NAME

SSH::RPC::Client - The requestor, or client side, of an RPC call over SSH.

SYNOPSIS

use SSH::RPC::Client;

     my $rpc = SSH::RPC::Client->new($host, $user);
     my $result = $rpc->run($command, \%args); # returns a SSH::RPC::Result object

     if ($result->isSuccess) {
        say $result->getResponse;
     }
     else {
        die $result->getError;
     }

DESCRIPTION

SSH::RPC::Client allows you to make a remote procedure call over SSH to an SSH::RPC::Shell on the other end. In this way you can execute methods remotely on other servers while also passing and receiving complex data structures. The arguments and return values are serialized into JSON allowing shells to be written in languages other than Perl.

METHODS

The following methods are available from this class.

ssh
Constructs and returns a reference to the Net::OpenSSH object.

new ( host, user, [ pass ])
Constructor.

host
The hostname or ip address you want to connect to.

user
The username you want to connect as.

pass
The password to connect to this account. Can be omitted if you've set up an ssh key to automatically authenticate. See man ssh-keygen for details.

run ( command, [ args ] )
Execute a command on the remote shell. Returns a reference to an SSH::RPC::Result object.

command
The method you wish to invoke.

args
If the method has any arguments pass them in here as a scalar, hash reference, or array reference.

SEE ALSO

GRID::Machine and IPC::PerlSSH are also good ways of solving this same problem. I chose not to use either for these reasons:

Arbitrary Execution

        They both allow arbitrary execution of Perl on the remote machine.
        While that's not all bad, in my circumstance that was a security
        risk that was unacceptable. Instead, SSH::RPC requires both a client
        and a shell be written, so you know exactly what's allowed to be
        executed.

Language Neutral

        Because SSH::RPC uses JSON as a serialization layer between the
        connection, clients and shells can be written in languages other
        than Perl and still interoperate.

Net::OpenSSH

        The Net::OpenSSH module that SSH::RPC is based upon is fast,
        flexible, and most importantly way easier to install than the
        modules required by GRID::Machine and IPC::PerlSSH.

PREREQS

This package requires the following modules:

Net::OpenSSH JSON Class::InsideOut

CAVEATS

You cannot use this module inside of mod_perl currently. Not sure why, but it hoses the SSH connection.

AUTHOR

JT Smith <jt_at_plainblack_com>

LEGAL

      SSH::RPC::Client is Copyright 2008-2009 Plain Black Corporation
      and is licensed under the same terms as Perl itself.
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
      http://www.plainblack.com                     info@plainblack.com
     -------------------------------------------------------------------