I’m sure there have been many scripts (or at least questions about scripts) that automate ssh so, for what it’s worth, I thought I’d give a script that I use for remote file transfers. This first script takes user input to create a custom AppleScript for each computer. Then, with user input, the second script creates a custom shell script for rsync over ssh file transfers. If you’ve never tried rsync, it’s a nice way to transfer lots of files/folders between computers quickly.
The second script can also be entered as an Automator workflow and attached to a hotkey. This is nice if you have lots of computers. Use something like +shift+1 for your first remote computer, +shift+2 for your second, etc.
Hope this is useful!
set Port22Query to display dialog "Are you using port 22?" buttons {"Cancel", "Yes", "No"}
if button returned of Port22Query is "No" then
set escape to false
repeat until escape is true
beep
set PortSelection to display dialog "Please enter your port number:" default answer "" & "80"
set PortNum to text returned of PortSelection as Unicode text
set PortCheck to display dialog "So this is the port for SSH?" & return & return & PortNum & return & return & "(make sure this is correct)" buttons {"Yes", "No"}
if button returned of PortCheck is "No" then
set escape to false
else
if button returned of PortCheck is "Yes" then
set escape to true
end if
end if
end repeat
else
set PortNum to "22"
end if
set escape to false
repeat until escape is true
beep
set locationQuery to display dialog "Please enter your server's location:" default answer "" & "USERNAME@x.x.x.x"
set serverLocation to text returned of locationQuery
set oldTID to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "@"
set remote_userName to text item 1 of serverLocation
set serverIP to text item 2 of serverLocation
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldTID
set theCheck to display dialog "So this is your server's location and Username?" & return & return & serverLocation & return & "Username: " & remote_userName & return & return & "(make sure this is correct)" buttons {"Cancel", "Yes", "No"}
if button returned of theCheck is "No" then
set escape to false
else
if button returned of theCheck is "Yes" then
set escape to true
end if
end if
end repeat
set remote_userName to my replace_chars(remote_userName, " ", "\\ ")
set buildFolder to (choose folder with prompt "Please select a location for your ssh script to go.") as alias
tell application "Finder"
set buildFile to make new file at buildFolder with properties {name:"OSX Transfer.scpt"}
end tell
set buildFile to buildFile as text
set waitQuery to display dialog "Do you want a fully automated script with no SSH password prompt?" & return & return & "(make sure you've copied your public key onto the remote server before doing this)" buttons {"Yes", "No"}
if button returned of waitQuery is "No" then
set theWait to "40"
else
set theWait to "25"
end if
set the_text to "set theExoticCharacters to {\" \",\"'\", \"\\\"\", \";\", \":\",\"*\"} --expand this list if needed
set theNormalCharacters to {\"\\\\ \", \"\\\\'\", \"\\\\\\\"\", \"\\\\;\", \"\\\\:\",\"\\\\*\"} --corrects characters for Terminal
set directionQuery to display dialog \"Will you pull files or push files?\" buttons {\"Pull\", \"Push\", \"Cancel\"}
set directionChoice to button returned of directionQuery
if directionChoice is \"Push\" then
set itemQuery to display dialog \"Are you moving a file or folder?\" buttons {\"Cancel\", \"File\", \"Folder\"}
set itemType to button returned of itemQuery
if itemType is \"Folder\" then
set this_item to (choose folder with prompt \"select your folder to move\")
else
if itemType is \"File\" then
set this_item to (choose file with prompt \"select your files to move\")
end if
end if
set file_path to (POSIX path of this_item)
set escape to false
repeat until escape is true
set pathQuery to display dialog \"Please enter the path to drop the the file on your server\" default answer \"\" & \"~/Desktop\"
set pathLoc to text returned of pathQuery
set pathCheck to display dialog \"So this is the path?\" & return & return & pathLoc & return & return & \"(make sure this is correct)\" buttons {\"Cancel\", \"Yes\", \"No\"}
if button returned of pathCheck is \"no\" then
set escape to false
else
if button returned of pathCheck is \"yes\" then
set escape to true
end if
end if
end repeat
else
set escape to false
repeat until escape is true
set pathQuery to display dialog \"Please enter the path to the file you want on the server\" default answer \"\" & \"~/Desktop\"
set pathLoc to text returned of pathQuery
set pathCheck to display dialog \"So this is the path?\" & return & return & pathLoc & return & return & \"(make sure this is correct)\" buttons {\"Cancel\", \"Yes\", \"No\"}
if button returned of pathCheck is \"no\" then
set escape to false
else
if button returned of pathCheck is \"yes\" then
set escape to true
end if
end if
end repeat
display dialog \"Select a folder to save the files from the server\"
set this_item to (choose folder with prompt \"select drop folder\")
set file_path to (POSIX path of this_item)
end if
set file_path to my renameFile(file_path)
set pathLoc to my renameFile(pathLoc)
activate application \"Terminal\"
tell application \"System Events\"
tell process \"Terminal\"
if directionChoice is \"Push\" then
keystroke \"rsync -avze \\\"ssh -p 22\\\" \" & file_path & \" Edmundo@192.168.0.11:\\\"\" & pathLoc & \"\\\"\" & return
delay " & theWait & "
else
keystroke \"rsync -avze \\\"ssh -p 22 \\\" Edmundo@192.168.0.11:\\\"\" & pathLoc & \"\\\" \\\"\" & file_path & \"\\\"\" & return
delay " & theWait & "
end if
end tell
tell application \"Finder\" to quit application \"Terminal\"
end tell
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on renameFile(theName)
global theExoticCharacters, theNormalCharacters
set oldTID to AppleScript's text item delimiters
repeat with i from 1 to count of theExoticCharacters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to item i of theExoticCharacters
set theTextBits to text items of theName
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to item i of theNormalCharacters
set theName to theTextBits as text
end repeat
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldTID
return theName
end renameFile"
set the open_buildFile to open for access file buildFile with write permission
write the_text to open_buildFile
close access the open_buildFile
display dialog "all done!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
on replace_chars(this_text, search_string, replacement_string)
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the search_string
set the item_list to every text item of this_text
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the replacement_string
set this_text to the item_list as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
return this_text
end replace_chars
