using localusername vs remoteusername

[JamesNewton]

Issue Type: Bug

For some reason, it's apparently calling the git ssh client without specifying the user name I've entered in the config file. It's using the Windows user name (which I've replaced here with "localusername") instead of "remoteusername" as specified on the .ssh config file:

Host 1.2.3.4
    User remoteusername
    HostName 1.2.3.4
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/remotekey

Here is the output:
[22:08:14.043] remote-ssh@0.47.2
[22:08:14.043] win32 x64
[22:08:14.047] SSH Resolver called for "ssh-remote+1.2.3.4", attempt 1
[22:08:14.047] SSH Resolver called for host: 1.2.3.4
[22:08:14.047] Setting up SSH remote "1.2.3.4"
[22:08:14.085] Using commit id "asdfas" and quality "stable" for server
[22:08:14.087] Testing ssh with ssh -V
[22:08:14.091] Got error from ssh: spawn ssh ENOENT
[22:08:14.091] Testing ssh with C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe -V
[22:08:14.093] Got error from ssh: spawn C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe ENOENT
[22:08:14.093] Testing ssh with C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe -V
[22:08:18.674] ssh exited with code: 0
[22:08:18.674] Got stderr from ssh: OpenSSH_7.6p1, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
[22:08:18.682] Running script with connection command: "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -T -D 60247 1.2.3.4 bash
[22:08:18.703] Install and start server if needed
[22:08:18.706] Terminal shell path: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
[22:08:19.015] >
[22:08:19.015] Got some output, clearing connection timeout
[22:08:19.649] > localusername@1.2.3.4: Permission denied (publickey).

Notice it doesn't specify the remote username on the command for git ssh, and the error message indicates the localusername was used instead.

I am able to connect to the remote server via PuTTY using a key file and the correct remote user name.

Extension version: 0.47.2
VS Code version: Code 1.38.1 (b37e54c98e1a74ba89e03073e5a3761284e3ffb0, 2019-09-11T13:35:15.005Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 6.1.7601

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00GHz (8 x 1995)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled flash_3d: enabled flash_stage3d: enabled flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software oop_rasterization: unavailable_off protected_video_decode: unavailable_off rasterization: unavailable_off skia_deferred_display_list: disabled_off skia_renderer: disabled_off surface_synchronization: enabled_on video_decode: enabled viz_display_compositor: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	7.98GB (1.69GB free)
Process Argv
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

[roblourens]

I think you need a Host that doesn't match the HostName, if you change it to some other name does that work?

[push7joshi]

I am running into same issue. @roblourens I tried using a host that does not match the hostname, that does not seem to work. From the vs code output ssh -T -D 62050 -o ConnectTimeout=15 <remotehost> bash
The ssh command is missing the remote user name specified in ssh config.

[roblourens]

It won't be in that command, ssh will read it from the config file. Please make sure that it is actually seeing the correct ssh config file.

[JamesNewton]

If I change the host to anything other than the remote servers ip address, then it fails to resolve it: " ssh: Could not resolve hostname hostname: Name or service not known"

[21:06:37.661] remote-ssh@0.47.2
[21:06:37.661] win32 x64
[21:06:37.666] SSH Resolver called for "ssh-remote+asdfasdfsdf", attempt 1
[21:06:37.666] SSH Resolver called for host: HostName
[21:06:37.666] Setting up SSH remote "HostName"
[21:06:37.736] Using commit id "aasdfasdfsdfdf" and quality "stable" for server
[21:06:37.738] Testing ssh with ssh -V
[21:06:37.743] Got error from ssh: spawn ssh ENOENT
[21:06:37.743] Testing ssh with C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe -V
[21:06:37.745] Got error from ssh: spawn C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe ENOENT
[21:06:37.746] Testing ssh with C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe -V
[21:06:42.332] ssh exited with code: 0
[21:06:42.332] Got stderr from ssh: OpenSSH_7.6p1, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
[21:06:42.341] Running script with connection command: "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -T -D 52368 HostName bash
[21:06:42.344] Install and start server if needed
[21:06:42.349] Terminal shell path: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
[21:06:42.653] >
[21:06:42.653] Got some output, clearing connection timeout
[21:06:47.651] > ssh: Could not resolve hostname hostname: Name or service not known

The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.

[21:06:47.973] "install" terminal command done
[21:06:47.973] Install terminal quit with output: The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
[21:06:47.973] Received install output: The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
[21:06:47.974] Resolver error: The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe
[21:06:47.976] TELEMETRY: {"eventName":"resolver","properties":{"outcome":"failure","reason":"OfflineError","askedPw":"0","askedPassphrase":"0","asked2fa":"0","askedHostKey":"0","gotUnrecognizedPrompt":"0","remoteInConfigFile":"1"},"measures":{"resolveAttempts":1,"retries":1}}
[21:06:47.977] ------

[roblourens]

Then it's not finding your config file. What's the path to the config file? This needs to work from an external terminal - <path to ssh> <hostname>

[push7joshi]

It seems like my ssh config file had something incorrect with so many servers in it. I moved this remote server to the top and that worked. Thank you for your response.

[JamesNewton]

@roblourens I don't understand why you would think the config file can't be found... how would the config show up in the Remote Explorer sidebar if the config file wasn't found? The config file is

C:\Users\LocalUser\.ssh\config

(replacing my actual user name with "LocalUser for privacy) and it currently contains

# Read more about SSH config files: https://linux.die.net/man/5/ssh_config
Host ChatServer
    User remoteuser
    HostName 1.2.3.4
    IdentityFile C:\\Users\\HostName\\.ssh\\IdentityFile

actual data replaced with anon equivalence for privacy. E.g. the IP address is not actually 1.2.3.4 obviously, and the Host is just a name I made up, not actually "ChatServer" (previously, I called the Host "HostName" but now I'm replacing it with "ChatServer" so there is no confusion with the HostName parameter in the config file. My username on that remote system is not actually "remoteuser" but IS my valid username. In my prior entry here, the line:
[21:06:42.341] Running script with connection command: "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -T -D 52368 HostName bash
would be:
[21:06:42.341] Running script with connection command: "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -T -D 52368 ChatServer bash

I don't understand this at all:

This needs to work from an external terminal -

What do you mean by "external terminal"? Command prompt? Unix terminal window? Are you talking about the path to the ssh program?

If I do
"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -T -D 52368 1.2.3.4 bash
it does connect (it then fails because the identity file isn't specified.) The point is that Remote Explorer is passing "DexChat" instead of "1.2.3.4" despite the fact that the HostName specified in the config file for DexChat is 1.2.3.4. Does that make sense? The bug is that you are passing the Host, not the HostName as the address to connect to.

I don't know how to edit the command line options for Git ssh and I have no idea what the -T and -D options are doing, but if I open a command prompt and from C:\Users\LocalUser> enter:
"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -i .ssh\IdentityFile remoteuser@1.2.3.4
and then correctly respond to the request for the passphrase, I am connected to the remote server.

[roblourens]

how would the config show up in the Remote Explorer sidebar if the config file wasn't found

VS Code looks for the ssh config file in that location but the ssh program should also be looking for it there. VS Code is finding it but ssh.exe is doing something weird. In your example,

"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" ChatServer should work. If not, you can add the verbose flag like -vvv and it should print where it is looking for an ssh config file, and that should tell us why it's not finding it.

[JamesNewton]

"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" ChatServer should work.

Are you sure that's how Git ssh works? If you want it to use a config file, I believe you have to add the -F flag. If you specify a parameter without a flag, it's expected to be a fqdn or ip address to the server.

-vvv is certainly not an option for the Git ssh program.

Here is the help:

"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe"  -v
usage: ssh [-46AaCfGgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYy] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
           [-D [bind_address:]port] [-E log_file] [-e escape_char]
           [-F configfile] [-I pkcs11] [-i identity_file]
           [-J [user@]host[:port]] [-L address] [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec]
           [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port] [-Q query_option] [-R address]
           [-S ctl_path] [-W host:port] [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]]
           [user@]hostname [command]

Is the issue that remote explorer does not support Git ssh? Is there another ssh program you know works under Windows?

[roblourens]

No, it should read the ssh config files from their default locations without using the -F flag. And that is not a complete listing of all flags. Just try it. You should see output like this

PS C:\Users\roblou> & 'C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe' robfast -vvv
OpenSSH_7.9p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1a  20 Nov 2018
debug1: Reading configuration data /c/Users/roblou/.ssh/config
debug1: /c/Users/roblou/.ssh/config line 1: Applying options for robfast
debug1: /c/Users/roblou/.ssh/config line 50: Applying options for *
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolve_canonicalize: hostname 123.123.123.123 is address

[JamesNewton]

"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" ChatServer
ssh: Could not resolve hostname chatserver: Name or service not known

[roblourens]

Thanks, now can you try it with the verbose flag so it will log where it is looking for a config file?

[JamesNewton]

"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -vvv -F .ssh\config ChatServer
OpenSSH_7.6p1, OpenSSL 1.0.2n  7 Dec 2017
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolving "ChatServer" port 22
ssh: Could not resolve hostname ChatServer: Name or service not known

So in that case, it's looking in a place that doesn't exist for the config.. It's a windows machine so there is no /etc folder.

On the off chance, I tried:
"C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\ssh.exe" -vvv -F .ssh\config ChatServer

And that works! The -F specifies the config file, but you apparently have to give it the name of the entry to use in the config file.

So now the question is, how does one configure Git ssh to look in the right place.? Google finds:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9513712/git-ssh-client-for-windows-and-wrong-path-for-ssh-config-file
which indicates the HOME environmental value should be %USERPROFILE% but on my system is it C:\SPB_Data which DOES contain an .ssh and other configuration files. It also looks like platformIO has put a ton of stuff in there, so I'm not going to mess with it for now. I have a project in work that I need it for and when I'm done with that, I can come back and address this issue.

I assume the right thing to do at this point is close this issue. If someone else has the same problem, they can see if they have the same HOME environmental variable issue and if they are willing to change it, then they can see if that fixes the problem.

[zeegin]

I have the same problem: local user is used instead of remote user, that settled in .ssh config file.
And i have no picklist to change username, only popup for password.

[roblourens]

Thanks for confirming, @JamesNewton. I guess I have no clue why it has worked on the windows machines I've tested, where HOME is not set. You can also set the remote.SSH.configFile setting to work around this, and then I will set the -F flag.

Maybe I should just always set -F, I'm not sure. I wanted ssh to do the right thing itself.

[JamesNewton]

This appears to be related: #1146

Setting the remote.SSH.configFile to the C:\Users\LocalUser\.ssh\config file under Remote-SSH: Settings appears to have resolved the problem. I was able to connect to the remote server and browse files.

When I tried to edit a file, the connection was lost and the I couldn't connect to it at all. I've restarted the VM (It's a google compute engine). Interestingly enough, they changed the external IP as a result, which confused me until I realized it. LOL. Now I can connect via their web interface and via PuTTY again, and the SFTP extension works for me. I'm a big gun shy but I'm sure it was just a coincidence. I'll give it another go tomorrow.

[OneCyrus]

same issue here. setting the configFile in VSCode resolves this issue. Also the known_hosts file has a similiar issue. The extension saves to the drive H: and ignores the one in the userprofile. (i guess because of reolving /h/.ssh/ to the drive H: instead of home.

[roblourens]

Closing this in favor of #2512