rneter 0.3.7

SSH connection manager for network devices with intelligent state machine handling
Documentation

rneter

Crates.io Documentation License: MIT

中文文档

rneter is a Rust library for managing SSH connections to network devices with intelligent state machine handling. It provides a high-level API for connecting to network devices (routers, switches, etc.), executing commands, and managing device states with automatic prompt detection and mode switching.

Features

  • Connection Pooling: Automatically caches and reuses SSH connections for better performance
  • State Machine Management: Intelligent device state tracking and automatic transitions
  • Prompt Detection: Automatic prompt recognition and handling across different device types
  • Mode Switching: Seamless transitions between device modes (user mode, enable mode, config mode, etc.)
  • SFTP File Uploads: Upload local files to remote hosts that expose the SSH sftp subsystem
  • Built-in Copy Flow Templates: Reuse structured templates for Cisco-like interactive copy workflows
  • Maximum Compatibility: Supports a wide range of SSH algorithms including legacy protocols for older devices
  • Async/Await: Built on Tokio for high-performance asynchronous operations
  • Error Handling: Comprehensive error types with detailed context

Installation

Add this to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
rneter = "0.3"

Quick Start

use rneter::session::{ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER, Command, CmdJob};
use rneter::templates;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Use a predefined device template (e.g., Cisco)
    let handler = templates::cisco()?;

    // Get a connection from the manager
    let sender = MANAGER
        .get_with_context(
            ConnectionRequest::new(
                "admin".to_string(),
                "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
                22,
                "password".to_string(),
                None,
                handler,
            ),
            ExecutionContext::default(),
        )
        .await?;

    // Execute a command
    let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel();
    let cmd = CmdJob {
        data: Command {
            mode: "Enable".to_string(), // Cisco template uses "Enable" mode
            command: "show version".to_string(),
            timeout: Some(60),
            ..Command::default()
        },
        sys: None,
        responder: tx,
    };
    
    sender.send(cmd).await?;
    let output = rx.await??;
    
    println!("Command successful: {}", output.success);
    println!("Output: {}", output.content);
    Ok(())
}

Linux Server Management

rneter supports Linux server management with flexible privilege escalation:

use rneter::session::{ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER, Command, CmdJob};
use rneter::templates::{linux_with_config, LinuxTemplateConfig, SudoMode};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Configure Linux template with sudo password
    let mut handler = templates::linux()?;
    handler.dyn_param.insert(
        "SudoPassword".to_string(),
        "your_sudo_password".to_string()
    );

    // Connect to Linux server
    let sender = MANAGER
        .get_with_context(
            ConnectionRequest::new(
                "user".to_string(),
                "192.168.1.100".to_string(),
                22,
                "ssh_password".to_string(),
                None,
                handler,
            ),
            ExecutionContext::default(),
        )
        .await?;

    // Execute command as regular user
    let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel();
    sender.send(CmdJob {
        data: Command {
            mode: "User".to_string(),
            command: "ls -la /home".to_string(),
            timeout: Some(30),
            ..Command::default()
        },
        sys: None,
        responder: tx,
    }).await?;
    let output = rx.await??;
    println!("Output: {}", output.content);

    // Execute command with sudo (single command privilege escalation)
    let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel();
    sender.send(CmdJob {
        data: Command {
            mode: "User".to_string(),
            command: "sudo systemctl status nginx".to_string(),
            timeout: Some(30),
            ..Command::default()
        },
        sys: None,
        responder: tx,
    }).await?;
    let output = rx.await??;
    println!("Nginx status: {}", output.content);

    // Switch to persistent root shell
    let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel();
    sender.send(CmdJob {
        data: Command {
            mode: "Root".to_string(),  // Automatically executes sudo -i
            command: "systemctl restart nginx".to_string(),
            timeout: Some(30),
            ..Command::default()
        },
        sys: None,
        responder: tx,
    }).await?;
    let output = rx.await??;
    println!("Restart result: {}", output.content);

    Ok(())
}

LinuxTemplateConfig.shell_flavor defaults to DeviceShellFlavor::Posix. If the remote login shell is fish, set it explicitly to DeviceShellFlavor::Fish.

Custom Configuration:

use rneter::device::DeviceShellFlavor;
use rneter::templates::{linux_with_config, LinuxTemplateConfig, SudoMode, CustomPrompts};

// Use sudo -s instead of sudo -i
let config = LinuxTemplateConfig {
    sudo_mode: SudoMode::SudoShell,
    sudo_password: Some("password".to_string()),
    custom_prompts: None,
    ..LinuxTemplateConfig::default()
};
let handler = linux_with_config(config)?;

// Custom prompt patterns
let config = LinuxTemplateConfig {
    sudo_mode: SudoMode::SudoInteractive,
    sudo_password: Some("password".to_string()),
    custom_prompts: Some(CustomPrompts {
        user_prompts: vec![r"^myuser@myhost\$\s*$"],
        root_prompts: vec![r"^root@myhost#\s*$"],
    }),
    ..LinuxTemplateConfig::default()
};
let handler = linux_with_config(config)?;

// Force fish-compatible exit-status capture
let config = LinuxTemplateConfig {
    shell_flavor: DeviceShellFlavor::Fish,
    ..LinuxTemplateConfig::default()
};
let handler = linux_with_config(config)?;

File Uploads

If the remote host enables the SSH sftp subsystem, rneter can upload local files over the same authenticated SSH connection:

use rneter::session::{ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, FileUploadRequest, MANAGER};
use rneter::templates;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let handler = templates::linux()?;

    MANAGER
        .upload_file_with_context(
            ConnectionRequest::new(
                "user".to_string(),
                "192.168.1.100".to_string(),
                22,
                "ssh_password".to_string(),
                None,
                handler,
            ),
            FileUploadRequest::new(
                "./artifacts/config.backup".to_string(),
                "/tmp/config.backup".to_string(),
            )
            .with_timeout_secs(30)
            .with_buffer_size(16 * 1024)
            .with_progress_reporting(true),
            ExecutionContext::default(),
        )
        .await?;

    Ok(())
}

This path requires SFTP support on the remote host. For devices that only expose CLI-driven transfer commands such as copy scp: or copy tftp:, build a transfer flow from templates and execute it through the generic command-flow API.

Network Device SCP/TFTP Transfers

For Cisco-like CLIs, rneter ships a built-in reusable copy template. Render it with runtime variables, then execute the resulting CommandFlow through the generic command-flow API:

use rneter::session::{ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER};
use rneter::templates::{self, cisco_like_copy_template, CommandFlowTemplateRuntime};
use serde_json::json;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let flow = cisco_like_copy_template().to_command_flow(
        &CommandFlowTemplateRuntime::new()
            .with_default_mode("Enable")
            .with_vars(json!({
                "protocol": "scp",
                "direction": "to_device",
                "server_addr": "198.51.100.20",
                "remote_path": "/pub/image.bin",
                "device_path": "flash:/image.bin",
                "transfer_username": "deploy",
                "transfer_password": "secret",
            })),
    )?;

    let result = MANAGER
        .execute_command_flow_with_context(
            ConnectionRequest::new(
                "admin".to_string(),
                "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
                22,
                "password".to_string(),
                None,
                templates::cisco()?,
            ),
            flow,
            ExecutionContext::default(),
        )
        .await?;

    if let Some(last) = result.outputs.last() {
        println!("Transfer output: {}", last.content);
    }
    Ok(())
}

This built-in template matches the prompt style used by cisco, arista, chaitin, maipu, and venustech. If a vendor wizard differs, build another CommandFlowTemplate on top of the same abstraction.

Structured Command-Flow Templates

If you want a less hard-coded workflow, build a reusable CommandFlowTemplate in Rust. It keeps the same declarative shape as the earlier TOML design: vars, steps, prompts, default_mode, and conditional branches.

use rneter::templates::{
    CommandFlowTemplate, CommandFlowTemplatePrompt, CommandFlowTemplateRuntime,
    CommandFlowTemplateStep, CommandFlowTemplateText, CommandFlowTemplateVar,
};
use serde_json::json;

let template = CommandFlowTemplate::new(
    "cisco_like_copy",
    vec![CommandFlowTemplateStep::new(CommandFlowTemplateText::concat(vec![
        CommandFlowTemplateText::literal("copy "),
        CommandFlowTemplateText::var("protocol"),
        CommandFlowTemplateText::literal(": "),
        CommandFlowTemplateText::var("device_path"),
    ]))
    .with_prompts(vec![CommandFlowTemplatePrompt::new(
        vec![r"(?i)^Address or name of remote host.*\?\s*$".to_string()],
        CommandFlowTemplateText::var("server_addr"),
    )
    .with_append_newline(true)
    .with_record_input(true)])],
)
.with_default_mode("Enable")
.with_vars(vec![
    CommandFlowTemplateVar::new("protocol").with_required(true),
    CommandFlowTemplateVar::new("server_addr").with_required(true),
    CommandFlowTemplateVar::new("device_path").with_required(true),
]);

let flow = template.to_command_flow(
    &CommandFlowTemplateRuntime::new()
        .with_default_mode("Enable")
        .with_vars(json!({
            "protocol": "scp",
            "direction": "to_device",
            "server_addr": "198.51.100.20",
            "remote_path": "/pub/image.bin",
            "device_path": "flash:/image.bin",
            "transfer_username": "deploy",
            "transfer_password": "secret",
        })),
)?;

The built-in cisco_like_copy_template() is implemented with the same abstraction, so future http, ftp, or vendor-specific copy wizards can stay in one structured template layer instead of adding more one-off Rust structs.

Custom Interactive Command Flows

If a device workflow needs multiple commands or prompt patterns that are not baked into a template, build a CommandFlow directly and attach runtime PromptResponseRules to each step:

use rneter::session::{
    Command, CommandFlow, CommandInteraction, ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER,
    PromptResponseRule,
};
use rneter::templates;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let flow = CommandFlow::new(vec![Command {
        mode: "Enable".to_string(),
        command: "copy http: flash:/image.bin".to_string(),
        timeout: Some(600),
        interaction: CommandInteraction::default()
            .push_prompt(PromptResponseRule::new(
                vec![r"(?i)^Address or name of remote host.*\?\s*$".to_string()],
                "203.0.113.10\n".to_string(),
            ))
            .push_prompt(PromptResponseRule::new(
                vec![r"(?i)^Source (?:file ?name|filename).*\?\s*$".to_string()],
                "/pub/image.bin\n".to_string(),
            ))
            .push_prompt(
                PromptResponseRule::new(
                    vec![r"(?i)^Destination (?:file ?name|filename).*\?\s*$".to_string()],
                    "\n".to_string(),
                )
                .with_record_input(true),
            ),
        ..Command::default()
    }]);

    let result = MANAGER
        .execute_command_flow_with_context(
            ConnectionRequest::new(
                "admin".to_string(),
                "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
                22,
                "password".to_string(),
                None,
                templates::cisco()?,
            ),
            flow,
            ExecutionContext::default(),
        )
        .await?;

    if let Some(last) = result.outputs.last() {
        println!("Last step output: {}", last.content);
    }
    Ok(())
}

Runtime prompt-response rules are evaluated before template static input rules, so new SCP/TFTP/HTTP style wizards can usually be added without changing the underlying template definition.

Security Levels

rneter now supports secure defaults and configurable SSH security levels when connecting:

use rneter::session::{
    ConnectionRequest, ConnectionSecurityOptions, ExecutionContext, MANAGER,
};
use rneter::templates;

// Secure by default (uses known_hosts verification + strict algorithms)
let _sender = MANAGER
    .get_with_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        ExecutionContext::default(),
    )
    .await?;

// Explicitly choose a security profile
let _sender = MANAGER
    .get_with_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        ExecutionContext::new()
            .with_security_options(ConnectionSecurityOptions::legacy_compatible()),
    )
    .await?;

Session Recording and Replay

use rneter::session::{
    ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER, SessionRecordLevel, SessionReplayer,
};
use rneter::templates;

let (sender, recorder) = MANAGER
    .get_with_recording_level_and_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        ExecutionContext::default(),
        SessionRecordLevel::Full,
    )
    .await?;

// Subscribe to future recorder events in real time
let mut rx = recorder.subscribe();
tokio::spawn(async move {
    while let Ok(entry) = rx.recv().await {
        println!("live event: {:?}", entry.event);
    }
});

// Or record key events only (no raw shell chunks)
let (_sender2, _recorder2) = MANAGER
    .get_with_recording_level_and_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        ExecutionContext::default(),
        SessionRecordLevel::KeyEventsOnly,
    )
    .await?;

// ...send CmdJob through `sender`...

// Export recording as JSONL
let jsonl = recorder.to_jsonl()?;

// Restore and replay offline
let restored = rneter::session::SessionRecorder::from_jsonl(&jsonl)?;
let mut replayer = SessionReplayer::from_recorder(&restored);
let replayed_output = replayer.replay_next("show version")?;
println!("Replayed output: {}", replayed_output.content);

// Offline command-flow testing without real SSH
let script = vec![
    rneter::session::Command {
        mode: "Enable".to_string(),
        command: "terminal length 0".to_string(),
        timeout: None,
        ..rneter::session::Command::default()
    },
    rneter::session::Command {
        mode: "Enable".to_string(),
        command: "show version".to_string(),
        timeout: None,
        ..rneter::session::Command::default()
    },
];
let outputs = replayer.replay_script(&script)?;
assert_eq!(outputs.len(), 2);

Transactional Command Blocks

For configuration commands, you can execute a block with commit-or-rollback behavior:

use rneter::session::{
    ConnectionRequest, ExecutionContext, MANAGER, CommandBlockKind, RollbackPolicy, TxBlock,
    TxStep,
};
use rneter::templates;

let block = TxBlock {
    name: "addr-create".to_string(),
    kind: CommandBlockKind::Config,
    rollback_policy: RollbackPolicy::WholeResource {
        mode: "Config".to_string(),
        undo_command: "no object network WEB01".to_string(),
        timeout_secs: Some(30),
        trigger_step_index: 0,
    },
    steps: vec![
        TxStep {
            mode: "Config".to_string(),
            command: "object network WEB01".to_string(),
            timeout_secs: Some(30),
            rollback_command: None,
            rollback_on_failure: false,
        },
        TxStep {
            mode: "Config".to_string(),
            command: "host 10.0.0.10".to_string(),
            timeout_secs: Some(30),
            rollback_command: None,
            rollback_on_failure: false,
        },
    ],
    fail_fast: true,
};

let result = MANAGER
    .execute_tx_block_with_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        block,
        ExecutionContext::default(),
    )
    .await?;
println!(
    "committed={}, rollback_succeeded={}",
    result.committed, result.rollback_succeeded
);

For multi-block all-or-nothing workflows (for example addresses -> services -> policy):

use rneter::session::{TxWorkflow, TxWorkflowResult};

let workflow = TxWorkflow {
    name: "fw-policy-publish".to_string(),
    blocks: vec![addr_block, svc_block, policy_block],
    fail_fast: true,
};

let workflow_result: TxWorkflowResult = MANAGER
    .execute_tx_workflow_with_context(
        ConnectionRequest::new(
            "admin".to_string(),
            "192.168.1.1".to_string(),
            22,
            "password".to_string(),
            None,
            templates::cisco()?,
        ),
        workflow,
        ExecutionContext::default(),
    )
    .await?;

for block in &workflow_result.block_results {
    for step in &block.step_results {
        println!(
            "step[{}] execution={:?} rollback={:?}",
            step.step_index, step.execution_state, step.rollback_state
        );
    }
}

You can also build blocks from template strategies:

let cmds = vec![
    "object network WEB01".to_string(),
    "host 10.0.0.10".to_string(),
];
let block = templates::build_tx_block(
    "cisco",
    "addr-create",
    "Config",
    &cmds,
    Some(30),
    Some("no object network WEB01".to_string()), // whole-resource rollback
)?;

For CI-style offline tests, you can store JSONL recordings under tests/fixtures/ and replay them in integration tests (see tests/replay_fixtures.rs).

To normalize noisy online recordings into stable fixtures:

cargo run --example normalize_fixture -- raw_session.jsonl tests/fixtures/session_new.jsonl

Template and State-Machine Ecosystem

You can manage built-in templates as a catalog and run state-graph diagnostics:

use rneter::templates;

let names = templates::available_templates();
assert!(names.contains(&"cisco"));

let _handler = templates::by_name("juniper")?; // case-insensitive

let report = templates::diagnose_template("cisco")?;
println!("has issues: {}", report.has_issues());
println!("dead ends: {:?}", report.dead_end_states);

let catalog = templates::template_catalog();
println!("template count: {}", catalog.len());

let all_json = templates::diagnose_all_templates_json()?;
println!("all diagnostics json bytes: {}", all_json.len());

You can also export a built-in template configuration, extend it, and build your own handler:

use rneter::device::prompt_rule;
use rneter::templates;

let mut config = templates::by_name_config("cisco")?;
config
    .prompt
    .push(prompt_rule("CustomMode", &[r"^custom>\s*$"]));

let handler = config.build()?;
assert!(handler.states().iter().any(|state| state == "custommode"));

New recording/replay capabilities:

  • Prompt tracking: each command_output now records both prompt_before/prompt_after
  • FSM prompt tracking: each event can include fsm_prompt_before/fsm_prompt_after
  • Output prompt: command/replay results now include Output.prompt
  • Transaction lifecycle recording: tx_block_started, tx_step_succeeded, tx_step_failed, tx_rollback_started, tx_rollback_step_succeeded, tx_rollback_step_failed, tx_block_finished
  • Schema compatibility: legacy connection_established fields (prompt/state) remain readable
  • Fixture quality workflow: tests/fixtures/ includes success/failure/state-switch samples and snapshot checks in tests/replay_fixtures.rs

Example command_output event shape:

{
  "kind": "command_output",
  "command": "show version",
  "mode": "Enable",
  "prompt_before": "router#",
  "prompt_after": "router#",
  "fsm_prompt_before": "enable",
  "fsm_prompt_after": "enable",
  "success": true,
  "content": "Version 1.0",
  "all": "show version\nVersion 1.0\nrouter#"
}

Example transaction lifecycle event shape:

{
  "kind": "tx_block_finished",
  "block_name": "addr-create",
  "committed": false,
  "rollback_attempted": true,
  "rollback_succeeded": true
}

Architecture

Connection Management

The SshConnectionManager provides a singleton connection pool accessible via the MANAGER constant. It automatically:

  • Caches connections for 5 minutes of inactivity
  • Reconnects on connection failure
  • Manages up to 100 concurrent connections

State Machine

The DeviceHandler implements a finite state machine that:

  • Tracks the current device state using regex patterns
  • Finds optimal paths between states using BFS
  • Handles automatic state transitions
  • Supports system-specific states (e.g., different VRFs or contexts)

Design Rationale

The state machine is designed around two stable facts in network-device automation:

  1. Prompts are more reliable than command text for identifying current mode.
  2. Transition paths vary by vendor/model, so pathfinding must be data-driven.

Core design choices:

  • Normalize states to lowercase and map prompt regex matches to state indexes for fast lookups.
  • Separate prompt detection (read_prompt) from state update (read) to keep command loops predictable.
  • Model transitions as a directed graph (edges) and use BFS to find shortest valid mode switch path.
  • Keep dynamic input handling (read_need_write) independent from command logic, so password/confirm flows are reusable.
  • Track both CLI prompt text and FSM prompt (state name) to support online diagnostics and offline replay assertions.

Benefits:

  • Better portability: vendor-specific behavior is mostly data configuration, not hard-coded branches.
  • Better resilience: command execution relies on prompt/state convergence instead of fixed output formats.
  • Better testability: record/replay can validate state transitions and prompt evolution without real SSH sessions.

State Transition Model

flowchart LR
    O["Output"] --> L["Login Prompt"]
    L -->|enable| E["Enable Prompt"]
    E -->|configure terminal| C["Config Prompt"]
    C -->|exit| E
    E -->|exit| L
    E -->|show ...| E
    C -->|show ... / set ...| C

Command Execution Flow (State-Aware)

flowchart TD
    A["Receive Command(mode, command, timeout)"] --> B["Read current FSM prompt/state"]
    B --> C["BFS transition planning: trans_state_write(target_mode)"]
    C --> D["Execute transition commands sequentially"]
    D --> E["Execute target command"]
    E --> F["Read stream chunks -> update handler.read(line)"]
    F --> G{"Prompt matched?"}
    G -->|No| F
    G -->|Yes| H["Build Output(success, content, all, prompt)"]
    H --> I["Record event: prompt_before/after + fsm_prompt_before/after"]

Command Execution

Commands are executed through an async channel-based architecture:

  1. Submit a CmdJob to the connection sender
  2. The library automatically transitions to the target state if needed
  3. Executes the command and waits for the prompt
  4. Returns the output with success status

Supported Device Types

The library is designed to work with any SSH-enabled network device and Linux servers. It's particularly well-suited for:

Network Devices:

  • Cisco IOS/IOS-XE/IOS-XR devices
  • Juniper JunOS devices
  • Arista EOS devices
  • Huawei VRP devices
  • H3C Comware devices
  • Hillstone SG devices
  • Array Networks APV devices
  • Fortinet FortiGate firewalls
  • Palo Alto Networks PA firewalls
  • Check Point Security Gateway
  • Topsec NGFW firewalls
  • Venustech USG devices
  • DPTech firewall devices
  • Chaitin SafeLine gateways
  • QiAnXin NSG gateways
  • Maipu network devices

Linux Servers:

  • Generic Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, etc.)
  • Supports multiple privilege escalation methods (sudo -i, sudo -s, su, direct root)
  • Intelligent prompt detection with customizable patterns
  • Transaction-based configuration management with rollback support

Configuration

SSH Algorithm Support

rneter includes comprehensive SSH algorithm support in the config module:

  • Key exchange: Curve25519, DH groups, ECDH
  • Ciphers: AES (CTR/CBC/GCM), ChaCha20-Poly1305
  • MAC: HMAC-SHA1/256/512 with ETM variants
  • Host keys: Ed25519, ECDSA, RSA, DSA (for legacy devices)

This ensures maximum compatibility with both modern and legacy network equipment.

Error Handling

The library provides detailed error types through ConnectError:

  • UnreachableState: Target state cannot be reached from current state
  • TargetStateNotExistError: Requested state doesn't exist in configuration
  • ChannelDisconnectError: SSH channel disconnected unexpectedly
  • ExecTimeout: Command execution exceeded timeout
  • And more...

Documentation

For detailed API documentation, visit docs.rs/rneter.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Author

demohiiiii