readme.md

Rootless SSH

A npm package taking advantage of the execSync() of child_process to workaround SSH.

Specially made for replit users who can't pay for ssh access. Works on any device as long as it runs windows, linux or mac.

Prerequisites

1. Installation of NodeJS (>=16)

Limitations

1. Any command that reads line from terminal or asks for input doesn't work.
2. You can only send a command when the previous one had responded.
3. Any command that crashes node on your server will disconnect the websocket.

Server Side

This code would start a websocket on your port 3000 which can be connected to like this wss://<hostname>:3000

const { Server } = require('rootless-ssh');

const server = new Server({
    // these are default values
    welcomemsg: <advertisementText>, // if you don't want any welcome message, you have to explicitly set it to null.
    port: 3000, // optional if server is not null
    path: '/ssh',
    auth: 'changeme' // unique token that needs to be in the `authorization` header when connecting to websocket as `Bearer <password>`,
    server: <ExpressApp> /*or*/ <HttpServer>,
    logging: {
        input: false, // set to true to log commands
        output: false // set to true to log command outputs
    }
});

// to start the server
server.start();

// to close the server
server.stop();

// to access the underlying websocket instance
const ws = server.ws();

Note: Make sure to change the auth property as this can give an attacker access to your terminal. Even without root access, an attacker can do much damage to your system.

If you already have an express/http server, you can bind the websocket with it

// for express
const http = require('http'),
    express = require('express'),
    {Server} = require('rootless-ssh'),
    app = express(),
    server = http.createServer(app),
    ssh = new Server({},server); // you can put the options in {}

server.listen(3000);
ssh.start(); // recommended to start ssh after starting the server

Client Side

This code would connect to the websocket and you would be able to enter commands on your console.

const { Client } = require('rootless-ssh');

const client = new Client(url /* wss://<hostname>:<port> */,auth /* auth password */);

// to connect
client.connect();

// to disconnect
client.disconnect();

// additionally, you can send commands programmatically by using this
client.send("<commandString>");

// to access the underlying websocket connection
const ws = client.ws()

Custom Commands

Due to the technical limitations, we had to introduce some custom cli commands for certain works.

dirchange> : Works as a cd or chdir command. Same syntax.
disconnect> : Disconnects from the server.

Connecting from Command Line

Install this package as global
npm i rootless-ssh -g

Now from console, run wssh "<host>" "<pass>" or npx wssh "<host>" "<pass>"

More commands will be introduced as we recieve requests.

Bugs

While this package is being actively tested, please know that bugs may appear. If you come across a bug, report in the issues tab on our github.