Native SSH and SFTP Support

[Noxious]

LabVIEW needs native SSH and SFTP connection support. 

In the past, LabVIEW users have had to rely on third party applications like PuTTY or ExtraPuTTY to do very basic Linux/Unix secure shell operations.  Not only does it add an extra layer of complexity to the code but it is also quite inflexible.  Increasing interoperability requirements of present day (and future) computer systems rely heavily on terminal services with a vast percentage of those being SSH based.  In the past 5 years I have needed to use SSH type connections more and more inside of LabVIEW, I do not see it ending anytime soon and I know I am not alone.

An SSH connection could be managed in much the same manor as the current VISA and TelNet connection are managed.  An example of some of the tools could look something like the below image and could come standard or part of the Internet Connectivity Toolkit.

[PhillipBrooks]

Kudoed! These should be written from the ground up, not adapted or built on the old telnet/ftp library designs.

I have applications that open up many (10 or more) telnet sessions simultaniously. There is an issue with telnet where a single common VI (Telnet Buffered Read) is NOT reentrant and this causes major problems. If one session times out, all other sessions are blocked.

Any new implimentation should support multiple simultanious connections that are non-blocking. Rewriting the old libs at the same time wouln't hurt either!

[rstickney]

Native LabVIEW client support for SSH would also allow LabVIEW RT systems make secure connections to machines.  A LabVIEW SSH server would be nice as well. 

[Jervin Justin]

Hi Noxious,

We just launched a new branch of the NI Idea Exchange to foster ideas for LabVIEW Add-ons. The intent was to create a place for LabVIEW Add-on developers (both NI R&D and developers in the community) to find ideas that matter to the community.

This is part of our ongoing effort to enable LabVIEW developers to productize LabVIEW code. Some of the other things we’ve done this year were adding Licensing & Activation for 3^rd Parties, launching the Compatible with LabVIEW Program and the LabVIEW Tools Network.

We’ve identified your particular idea as one that could potentially be made into an Add-on and would like to move it to this new Idea Exchange so that Add-on developers can easily find it. Would this be okay with you?

Thanks!

[SanRac]

I would like if we are able to transfer the files from cRIO to windows host using SFTP.

[Pickles]

We have recently become responsible for maintaining a LV app developed by a colleague from another lab.  His app uses a Telnet session, which he worked out by doing whatever he could do.  But now our lab has to adopt the app to enable hooking up virtual (simulated) devices via socket.  The biggest hurdle is that our lab's policy prevents us from using unsecure TCP/IP connections.  For the time being, we worked out by setting up a private network but this cannot be our final/ideal solution.  I am aware the internet connection tool kit but it'd be nice to have the capability natively since I am pretty sure this needs is only growing quickly.

[Needhelp1]

I would love to see this idea implemented.

[Ray.R]

Kudos!

I agree with Philip: "These should be written from the ground up, not adapted or built on the old telnet/ftp library designs."

This is a much needed feature as more and more secured shell will replace telnet.  There are cases where simply sending a script over SSH won't do the trick.  There needs to be a way to keep the session open and have interaction with the client SW.

[AndyVessey]

Yes this is great idea and should be in the next release of LV.

I could then use this with OpenBTS 

[PhillipBrooks]

I think its important to differentiate between SSH as an application and as a session protocol. What if NI-VISA supported SSH as a session protocol? It could handle the session handle, encryption, compression and negotiation just like it does now for things like VXI11, USBTMC and GPIB.

Adding SSH session functionality would enhance ALL NI-VISA capable products. Any product running on any given platform could include it's own application layer functionality, or the labview community at large could 'roll our own' toolkits.

[sdrochek3]

I could use this right now! What I need to do I can't get to work through PuTTY.