kitten ssh doesn't work with fish shell

[mattgodbolt]

Describe the bug
I'm trying out kitty, and hit the #713. The FAQ confused me but I found the "just use kitty +kitten ssh" comment, and so tried that.

I'm using fish shell on both ends of the connection, and I get:

$ kitty +kitten ssh cy2-desktop-37 
fish: Unsupported use of '='. In fish, please use 'set tmp $(mktemp /tmp/terminfo.XXXXXX)'.

Connection to cy2-desktop-37 closed.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Configure fish shell as the default
2. kitty + kitten ssh <machine>
3. See error

Expected behavior
ssh to work

Environment details
OS: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS

Output of kitty --debug-config

kitty 0.15.0 created by Kovid Goyal
Linux godbolt 5.8.0-44-generic #50~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Feb 10 21:07:30 UTC 2021 x86_64
Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS \n \l
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=focal
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS"
Loaded config files: /etc/xdg/kitty/kitty.conf
Running under: X11

Config options different from defaults:
update_check_interval 0.0

Additional context
Reproduces with kitty --config NONE

[kovidgoyal]

This is addressed in the FAQ::

infocmp xterm-kitty | ssh myserver tic -x -o \~/.terminfo /dev/stdin

[kovidgoyal]

Oh and if you run kitty from master yu can also use th enew python mde for the ssh kitten

kitty +kitten ssh use-python myserver

[mattgodbolt]

Thanks.

For those following it's a substep of https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/faq.html#i-get-errors-about-the-terminal-being-unknown-or-opening-the-terminal-failing-when-sshing-into-a-different-computer

[kovidgoyal]

Oh and PRs to improve the wording in the FAQ are most welcome, https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/faq.html#i-get-errors-about-the-terminal-being-unknown-or-opening-the-terminal-failing-when-sshing-into-a-different-computer

relevant file is docs/faq.rst

[mattgodbolt]

Oh and if you run kitty from master yu can also use th enew python mde for the ssh kitten

infocmp xterm-kitty | ssh myserver tic -x -o \~/.terminfo /dev/stdin

It seems I need to do this to every server? I have a fleet of many hundreds of machines, and I don't want to force this step on to them. I'm not sure I understand why this is needed, I'll read the FAQ some more.

[kovidgoyal]

many terminal programs require the terminfo database of the terminal you are using to function. Those terminfo files need to get on your servers somehow. Servers come with pre-installed terminfo files for older terminals. Newer ones need their terminfo installed separately. You can use the ssh kitten aliased as ssh to avoid having to do this manually, unless it doesnt work because you have set your shell on the servers to be a non-POSIX compliant shell like fish. In that case use the python variant assuming you have python on your servers (the python variant is currntly not in released kitty version so you have to run kitty form master).

[mattgodbolt]

Thanks for the note. I do have python on my servers. This all seems confusing for "just" wanting to try out a new xterm, but I appreciate the effort you put in to this and in replying to my issues here.

[kovidgoyal]

You're welcome, I've gotten a lot of use out of compiler explorer over the years :)

[mattgodbolt]

Thanks 😊 :)

[aadibajpai]

I tried the python variant but that gave me an error as well so I manually copied over the terminfo files which worked. However I was digging through the source and I observed that the script gets the shell dynamically. If kitty doesn't support fish, is it possible to simply execute the bash script with /bin/sh instead of fish so it won't complain about the syntax error.

i.e.

kitty/kittens/ssh/main.py

Lines 64 to 65 in 32d275c

	try:
	shell_path = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell or '/bin/sh'

has something like

if shell_path.endswith('fish'):
    shell_path = '/bin/sh'

edit: nvm I tried to compile from source with that change and it didn't work

[kovidgoyal]

What bash script? The line you are pointing to executes the login shell
for whatever account you have logged into on the remote machine using
python. And it would help if you posted the error you got from the
python version.

[aadibajpai]

What bash script? The line you are pointing to executes the login shell
for whatever account you have logged into on the remote machine using
python. And it would help if you posted the error you got from the
python version.

the error is about python not being available to the shell, I assume this happens because I have python3 and not python:

fish: Unknown command: python
fish: 
python -c "#!/usr/bin/env python
from __future__ import print_function
from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
import subprocess, os, sys, pwd, binascii, json

# macOS ships with an ancient version of tic that cannot read from stdin, so we
# create a temp file for it
with NamedTemporaryFile() as tmp:
    tmp.write(binascii.unhexlify('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'))
    p = subprocess.Popen(['tic', '-x', '-o', os.path.expanduser('~/.terminfo'), tmp.name], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
    stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
    if p.wait() != 0:
        getattr(sys.stderr, 'buffer', sys.stderr).write(stdout + stderr)
        raise SystemExit('Failed to compile terminfo using tic')
command_to_execute = json.loads(binascii.unhexlify('2222'))
try:
    shell_path = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell or '/bin/sh'
except KeyError:
    shell_path = '/bin/sh'
shell_name = '-' + os.path.basename(shell_path)
if command_to_execute:
    os.execlp(shell_path, shell_path, '-c', command_to_execute)
os.execlp(shell_path, shell_name)
"
^

[kovidgoyal]

Yup, that is because you are missing python.