# SSH client question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 17, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386 "2003-04-17T19:05:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386/1 "2003-04-17T19:05:04Z")

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I’ve grown very fond of **SecureCRT 4.0** lately, mostly because it supports two forms of scripting: a built in “Expect” interface, that lets you specify simple logon tasks right from the GUI, and support for various scripting languages that can be used from external files, supporting VBScript, Javascript, and Perl.

Unfortunately, I’m being told the list price is too high ($99 US) for a departmental purchase. So, I’ll put it to the teeming millions:

Are there any other recommended SSH clients for Win32 systems out there that support native scripting? Anything free?

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**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386/2 "2003-04-18T02:19:54Z")

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I looked around at one time and couldn’t find anything close to SecureCRT functionality-wise. A bit steep, true.

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**Author:** ![ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386/3 "2003-04-18T14:40:59Z")

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That’s my experience too, I guess. Sometimes I hate when I already know the answer. ☹

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**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386/4 "2003-04-18T16:00:31Z")

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I don’t know exactly what kind of scripting your are looking for, but perhaps you could use a free client like putty and then do the scripting on the server side? If your tasks change from login to login then it will ofcouse not be that easy.

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**Author:** ![ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssh-client-question/169386/5 "2003-04-18T16:22:42Z")

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We already use Putty, actually. The gap I’m trying to fix is client side scripting, because we spend a lot of time connecting to various machines during emergencies. I want to automate certain things, especially logins, so that you can “one click” your way into many machines at once, for example. Since we usually have to piggy back off a central server, the login process is even more onerous (having to login twice for a dozen servers takes a couple minutes). With SecureCRT I can literally click on a shortcut, enter my password once, and have consoles automatically open to all servers necessary within seconds, ready to go.

Looks like I’ll need to either shell out the bucks for SecureCRT or start coding something myself, though. I was hoping something out there for closer to $30-40 would exist, though. ☹