path: root/lib/ssh/doc/src/ssh_channel.xml

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<!DOCTYPE erlref SYSTEM "erlref.dtd">

<erlref>
  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>2009</year>
      <year>2009</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB, All Rights Reserved</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
      Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
      compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
      Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
      retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.

      Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
      basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
      the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
      under the License.

      The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Ericsson AB.
    </legalnotice>

    <title>ssh_channel</title>
    <prepared>Ingela Anderton Andin</prepared>
    <responsible></responsible>
    <docno></docno>
    <approved></approved>
    <checked></checked>
    <date></date>
    <rev></rev>
  </header>
  <module>ssh_channel</module>
  <modulesummary>Generic Ssh Channel Behavior
  </modulesummary>
  <description>
    <p>Ssh services are implemented as channels that are multiplexed
    over an ssh connection and communicates via the ssh connection
    protocol.  This module provides a callback API that takes care of
    generic channel aspects such as flow control and close messages
    and lets the callback functions take care of the service specific
    parts.
    </p>
  </description>

  <section>
    <title>COMMON DATA TYPES </title>

    <p>Type definitions that are used more than once in this module
    and/or abstractions to indicate the intended use of the data
    type:</p>
    
    <p><c>boolean() = true | false </c></p>
    <p><c>string() = list of ASCII characters</c></p>
    <p><c>timeout() =  infinity | integer() - in milliseconds.</c></p>
    <p><c>ssh_connection_ref() - opaque to the user returned by
    ssh:connect/3 or sent to a ssh channel process</c></p>
    <p><c>ssh_channel_id() = integer() </c></p>
    <p><c>ssh_data_type_code() = 1 ("stderr") | 0 ("normal") are
    currently valid values see RFC 4254 section 5.2.</c></p>
  </section>

  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name>call(ChannelRef, Msg) -></name>
      <name>call(ChannelRef, Msg, Timeout) -> Reply | {error, Reason}</name>
      <fsummary> Makes a synchronous call to a channel.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>ChannelRef = pid() </v>
	<d>As returned by start_link/4 </d>
	<v>Msg = term() </v>
	<v>Timeout = timeout() </v>
	<v>Reply = term() </v>
	<v>Reason = closed | timeout </v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>Makes a synchronous call to the channel process by sending
	a message and waiting until a reply arrives or a timeout
	occurs. The channel will call
	<c>CallbackModule:handle_call/3</c> to handle the message.
	If the channel process does not exist <c>{error, closed}</c> is returned.
	</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
    <func>
      <name>cast(ChannelRef, Msg) -> ok </name>
      <fsummary>Sends an asynchronous message to the channel
	ChannelRef and returns ok.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>ChannelRef = pid() </v>
	<d>As returned by start_link/4 </d>
	<v>Msg = term() </v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>Sends an asynchronous message to the channel process and
	returns ok immediately, ignoring if the destination node or
	channel process does not exist. The channel will call
	<c>CallbackModule:handle_cast/2</c> to handle the message.
	</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

       <func>
      <name>enter_loop(State) -> _ </name>
      <fsummary> Makes an existing process into a ssh_channel process. </fsummary>
      <type>
	<v> State = term() - as returned by  ssh_channel:init/1</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p> Makes an existing process into a <c>ssh_channel</c>
	process. Does not return, instead the calling process will
	enter the <c>ssh_channel</c> process receive loop and become a
	<c>ssh_channel process.</c> The process must have been started using
	one of the start functions in proc_lib, see <seealso
	marker="stdlib:proc_lib">proc_lib(3)</seealso>. The
	user is responsible for any initialization of the process
	and needs to call ssh_channel:init/1.
	</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
    <func>
      <name>init(Options) -> {ok, State} |  {ok, State, Timeout} | {stop, Reason} </name>
      <fsummary> Initiates a ssh_channel process.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v> Options = [{Option, Value}]</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>
	  The following options must be present:
	</p>
	  <taglist>
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{channel_cb, atom()}]]></c></tag>
	  <item>The module that implements the channel behavior.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{init_args(), list()}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> The list of arguments to the callback modules
	  init function.</item>

	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{cm, connection_ref()}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> Reference to the ssh connection.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{channel_id, channel_id()}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> Id of the ssh channel.</item>
	  
	  </taglist>

	  <note><p>This function is normally not called by the user, it is
	  only needed if for some reason the channel process needs
	  to be started with help of <c>proc_lib</c> instead calling
	  <c>ssh_channel:start/4</c> or <c>ssh_channel:start_link/4</c> </p>
	  </note>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>reply(Client, Reply) -> _</name>
      <fsummary>Send a reply to a client.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>Client - opaque to the user, see explanation below</v>
        <v>Reply = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>This function can be used by a channel to explicitly send a
        reply to a client that called <c>call/[2,3]</c> when the reply
        cannot be defined in the return value of
        <c>CallbackModule:handle_call/3</c>.</p>
        <p><c>Client</c> must be the <c>From</c> argument provided to
          the callback function <c>handle_call/3</c>.
	  <c>Reply</c> is an arbitrary term,
          which will be given back to the client as the return value of
          <c>ssh_channel:call/[2,3].</c></p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
    <func>
      <name>start(SshConnection, ChannelId, ChannelCb, CbInitArgs) -> </name>
      <name>start_link(SshConnection, ChannelId, ChannelCb, CbInitArgs) ->
      {ok, ChannelRef} | {error, Reason}</name>
      <fsummary> Starts a processes that handles a ssh channel. </fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>SshConnection = ssh_connection_ref()</v>
	<v>ChannelId = ssh_channel_id() </v>
	<d> As returned by ssh_connection:session_channel/[2,4]</d>
	<v>ChannelCb = atom()</v>
	<d> The name of the module implementing the service specific parts
	of the channel.</d>
	<v>CbInitArgs = [term()]</v>
	<d>Argument  list for the init function in the callback module. </d>
	<v>ChannelRef = pid()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>Starts a processes that handles a ssh channel. Will be
	called internally by the ssh daemon or explicitly by the ssh
	client implementations. A channel process traps exit signals
	by default.
	</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
  </funcs>
  
  <section>
    <title>CALLBACK FUNCTIONS</title>
    
    <p>The functions init/1, terminate/2, handle_ssh_msg/2 and
    handle_msg/2 are the functions that are required to provide the
    implementation for a server side channel, such as a ssh subsystem
    channel that can be plugged into the erlang ssh daemon see
    <seealso marker="ssh">ssh:daemon/[2, 3]</seealso>. The
    handle_call/3, handle_cast/2 code_change/3 and enter_loop/1
    functions are only relevant when implementing a client side
    channel.</p>
  </section>
 
  <section>
    <marker id="cb_timeouts"></marker>
    <title> CALLBACK TIMEOUTS</title>
    <p> If an integer timeout value is provided in a return value of
    one of the callback functions, a timeout will occur unless a
    message is received within <c>Timeout</c> milliseconds. A timeout
    is represented by the atom <c>timeout</c> which should be handled
    by the <seealso marker="#handle_msg">handle_msg/2</seealso>
    callback function. The atom infinity can be used to wait
    indefinitely, this is the default value. </p>
  </section>

  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:code_change(OldVsn, State, Extra) -> {ok,
      NewState}</name>
      <fsummary> Converts process state when code is changed.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v> Converts process state when code is changed.</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	  <p>This function is called by a client side channel when it
	  should update its internal state during a release
	  upgrade/downgrade, i.e. when the instruction
	  <c>{update,Module,Change,...}</c> where
	  <c>Change={advanced,Extra}</c> is given in the <c>appup</c>
	  file. See <seealso
	  marker="doc/design_principles:release_handling#instr">OTP
	  Design Principles</seealso> for more information. Any new
	  connection will benefit from a server side upgrade but
	  already started connections on the server side will not be
	  affected.
	  </p>

	  <note><p>If there are long lived ssh connections and more
	  than one upgrade in a short time this may cause the old
	  connections to fail as only two versions of the code may
	  be loaded simultaneously.</p></note>
	  
        <p>In the case of an upgrade, <c>OldVsn</c> is <c>Vsn</c>, and
          in the case of a downgrade, <c>OldVsn</c> is
          <c>{down,Vsn}</c>. <c>Vsn</c> is defined by the <c>vsn</c>
          attribute(s) of the old version of the callback module
          <c>Module</c>. If no such attribute is defined, the version
          is the checksum of the BEAM file.</p>
        <p><c>State</c> is the internal state of the channel.</p>
        <p><c>Extra</c> is passed as-is from the <c>{advanced,Extra}</c>
          part of the update instruction.</p>
        <p>The function should return the updated internal state.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:init(Args) -> {ok, State} | {ok, State, Timeout} |
      {stop, Reason}</name>
      <fsummary> Makes necessary initializations and returns the
      initial channel state if the initializations succeed.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v> Args = term() </v>
	<d> Last argument to ssh_channel:start_link/4.</d>
	<v> State = term() </v>
	<v>Timeout = timeout() </v>
	<v> Reason = term() </v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p> Makes necessary initializations and returns the initial channel
	state if the initializations succeed.
	</p>
	<p>For more detailed information on timeouts see the section 
	<seealso marker="#cb_timeouts">CALLBACK TIMEOUTS</seealso>. </p>
      </desc>
    </func>
   
    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:handle_call(Msg, From, State) -> Result</name>
      <fsummary> Handles messages sent by calling
      <c>ssh_channel:call/[2,3]</c></fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>Msg = term()</v>
	<v>From = opaque to the user should be used as argument to
	ssh_channel:reply/2</v>
	<v>State = term()</v>
	<v>Result = {reply, Reply, NewState} | {reply, Reply, NewState, Timeout}
	| {noreply, NewState} | {noreply , NewState, Timeout}
	| {stop, Reason, Reply, NewState} | {stop, Reason, NewState} </v>
	<v>Reply = term() - will be the return value of ssh_channel:call/[2,3]</v>
	<v>Timeout = timeout() </v>
	<v>NewState = term() - a possible updated version of State</v>
	<v>Reason = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>Handles messages sent by calling
	<c>ssh_channel:call/[2,3]</c>	
	</p>
	<p>For more detailed information on timeouts see the section 
	<seealso marker="#cb_timeouts">CALLBACK TIMEOUTS</seealso>. </p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:handle_cast(Msg, State) -> Result</name>
      <fsummary> Handles messages sent by calling
      <c>ssh_channel:cact/2</c></fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>Msg = term()</v>
	<v>State = term()</v>
	<v>Result = {noreply, NewState} | {noreply, NewState, Timeout}
	| {stop, Reason, NewState}</v>
	<v>NewState = term() - a possible updated version of State</v>
	<v>Timeout = timeout() </v>
	<v>Reason = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p> Handles messages sent by calling
	<c>ssh_channel:cast/2</c>
	</p>
	<p>For more detailed information on timeouts see the section 
	<seealso marker="#cb_timeouts">CALLBACK TIMEOUTS</seealso>. </p>
	<marker id="handle_msg"></marker>
      </desc>
    </func>
 
    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:handle_msg(Msg, State) -> {ok, State} |
      {stop, ChannelId, State}</name>

      <fsummary> Handle other messages than ssh connection protocol,
      call or cast messages sent to the channel.</fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>Msg = timeout | term()</v>
	<v>State = term() </v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>Handle other messages than ssh connection protocol, call or
	cast messages sent to the channel. 
	</p>

	<p> Possible erlang 'EXIT'-messages should be handled by this
	function and all channels should handle the following message.</p>
	
	<taglist>
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_channel_up, ssh_channel_id(), 
	  ssh_connection_ref()}]]></c></tag>
	  <item>This is the first messages that will be received
	  by the channel, it is sent just before
	  the ssh_channel:init/1 function returns successfully.
	  This is especially useful if the server wants
	  to send a message to the client without first receiving
	  a message from the client. If the message is not useful
	  for your particular problem just ignore it by immediately
	  returning {ok, State}.
	  </item>
	</taglist>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:handle_ssh_msg(Msg, State) -> {ok, State} | {stop,
      ssh_channel_id(), State}</name>
      <fsummary> Handles ssh connection protocol messages. </fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>Msg = {ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), SshMsg}</v>
	<v> SshMsg = tuple() - see message list below</v>
	<v>State = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p> Handles ssh connection protocol messages that may need
	service specific attention.
	</p>

	<p> All channels should handle the following messages.  For
	channels implementing subsystems the handle_ssh_msg-callback
	will not be called for any other messages. </p>
	
	<taglist>
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {data, ssh_channel_id(),
	  ssh_data_type_code(), binary() = Data}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> Data has arrived on the channel.  When the callback
	  for this message returns the channel behavior will adjust
	  the ssh flow control window.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {eof,
	  ssh_channel_id()}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item>Indicteas that the other side will not send any more
	  data.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {signal,
	  ssh_channel_id(), ssh_signal()}} ]]></c></tag>
	  <item>A signal can be delivered to the remote
	  process/service using the following message.  Some systems
	  may not implement signals, in which case they should ignore
	  this message.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(),
	  {exit_signal, ssh_channel_id(), string() = exit_signal,
	  string() = ErrorMsg, string() =
	  LanguageString}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item>A remote execution may terminate violently due to a
	  signal then this message may be received. For details on valid string
	  values see RFC 4254 section 6.10</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm,  ssh_connection_ref(), {exit_status,
	  ssh_channel_id(), integer() = ExitStatus}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> When the command running at the other end terminates,
	  the following message can be sent to return the exit status
	  of the command. A zero 'exit_status' usually means that the
	  command terminated successfully.</item>
	</taglist>

	<p> Channels implementing a shell and command execution on the server side
	should also handle the following messages. </p>
	
	<taglist>
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {env, ssh_channel_id(),
	  boolean() = WantReply, string() = Var, string() = Value}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> Environment variables may be passed to the
	  shell/command to be started later. Note that before the
	  callback returns it should call the function
	  ssh_connection:reply_request/4 with the boolean value of <c>
	  WantReply</c> as the second argument.
	  </item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ConnectionRef, {exec, ssh_channel_id(),
	  boolean() = WantReply, string() = Cmd}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> This message will request that the server start the
	  execution of the given command. Note that before the
	  callback returns it should call the function
	  ssh_connection:reply_request/4 with the boolean value of <c>
	  WantReply</c> as the second argument.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {pty, ssh_channel_id(),
	  boolean() = WantReply, {string() = Terminal, integer() = CharWidth,
	  integer() = RowHeight, integer() = PixelWidth, integer() = PixelHight,
	  [{atom() | integer() = Opcode,
	  integer() = Value}] = TerminalModes}}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item>A pseudo-terminal has been requested for the
	  session. Terminal is the value of the TERM environment
	  variable value (e.g., vt100). Zero dimension parameters must
	  be ignored.  The character/row dimensions override the pixel
	  dimensions (when nonzero).  Pixel dimensions refer to the
	  drawable area of the window. The <c>Opcode</c> in the
	  <c>TerminalModes</c> list is the mnemonic name, represented
	  as an lowercase erlang atom, defined in RFC 4254 section 8,
	  or the opcode if the mnemonic name is not listed in the
	  RFC. Example <c>OP code: 53, mnemonic name ECHO erlang atom:
	  echo</c>. Note that before the callback returns it should
	  call the function ssh_connection:reply_request/4 with the
	  boolean value of <c> WantReply</c> as the second
	  argument.</item>
	  
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ConnectionRef, {shell, boolean() =
	  WantReply}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> This message will request that the user's default
	  shell be started at the other end.  Note that before the
	  callback returns it should call the function
	  ssh_connection:reply_request/4 with the value of <c>
	  WantReply</c> as the second argument.
	  </item>

	  <tag><c><![CDATA[ {ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {window_change,
	  ssh_channel_id(), integer() = CharWidth, integer() = RowHeight,
	  integer() = PixWidth, integer() = PixHeight}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> When the window (terminal) size changes on the client
	  side, it MAY send a message to the other side to inform it
	  of the new dimensions.</item>
	</taglist>
	
	<p> The following message is completely taken care of by the
	ssh channel behavior</p>
	
	<taglist>
	  <tag><c><![CDATA[{ssh_cm, ssh_connection_ref(), {closed,
	  ssh_channel_id()}}]]></c></tag>
	  <item> The channel behavior will send a close message to the
	  other side if such a message has not already been sent and
	  then terminate the channel with reason normal.</item>
	</taglist>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>CallbackModule:terminate(Reason, State) -> _</name>
      <fsummary> </fsummary>
      <type>
	<v>Reason = term()</v>
	<v>State = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
	<p>This function is called by a channel process when it is
	about to terminate. Before this function is called ssh_connection:close/2
	will be called if it has not been called earlier.
	This function should be the opposite of <c>CallbackModule:init/1</c>
	and do any necessary cleaning up. When it returns, the
	channel process terminates with reason <c>Reason</c>. The return value is
	ignored.
	</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    
  </funcs>
  
</erlref>