Command_line :action not on the local host

Configuration
#1

I want to issue a command on another computer on the same LAN
the commands are, and need to be issued as root,:
systemctl stop
systemctl start
I can set up password less ssh login , and I think I can login as root with SSH
so maybe something like:-

ssh [email protected]>ip_address> && systemctl stop <service>

words of wisdom please
#2

Should be fine, although you don’t want the “&&” - SSH takes an optional command as a parameter, so just:

ssh [email protected] systemctl stop <service>

It might be a good idea to set up a separate account for it rather than using root though.

#3

Thanks Micheal
The only thing running on the old OdroidC1 is motion, and as a minimal install the default user is root,
which is convenient, as systemctl need to been executed as root . What would be nice is to get some feedback the action has been completed, I did think of the process id, but it returns

[email protected]:/etc/motion$ ssh [email protected] "ps ax|grep motion"
26676 pts/0    S+     0:00 tail -f /var/log/motion/motion.log
26857 ?        Ss     0:00 bash -c ps ax|grep motion
26859 ?        S      0:00 grep motion

forget the log line as I had that running to see if it worked, in an automation it doesn’t matter about feedback, but would be nice to have a switch in lovelace as well

#4

Another problem is it works from the CLI of the host computer, but not from HA


switch:
  - platform: command_line
    switches:
      lounge_camera:
#        command_on: 'lwp-request http://localhost:7770/103/detection/start'
        command_on: 'ssh [email protected] "systemctl restart motion"'
        command_off: 'ssh [email protected] "systemctl stop motion"'

the hashed line worked but was very hit and miss, I wondered if it was not reading /etc/hosts on the host computer, hence the full ip_address, but made no difference, maybe execute a shell script on the host ???

#5

I added the full ssh path /usr/bin/ssh but it still didn’t work
so I put

ssh [email protected] "systemctl restart motion

in a shell script on the host and called that and that works.

it would be nice if I put in the shell script, there are two one for on and one for off

ssh [email protected] systemctl restart motion
sleep 3
ssh [email protected] systemctl status motion

then test for the status , maybe on the “Active” line , but not sure how to do this

â—Ź motion.service - Motion detection video capture daemon
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/motion.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-11-29 13:34:33 UTC; 22min ago
       Docs: man:motion(1)
   Main PID: 29256 (motion)
     Memory: 54.3M
     CGroup: /system.slice/motion.service
             └─29256 /usr/bin/motion -c /etc/motion/motion.conf -d 8

Any help appreciated

#6

I do believe you have to put your ssh keys in your config folder under a folder called ssh_keys that you create, and then you need to reference like this:

switch:
  - platform: command_line
    switches:
      lounge_camera:
        command_on: 'ssh -i /config/ssh_keys/yourkeyname -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] systemctl restart motion'
        command_off: 'ssh -i /config/ssh_keys/yourkeyname -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] systemctl stop motion'

I think that will get you going.

#7

Thanks TinyDot
I already have the ssh keys installed as from the CLI on the host I can

ssh [email protected]  systemctl restart motion

That logs into the remote machine without asking for a password
keyname is that the name of the user that created the key, in my case on the host machine that is odroid.
I’m also using ssh on the binary_sensor to check the status, I’ll try on that , Thanks

#8

The ssh keys have to be in the Homeassistant container, and referenced to run from there, cause it is a different environment, than the host. Also the keyname, is the name of the file that your key is called i.e. id_rsa, or what ever you named it.

#9

OK, I’m running core, so to generate the keys , do I need to cd to /srv/homeassistant, activate, then generate the key with

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

then where does that key go to stay within the homeassistant environment, which the user is also odroid.
thanks for the help

#10

It sounds like you already have the keys, made cause you said this works from the host, so just create a folder called ssh_keys in you Homeassistant config folder, and place the key in that folder. Then you should be all set using the switch config I gave you above.

1 Like
#11

thanks, config folder is that /home/odroid/.homeassistant or /srv/homeassistant

#12

I am not sure how you have setup your install, but your config folder will have your configuration.yaml, automation.yaml etc file in it.

#13

I’ve added both SSH keys into /srv/homeassistant and .homeassistant
in

binary_sensor:
  - platform: command_line
    name: Cam_status
    command: 'ssh -i /config/ssh_keys/id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] "systemctl is-active motion"'
    payload_on: "active"
    payload_off: "inactive"

Doing something as before the change in States it was “on” all the time , now its “unknown”

But it did change to “on” when the cams were enabled , but when stopped it did not change state.
nearly working , Thanks

#14

I’m glad you are closer to the end, and I hope you figure out the rest.

#15

hopefully this question will get it working 100%
When HA is running , where will it look for the ssh_key directory as it running in its own environment.
the path to the ssh_key directory on the host machine is /home/odroid/.homeassistant ???
if HA’s root directory is .homeassistant , then should it be

'ssh -i ./ssh_keys/id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] "systemctl is-active motion"'
#16

I’m So Sorry I missed this until now : ( You create a directory in you HomeAssistant config folder ( The folder that contains your automation.yaml, configuration.yaml and so ) Then you would point to you keys in that config folder:

echo `ssh -i /config/ssh/id_rsa

My keys are in the HA config folder in the ssh folder. Sorry for the tardiness.