echo "dir /var" | sftp -b - 0
>>>
>>> ## Expected output
>>>
>>> /var/backups    /var/cache      /var/lib        /var/local      /var/lock
>>> /var/log        /var/mail       /var/opt        /var/puppet     /var/run
>>> /var/spool      /var/tmp        /var/www
>>>
>>> ## Actual output
>>>
>>> sftp>  dir /var
>>> /var/backups    /var/cache      /var/lib        /var/local      /var/lock
>>> /var/log        /var/mail       /var/opt        /var/puppet     /var/run
>>> /var/spool      /var/tmp        /var/www
>>>
>>> Please note the first line is the server prompt followed by the command
>> echo.
>>> ## Workaround
>>>
>>> Expunge the first line from the client output
>>> echo "dir /var" | sftp -b - 0 | tail -n +2
>>>
>>> ## Notes
>>> Batch mode is meant for script automation, not human operations, so
>>> echoing the prompt and the commands doesn't make any sense and creates
>>> problems while processing the output.
>>> A possible solution that's also backward compatible with all scripts
>>> using batch mode is to allow for a special prefix character to
>>> commands to avoid any echoing, just like the "-" is used to avoid a
>>> single failing command to terminate the client. Something like "@" or
>>> "#" would be ok IMHO.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Vincenzo Romano - NotOrAnd.IT
>>> Information Technologies
>>> --
>>> NON QVIETIS MARIBVS NAVTA PERITVS
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> openssh-unix-dev mailing list
>>> openssh-unix-dev at mindrot.org
>>> https://lists.mindrot.org/mailman/listinfo/openssh-unix-dev
>> --
>> Iain Morgan
>>
> _______________________________________________
> openssh-unix-dev mailing list
> openssh-unix-dev at mindrot.org
> https://lists.mindrot.org/mailman/listinfo/openssh-unix-dev