SSH

Execute commands and transfer files via SSH/SFTP

Overview

The SSH tool connects to remote servers over the SSH protocol to execute shell commands, download files via SFTP, and upload files via SFTP. It supports both password and private key authentication. Commands return stdout, stderr, exit code, and signal. File downloads produce binary items stored in the binary store. File uploads read binary data from upstream items and send them to a remote path via SFTP. A single SSH connection is established per execution batch for efficiency.

Category: Development
Tool Name: ssh
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: lucide-Terminal | Color: #000000

Node Type

Action (Binary) — handles file/binary data operations

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires SSH Credentials credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Resources

Resource	Value
Command	command
File	file

Operations

Command

Operation	Value	Description
Execute	execute	Execute a command on the remote server

File

Operation	Value	Description
Download	download	Download a file from the remote server via SFTP
Upload	upload	Upload a file to the remote server via SFTP

Parameters

Command: Execute

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Command	string	Yes	—	The shell command to execute on the remote server.
Working Directory	string	No	—	Optional working directory for command execution. When set, the tool wraps the command as sh -c 'cd <cwd> && <command>', which requires the remote server to have /bin/sh (true for OpenSSH-style servers). Leave empty for compatibility with restricted servers (e.g. Rebex demo) that whitelist specific commands and refuse sh. Supports ~/ for home directory.
Timeout (ms)	number	No	60000	Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the command to complete before killing it.
Max Output Bytes	number	No	5242880	Maximum bytes of stdout/stderr to capture per stream. Output beyond this is truncated and a “truncated” flag is set.
Fail on Non-Zero Exit	boolean	No	true	If true, a non-zero exit code is treated as an error and routed accordingly.

File: Download

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Path (path)	string	Yes	—	Full remote file path including file name. Supports ~/ for home directory.
Binary Property (binaryPropertyName)	string	Yes	data	Name of the output binary property to store the downloaded file. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for file operations.
— File Name	string	No	—	Override the file name from the binary data or remote path.

File: Upload

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Input Binary Field (binaryPropertyName)	string	Yes	data	Name of the input binary field containing the file to upload. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use.
Target Directory (path)	string	Yes	—	Remote directory to upload the file to. The file name is taken from binary data. Supports ~/ for home directory.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for file operations.
— File Name	string	No	—	Override the file name from the binary data or remote path.

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Max Concurrency	number	No	1	Maximum number of items to process concurrently. Keep low for SSH connections (default 1).

This node’s parameters are sent to the server literally. {{ ... }} expressions in Command, Path, Target Directory or Working Directory are not resolved against the item — they travel to the remote host as the text you typed. Build a dynamic command or path in an upstream node (for example Edit Fields) and select that field here instead.

Output Data

One output item per input item — no operation fans out. What lands on the item differs sharply per operation:

Operation	Output item
command / execute	The item JSON is replaced by the command result. Upstream fields do not pass through. Binary is forwarded unchanged.
file / download	The item JSON passes through unchanged; the downloaded file is added to the item’s binary data under the Binary Property name, alongside any binary the item already carried.
file / upload	The item JSON is replaced by { "success": true }. Upstream fields do not pass through. Binary is forwarded unchanged.

A command result looks like this:

{
  "stdout": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x 6 user user 4096 Jan 15 10:30 .",
  "stderr": "",
  "code": 0,
  "signal": null
}

• code is the process exit status and signal is the signal that killed it, or null.
• truncated: true is added when either stream hit Max Output Bytes and was cut short.
• With Fail on Non-Zero Exit on (the default), a non-zero code is turned into an item error. The error item still carries stdout, stderr, code and signal, so you can read the failing output on the Error branch. Turn the option off to treat a non-zero exit as an ordinary result and inspect code yourself.

On download, the file name is taken from the remote path unless you override it with the File Name option. On upload, the file name comes from the binary data’s own file name unless File Name overrides it; if neither is available the item fails.

Reference the result downstream by expression, e.g. {{ $json.stdout }}.

Usage Examples

• Run a shell command on a remote server and get the output
• Download a log file from a remote server via SFTP
• Upload a report to a remote server via SFTP
• Execute a deploy script on a production server
• Transfer backup files from a remote server

Example Configuration

Run a command and capture its output:

{
  "type": "ssh",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "command",
    "operation": "execute",
    "command": "systemctl status nginx",
    "timeoutMs": 60000,
    "maxOutputBytes": 5242880,
    "failOnNonZeroExit": true
  }
}

Run a command from a working directory, tolerating a non-zero exit:

{
  "type": "ssh",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "command",
    "operation": "execute",
    "command": "ls -la",
    "cwd": "/var/log",
    "failOnNonZeroExit": false
  }
}

Download a log file into the item’s binary data:

{
  "type": "ssh",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "download",
    "path": "~/logs/application.log",
    "binaryPropertyName": "logFile"
  }
}

Upload a file from an upstream node, renaming it on the server:

{
  "type": "ssh",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "upload",
    "path": "/etc/myapp/",
    "binaryPropertyName": "data",
    "options": {
      "fileName": "config.yml"
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Execute commands and transfer files on remote servers via SSH/SFTP with password or private key authentication.