SSH/SFTP Operations Tool

MyDeskBot provides powerful remote server management capabilities through the built-in remote_command_execution tool that supports SSH/SFTP operations, enabling seamless server operations directly from your development environment.

Note: remote_command_execution is a built-in tool of MyDeskBot and needs to be enabled in the tool configuration before use.

Session Usage Examples

Direct SSH Tool Usage in Chat

Users can directly request SSH operations in natural language. MyDeskBot will automatically generate and execute the corresponding tool calls:

"Please check the disk usage and service status of the production-web-01 server."

MyDeskBot will automatically understand your intent and generate a tool call like this (transparent to users):

# Auto-generated by the model, users don't need to worry about this
tools:
  - name: "server-health-check"
    tool: "remote_command_execution"
    args:
      serverName: "production-web-01"
      username: "admin"
      keyPath: "/path/to/private/key"
      commands:
        - "df -h"
        - "systemctl status nginx"
        - "systemctl status docker"
        - "free -h"

Credential Management

When your server requires authentication, you can provide credentials directly in conversation, or let MyDeskBot use your ~/.ssh/config configuration:

"Connect to production server production-server (using ~/.ssh/config) and check the web service status."

Or provide credentials directly:

"Connect to 192.168.1.100 via SSH, username is admin, private key path is ~/.ssh/id_rsa, check system status."

Recommendation: Prioritize using ~/.ssh/config for server connections to avoid repeatedly entering credentials in conversations.

Getting Started

Basic Command Execution

Simply describe your needs in natural language:

"Help me check the system load and memory usage on the web server."

MyDeskBot will automatically generate and execute the corresponding commands.

File Transfer

"Upload the deploy.sh script to the staging server and set execute permissions."

Using SSH Config

"Connect to dev-server from ~/.ssh/config and see what services are running."

Advanced Usage

System Monitoring

"Help me monitor the production server's system status, including CPU, memory, disk and network usage, and recent error logs."

Batch Deployment

"Upload the new configuration files to all web servers, then reload Nginx service, and finally verify service status."

Log Analysis

"Help me check the application logs on app-server and find any errors and warnings in the last hour."

File Backup

"Download the latest backup file from db-server, then upload it to the backup server."

Use Cases

🔐 Server Management

Manage remote servers directly using natural language:

"Restart the Nginx service on all web servers, then check service status."

📊 System Monitoring

Monitor server performance and status:

"Help me check the health status and resource usage of all nodes in the cluster."

🚀 Automated Deployment

Execute deployment and configuration management:

"Deploy the new version of code to the staging environment, run migration scripts, and verify the service is working properly."

🔍 Troubleshooting

Quickly locate and resolve issues:

"The database connection failed on the production server, help me check the database service status and logs."

📁 File Transfer

Securely transfer files:

"Upload the local configuration file to the server, then download the latest log file for analysis."

Best Practices

1. Use SSH Keys: Prioritize key authentication over passwords
2. Protect Sensitive Information: Use environment variables to store credentials
3. Use SSH Config: Predefine server connections in ~/.ssh/config
4. Set Timeouts: Set appropriate timeout values for long-running commands
5. Verify Commands: Verify command correctness before execution
6. Limit Permissions: Use user accounts with minimum privileges for different tasks
7. Reuse Connections: Enable connection reuse for better performance

Appendix: Tool Parameters Reference

The remote_command_execution tool supports the following parameters. When you describe your needs in a conversation, MyDeskBot automatically parses and generates the corresponding tool call:

Parameter	Type	Description
serverName	string	Server hostname or IP address
username	string	SSH username
port	number	SSH port (default: 22)
password	string	SSH password (key authentication recommended)
keyPath	string	Path to SSH private key file (if not provided and ~/.ssh/config is configured, will use settings from config file)
commands	array	Array of commands to execute on the remote server
uploadFiles	array	Array of files to upload to the remote server
downloadFiles	array	Array of files to download from the remote server
timeout	number	Command execution timeout in seconds (default: 30)
captureOutput	boolean	Whether to capture and return command output (default: true)
maxFileSize	number	Maximum file size for operations in bytes (default: 104857600 = 100MB)
reuseConnection	boolean	Whether to reuse existing SSH connection (default: true)

File Upload/Download Structure

Upload File:

uploadFiles:
  - localPath: "/path/to/local/file"
    remotePath: "/path/to/remote/file"
    permissions: "644" # optional

Download File:

downloadFiles:
  - remotePath: "/path/to/remote/file"
    localPath: "/path/to/local/file"

Usage Example

When you say "Help me check the web server status", MyDeskBot automatically generates an internal call like this (this process is transparent to you):

tool: "remote_command_execution"
args:
  serverName: "web-server"
  username: "admin"
  keyPath: "/path/to/private/key"
  commands:
    - "uptime"
    - "df -h"
    - "systemctl status nginx"