+++
date = "2009-12-28T17:12:00-07:00"
title = "Making life easy over flaky links"
categories = ["software"]
tags = ["cli","ssh","telecommute"]
+++

Making life easy over flaky links
=================================

I tend to work over VPN, which we know can be flaky at times, Since I
work on server, I spend a lot of time ssh'ed into hosts. I was getting
tired of the lost time having to restart what I was working on every
time the VPN dropped (which could be as much as every 15 minutes on a
bad day). While I already used screen to handle the lack of terminals
(Alas, I am forced to use a Windows laptop to VPN in with), I thought
there could be an easier way to do this.

The way I tend to work is that I ssh into a jump server, fire up screen,
then ssh into the hosts I need to work on, and fire up screen on those
hosts.

Now, this is nice, but it can get a bit tiring to do it all over again.
So, I found a tool called [autossh](https://www.harding.motd.ca/autossh/)
which will automatically restart your ssh session if it drops for any
reason but a graceful disconnect. (Well, there are others, but this is
basically it). Combine this with your ssh-agent, and you can re-attach
with easy. I also use [keychain](https://www.funtoo.org/Keychain) to help
manage my ssh-agent when I log in.

Now that the connection will come back, I need a way to re-attach to my
screen session, or if there is not one, to start one for me. To do\
that, I have this is my .bashrc file:

    test -x $STY && screen -xR

This will check to make sure that we are not already inside a screen
session on the local host (*test -x \$STY*), and if we are not, then
either attach to an existing screen session or start a new one (*screen
-xR*)

I have define this function in my .bashrc to spawn a new ssh connection
in a separate screen window:

    function ss ()
    {
      screen -t $1 ssh $*
    }

Easy stuff