cmc

cmc makes SSH ControlMaster sessions easy. SSH ControlMaster sessions have the following benefits:

• When using a SSH Bastion, you will only be prompted for (two-factor) authentication once.
  • Hosts behind the SSH Bastion can be accessed "directly" by proxying through the SSH Bastion (see workflow).
• Sessions to or through ControlMaster hosts do not need to create a new connection (SSH will be faster for most tasks)

Script Help

Usage:  cmc [ -c HOST | -o HOST | -x HOST ]
        cmc [ -L | -l | -O | -X ]
        cmc -h

ControlMaster Controller - Eases management of SSH ControlMaster connections

Options:
    -h      show this help message and exit
    -c HOST check HOST ControlMaster connection status (maybe specified more
            than once)
    -L      list ControlMasters defined in SSH_CONFIG
    -l      list ControlMaster connection sockets matching ControlPath and
            check their connection status
    -O      open all ControlMasters defined in SSH_CONFIG
    -o HOST open a ControlMaster session (maybe specified more than once)
    -x HOST exit ControlMaster session (maybe specified more than once)
    -X      exit all ControlMaster connections with sockets matching
            ControlPath

Notes:
    • Any unused sockets in ControlPath are removed with -l and -X
    • Only a single ControlPath should be specified

Install

1. Install Homebrew — The missing package manager for macOS

2. Add the cmc "tap" and install cmc:

   brew tap ClockworkNet/cmc
   brew install cmc

Alternatively, since cmc is a bash script without esoteric dependencies, you can simply download it and ensure it is in your PATH.

If this utility is helpful for you, please star this project so that it can eventually be included in Homebrew proper. Thank you!

Documentation

ControlPersist

Note: This utility is largely deprecated by the addition of ControlPersist in OpenSSH 5.6. It allows ControlMaster sessions to be configured to timeout instead of relying on a utility like cmc to manage them. See ssh_config(5) for more details.

Workflow

See docs/workflow.rst_.

Annotated SSH Configuration

See docs/annotated_config.rst_.

Related

• mac-ssh-confirm: Protect against SSH Agent Hijacking on macOS with the ability to confirm agent identities prior to each use
• gacli: Mac CLI Google Authenticator client (ex. for use with SSH Bastions that utilize Google Authenticator)

Requirements

• *nix Operating System with
  • core utilities (awk, find, grep, ps, and sed)
  • GNU Bourne-Again Shell 3.0 or later (bash)
  • OpenSSH 4.0 or later (ssh)

Supported By

Development of this project has been supported by Clockwork (ClockworkNet). Thank you!

License

• LICENSE (Expat License/MIT License)