On the impossibility to use escape sequences when the networks hangs

[Dennis Clarke]

On 10/13/25 20:28, Tim Rice via openssh-unix-dev wrote:
>>> In short: how does one control an interactive connection that
>>> currently is incapable to send/receive data? ssh just hangs.
>>
>>
>> What happens if you try :
>>
>> $ ssh -e\^ -l someusername remotehost
>>
>> I use that sort of thing all the time. The manpage says :
>>
>> -e escape_char
>> Set the escape character for sessions with a pty (default: '~').
>> The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a
>> line. ... <snip>
> 
> I believe it's easy to overlook/forget the requirement: ...

Yes ... I had forgotten that.

n#
n# ^?
Supported escape sequences:
  ^.   - terminate connection (and any multiplexed sessions)
  ^B   - send a BREAK to the remote system
  ^R   - request rekey
  ^V/v - decrease/increase verbosity (LogLevel)
  ^^Z  - suspend ssh
  ^#   - list forwarded connections
  ^&   - background ssh (when waiting for connections to terminate)
  ^?   - this message
  ^^   - send the escape character by typing it twice
(Note that escapes are only recognized immediately after newline.)

n#

Seems to work fine at the beginning of a line. :/



-- 
--
Dennis Clarke
RISC-V/SPARC/PPC/ARM/CISC
UNIX and Linux spoken