CODEWITHSUNDEEP
variablesssh
Chris Rowarth
Chris Rowarth

Reputation: 3

ssh to a server and create a directory based off a variable - all in one line

so i have a simple script that lists the folder and file structure of the current directory and spits it out to a file in the current users home directory, then rsyncs that file to a remote server into a specific folder.

the first part of the script SSH's into the remote server and creates a unique folder that the later part of the script transfers the file into.

#ssh -p 12345 sftp.domain.com ' bash -c "mkdir incoming/[foldername]" '

my question is, how can i pass a variable to this? i would usually put this in the script, and then run the script like this "copy.sh $1":

#ssh -p 12345 sftp.domain.com ' bash -c "mkdir incoming/folder-$1" '

however it doesn't work like i might hope it would. all i end up with is a folder on the remote server named "folder-" as it presumably doesn't pass the variable along with the rest when it ssh's in.

is there a better way to make this work?

the rest of the script would also reference the variable $1 to actually copy the file into the folder created on the remote server earlier in the script.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1377

Answers (1)

SpeedyPenguin
SpeedyPenguin

Reputation: 56

If I understand the problem correctly, the parameter you are trying to reference is set on the local client side (the command line from where you initiate the ssh connection), but you want to reference it in the command line that is to run on the remote server side. This really has nothing to do with ssh and everything to do with shell parameter/variable expansion on the local client side.

The problem is with your usage of single quotes vs. double quotes. Most Unix command shells, including bash which is likely the shell you are running on the local client side, perform environment variable expansion inside of double quotes but not inside of single quotes. So in your command line you should be able to accomplish your goal by changing the single quotes to double quotes and then escaping the embedded double quote characters like this:

#ssh -p 12345 sftp.domain.com " bash -c \"mkdir incoming/folder-$1\" "

Here is a similar example that shows this in action:

$ export EXAMPLE=abc
$ ssh localhost ' bash -c "echo $EXAMPLE def" '
def
$ ssh localhost " bash -c \"echo $EXAMPLE def\" "
abc def

Upvotes: 1

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