Expect Script wait Command Hangs

Question

I have an expect script embedded in a bash script:

#! /bin/bash

# this function runs a command like 'ssh' and provides the password
function with_password {
expect << END
spawn $2
expect *assword:*
send -- $1
interact
wait
END
}

# run "long_running_command" on the remote server
with_password my_password "ssh my_user@some-server long_running_command"

# rsync some data to the remote server
with_password my_password "rsync /some/dir my_user@some-server:/remote/dir"

# run some other random command
with_password my_password "ssh my_user@some-server some_other_command"

The problem is that sometimes the script will hang while waiting for a spawned command. If I leave the wait command out of the expect script, the command will continue to run on the remote server, but the bash script will continue, and I have no way of knowing when it finishes.

Why does my expect script seem to be randomly hanging?

Answer 1

The interact command in the expect here-doc was the problem. I needed to wait for EOF instead:

#! /bin/bash

# this function runs a command like 'ssh' and provides the password
function with_password {
expect << END
set timeout 900
spawn $2
expect *assword:*
send -- $1
expect EOF
END
}

# run "long_running_command" on the remote server
with_password my_password "ssh my_user@some-server long_running_command"

# rsync some data to the remote server
with_password my_password "rsync /some/dir my_user@some-server:/remote/dir"

# run some other random command
with_password my_password "ssh my_user@some-server some_other_command"

The interact command seem to work sometimes when the ssh/rsync command closed the input at the correct time (maybe?), but it wasn't reliable.

Answer 2

What about using passwordless logins with ssh keys?

You can create your keys with ssh-keygen then put your public key on the remote end: ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

You can even create keys with passphrase (if you want to add some kind of security) which you can load in your shell with ssh-agent bash enter you pass once, and it will keep your unlocked key in the memory for later password promptless logins.

Answer 3

You are missing the final here doc delimiter.

expect << END
spawn $2
expect *assword:*
send -- $1
interact
wait
END