I have a convoluted method in my blog post due to the constraints I was working with. The SSH connection to the host goes via an SSH gateway that forbids the ex

I have a convoluted method in my blog post due to the constraints I was working with. The SSH connection to the host goes via an SSH gateway that forbids the execution of remote commands without a login shell. I have laid out this constraint in the first paragraph of my blog post. Without this constraint, yes, I agree what you mention would be the obvious straightforward solution.