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win-sshpass User Guide

A Windows implementation of sshpass: password/key SSH login, interactive shell, SFTP file transfer, SCP/Rsync-style transfer, and a reusable Go SDK.

What is win-sshpass?

win-sshpass is a Windows implementation of the Linux sshpass tool. It is a standalone executable with no dependencies — no need to install OpenSSH or any other software. Download it and you're ready to go.

It supports both command-line tool and Go SDK usage:

  • Password/Key authentication: Supports password, private key, environment variable, and config file authentication.
  • Interactive shell: Raw terminal mode with proper echo, Ctrl+C, full-screen apps (vim, top), and dynamic terminal resizing.
  • SFTP file transfer: Upload/download files and directories with progress bars.
  • SCP/Rsync style: Compatible with scp and rsync command syntax.
  • Reusable Go SDK: Import as a Go library to embed SSH/SFTP/shell capabilities in your own application with injectable I/O streams and progress callbacks.

30-Second Quick Start

# Install via Scoop
scoop bucket add chuccp https://github.com/chuccp/scoop-bucket
scoop install win-sshpass

# Login with password and execute command
win-sshpass -p 'password' ssh user@example.com 'whoami'

# Upload a file
win-sshpass -h example.com -p 'password' -local file.txt -remote /tmp/file.txt

# Open interactive shell
win-sshpass -p 'password' ssh user@host

Core Features

1. Multiple Authentication Methods

Password authentication: Direct password, from file, or from environment variable.

# Direct password
win-sshpass -p 'secret' ssh user@host

# From file
win-sshpass -f pass.txt ssh user@host

# From environment variable
SSHPASS='secret' win-sshpass -e ssh user@host

Private key authentication: Supports Ed25519, RSA, and other key formats.

win-sshpass -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 ssh user@host

Configuration file: Manage connection info for multiple servers.

win-sshpass -f server.config -c 'docker ps'

2. Interactive Shell (Raw Terminal Mode)

When no command is specified, win-sshpass opens an interactive shell with:

  • Proper echo — typed characters are displayed correctly (no double echo)
  • Ctrl+C / Ctrl+Z — signals are forwarded to the remote process
  • Full-screen apps — vim, top, htop, nano work correctly
  • Dynamic terminal resizing — the remote terminal automatically matches your local window size
  • Tab completion — remote shell tab completion works as expected
win-sshpass -p 'password' ssh user@host

3. File Transfer

SFTP: Upload/download files and directories with progress bars.

# Upload file
win-sshpass -h host -p 'pass' -local file.txt -remote /tmp/file.txt

# Upload multiple files
win-sshpass -h host -p 'pass' -local "a.txt,b.txt,c.txt" -remote /tmp/

# Download directory
win-sshpass -h host -p 'pass' -d -remote /var/log/nginx -local ./logs

SCP style: Compatible with scp command syntax.

win-sshpass -p 'pass' scp ./app.jar user@server:/opt/app/
win-sshpass -p 'pass' scp -r ./dist user@server:/var/www/html

Rsync style: Compatible with rsync command syntax.

win-sshpass -p 'pass' rsync -avz ./ user@server:/backup/

Shell rz/sz: Use rz/sz commands directly in interactive shell.

# In remote shell:
rz                              # Upload file (opens file picker)
sz /remote/path/to/file         # Download file

4. Reusable Go SDK

win-sshpass is also a Go library (package sshpass) that you can embed in your own application:

import sshpass "github.com/chuccp/win-sshpass"

cfg := sshpass.NewConfig()
cfg.Host = "example.com"
cfg.User = "root"
cfg.Password = "secret"

client, err := sshpass.NewClient(cfg, sshpass.WithSignalHandler())
defer client.Close()

// Execute command
client.Exec("uname -a")

// SFTP transfer
sftp, _ := client.SFTP()
sftp.Upload("./local.txt", "/tmp/remote.txt")

The SDK ships no UI code (no progress bar, no file dialog). Behavior is configured through functional options:

Option Purpose
WithStdin(r) / WithStdout(w) / WithStderr(w) Redirect I/O streams
WithProgress(fn) Set transfer progress callback
WithFileSelector(s) Set rz/sz file selector
WithSignalHandler() Register Ctrl+C signal handler

Parameters

Parameter Description Example
-p Password -p 'secret123'
-i Private key path -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
-f Password file / config file -f pass.txt
-e Read password from SSHPASS env var SSHPASS='pass' win-sshpass -e ssh ...
-h Host address -h example.com
-u Username, default: root -u ubuntu
-P Port, default: 22 -P 2222
-c Command to execute -c 'ls -la'
-local Local path(s) (comma or space separated) -local "a.txt,b.txt"
-remote Remote path -remote /tmp/file.txt
-d Download mode -d
-k Enable strict host key verification -k
-t Total operation timeout in seconds (0 = no limit) -t 30
-ct TCP connection timeout in seconds (default: 10) -ct 5
-retry Total connection attempts (default: 3) -retry 5
-v Show version -v
-help Show help -help

Getting Started

User Guide

Advanced and Reference

Community