mussh - MUltihost SSH 

$Id: README,v 1.8 2006/12/26 21:57:22 doughnut Exp $

=====================
Mussh is a shell script that allows you to execute a command or script
over ssh on multiple hosts with one command. When possible mussh will use 
ssh-agent and RSA/DSA keys to minimize the need to enter your password 
more than once.


Requirements
============
General:
- ssh with ssh-agent
When Proxying:
- Proxy server must have OpenSSH 2.3 or greater, or an sshd that works with
  ForwardAgent under ssh2.
- Proxy server must have mussh installed in your PATH.  To verify that it
  is in your path use "ssh user@proxy 'which mussh'". 
  Use "ssh user@proxy 'echo $PATH'" to determine what your path is.

License
=======
GPL


Compatibility
============
I wrote and tested this on Mandrake 8.x, Redhat 7.x, RedHat Enterprise
(2.1,3,4), and Fedora Core (3,4,5).  Other than that, it needs more testing!
If you get this to run _anywhere_ else, email me at doughnut@doughnut.net.


Interaction with ssh-agent
==========================
Assuming that you're not turning off the agent with '-A' mussh will attempt
to use ssh-agent.  Normally mussh will get rid of the agent when it exits.
See EXAMPLES for examples.


Usage
=====
mussh [OPTIONS] <HOST ARGS> <COMMAND ARGS>

Arguments can be in any order.

OPTIONS:
	--help          This gives a brief help message.
	
	-d              see -d1

	-d0             Turns debug mode off.

	-d1             On STDERR prints out basic actions and ssh-agent
	                activity and which host is being connected to.

	-d2             Includes all of the output from -d1, the list of 
			hosts and the command/script as it will be
			executed on each host.

	-v		see -v1

	-v1             Sets ssh in debug1 mode by passing "-v" to ssh.
			
	-v2             Sets ssh in debug2 mode by passing "-v -v" to ssh.
			
	-v3             Sets ssh in debug3 mode by passing "-v -v -v" to ssh.
			
	-q              No output unless necessary.
	                This will cancel -d and -v if after them on
			the command line.  It also suppresses the output
			of each host.  This will NOT suppress the
			password/passphrase prompts required to log 
			into each host.

	-P              Do NOT fall back to passwords on any host.  This will
                        skip hosts where keys fail.  If you use this with
			'-d' you'll still see which hosts failed.
			
	-i <identity> [identity ..]
	                Load an identity file.  
	                When -i is used, the specified identity file(s) is
			loaded instead of the default identity.  You can
			load as many RSA/DSA identities as you'd like.
			
	-o <ssh-args>   Args to pass to ssh with -o option.  See the
	                ssh(1) man page for more info on the -o option.

	-a              Force loading ssh-agent.
	                Without this flag, mussh will not load another 
			agent when one is already loaded.
			
	-A              Do NOT load ssh-agent.
	                If no agent is loaded you will be prompted for a
			password or passphrase by ssh for each host.  If
			you do not have RSA/DSA keys for the destination
			hosts, this will save you some hassle.

	-b              Print each hosts' output in a block without mingling
			with other hosts' output.
	-B              Allow hosts' output to mingle. (default)


	-l <login>      Use 'login' when no other is specified with hostname.
	-L <login>      Force use of 'login' name on all hosts.  These can be
	                handy for adding 'root@' to hostnames kept in a file
			for -H option.  With -h it means you get to type less.
			
	-u              Unique.  Eliminate duplicate hosts (default).
	                If you a host or user@host occurs more than
			once across files specified with -H or hosts
			specified with -h, the host or user@host is used
			only once.
			
	-U              Do NOT make host list unique.
	                This simply overrides the -u flag.  This will
			cause scripts to be executed on duplicate hosts
			once per listing.

	-s <shell>      Path to shell on remote host. (Default: bash)
			This will allow you to run commands in a shell other
			than bash.  Sorry but one had to be specified.

	-t <secs>	Timeout setting for each session.
                        (requires openssh 3.8 or newer)

	-V              Print version info and exit.

	
	
HOST ARGS:
	-h [user@]<host> [[user@]<host> ..]
	                As with ssh itself, the username can be 
			supplied for a host but is not required.
			
	-H <file> [file ..]
	                Add contents of file(s) to list of hosts.
			Files should have one host per line.  Use
			"#" for comments.
			
COMMAND ARGS:
	-c <command>    Add a command or quoted list of commands and
	                args to list of commands to be executed on
			each host.  May be used more than once.

	-C <file> [file ..]
	                Add file contents to list of commands to be
	                executed on each host.  May be used more
	                than once.

At least one host is required.  Arguments are in no particular order.


Tips
====
 -  To pipe commands to mussh, you can get the commands from standard 
    input by using '-C -'.
 -  To pipe hosts to mussh, you can get the hosts from standard input
    by using '-H -'.
 -  When you already have an ssh-agent loaded, you can avoid loading
    sensitive keys into that agent by using '-a' to force mussh
    to load (and dispose of) it's own agent.
 -  When mussh is running you can use CTRL-\ to view which hosts are 
    currently running and which hosts remain.
 -  Blocking (-b) in asynchronous mode (-m) only makes the output look
    serial.  The commands are still running at the same time on the
    remote host.