6 ms·

Seashells: Pipe output from command-line programs to the web in real-time

139 points by tjhill 5y ago

solarized 5y ago
I prefer &> it into a file within virtual host or something. And access it in secure manner.
matt_f 5y ago
Are there any legal security issues to be concerned about as a developer of this kind of anonymous service? I wonder every time I see a project like this, namely anonymous or transient hosting of any kind of user data, whether the developers get any kind of flak from agencies claiming it could be used to nefarious ends. Serving plain text is obviously less of a concern than hosting images, video, etc. But I imagine the more anonymous a service is, the more attractive it is for use by unsavory actors. Anyone have any thoughts?
- scoopertrooper 5y ago
  This one appears to have been created by a real people person. https://www.anish.io/ https://www.anish.io/
  - dspillett 5y ago
    With anonymous I think matt_f was referring to the users, not the creator or manager of the service, the issue being that an anonymous user could use the service to transmit illegal/immoral/... information (stolen CC info or identity data, CP, trade secrets, government secrets, and so forth) using the service. The assumption that makes this a problem is that the service makes such users (at least slightly) less easy to trace, and/or the person(s) running the service might in some jurisdictions be seen as responsible for enabling the illegal activity.
- unixhero 5y ago
  I for one love transient web services.
zinodaur 5y ago
Aww, what a great idea. I'd love to use a self hosted version of this for work, but there's no way I could pipe my shell output to a 3rd party site, too many juicy secrets.
- Shared404 5y ago
  Before clicking through, it didn't even register to me that something like this would be done some way that wasn't self hosted. I'm kinda shocked anyone uses it, I must admit.
  - zinodaur 5y ago
    Yeah. Looks like there's an open source version of this, similarly polished streamhut.io
    - Shared404 5y ago
      Nice. Great find, thanks for doing the looking!
ChrisArchitect 5y ago
(2019) Anything new here? Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625440 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625440
ec109685 5y ago
This would be even cooler if it could be end to end encrypted. E.g. client side it spits out a decryption key, and encrypts all traffic with it. Then on the browser, you paste that in and it will decrypt. Obviously you have to trust the javascript to not do anything nefarious with your data, so maybe it’s not really adding much security.
- RileyJames 5y ago
  Yea that’s a cool idea. You could leverage inspiration from wormhole. This podcast with the developer goes into some interesting details on key management and usability fo e2ee in the browser. https://changelog.com/jsparty/185 https://changelog.com/jsparty/185
anyfactor 5y ago
I think the application of it is reasonable only when you are thinking of simple applications like Yes/No notifier and not outputting logs. I wonder if it works well with TQDM so I can see the code execution progress bar.
singularity2001 5y ago
The coolest feature idea that I will probably never use
enriquto 5y ago
To be even more unixy, this needs a file interface /dev/sls that you can pipe directly to.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
globular-toast 5y ago
Something similar has existed in the Gentoo community for many years: wgetpaste [0]. Also I distinctly remember seeing something like this before which exactly the same minus the Python package (so you could only use netcat). wgetpaste is mostly for sharing debug information in IRC but I could imagine it being useful for many other ad hoc troubleshooting type things. [0] https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wgetpaste https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wgetpaste
kristopolous 5y ago
Just sayin' you can do something like this in bash out of the box... Don't let me spoil the party though, the more the merrier. https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Redirections.html https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Redirecti... "/dev/tcp/host/port If host is a valid hostname or Internet address, and port is an integer port number or service name, Bash attempts to open the corresponding TCP socket. /dev/udp/host/port If host is a valid hostname or Internet address, and port is an integer port number or service name, Bash attempts to open the corresponding UDP socket." I've got an example of a "practical" way to use it in an answer I did over here https://superuser.com/questions/563083/how-to-transfer-files-over-ssh-while-already-sshd-into-the-server/1632961#1632961 https://superuser.com/questions/563083/how-to-transfer-files...
- freddie_mercury 5y ago
  "Seashells lets you pipe output from command-line programs to the web in real-time, even without installing any new software on your machine" The page already told us you can do this out of the box. It's the very first sentence. It also clearly explains the benefits provided by using the additional, optionally installed tooling.
  - kristopolous 5y ago
    I'm claiming this can already be accomplished using standard tools already installed, without much effort. It won't look The Exact Same but it is functionally equivalent for many uses and is self hosted It's not meant to be discouraging, if people find it useful then great
    - Linosaurus 5y ago
      > self hosted The article has two points. 1. They are providing a web server. 2. They are providing instructions on sending things to that server using netcat or an optional client/script. I think your bash example covers point 2 only.
- pierrec 5y ago
pixelbeat__ 5y ago
For generally converting cli output to HTML see also https://github.com/pixelb/scripts/commits/master/scripts/ansi2html.sh https://github.com/pixelb/scripts/commits/master/scripts/ans...
ilaksh 5y ago
Anyone know an easy way to force this to run in interactive mode or pty or whatever? I am trying to get color output from `bat` for example.
testesttest 5y ago
You can't self host? Piping server data to a remote untrusted server doesn't seem appealing. Unless I am missed something?
- Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
  I'm sure someone has a use case for when the data being public is inconsequential.
- nirui 5y ago
  Maybe try streamhut: https://github.com/miguelmota/streamhut https://github.com/miguelmota/streamhut Of course, both of them are not ready for security-related tasks such as terminal sharing. So treat them like a "console" streaming service there you broadcast your terminal to the world. Streamhut can be made more secure with some configuration tricks, namely, don't expose it's TCP port to the public, instead, only expose it's HTTP service. Then you can create a back tunnel (with SSH -L for example) to feed data into it's TCP port in a safer manner. However, I'd imagine a better option is to beg miguelmota the author to add support for websocket in the cli client, that way the feeder connection can be protected by TLS rather than just a raw TCP.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lioeters 5y ago
Piping Server is a similar (but more extensive) solution: https://github.com/nwtgck/piping-server https://github.com/nwtgck/piping-server https://dev.to/nwtgck/the-power-of-pure-http-screen-share-real-time-messaging-ssh-and-vnc-5ghc https://dev.to/nwtgck/the-power-of-pure-http-screen-share-re...

139 points by tjhill 5y ago

I prefer &> it into a file within virtual host or something. And access it in secure manner.

Are there any legal security issues to be concerned about as a developer of this kind of anonymous service? I wonder every time I see a project like this, namely anonymous or transient hosting of any kind of user data, whether the developers get any kind of flak from agencies claiming it could be used to nefarious ends. Serving plain text is obviously less of a concern than hosting images, video, etc. But I imagine the more anonymous a service is, the more attractive it is for use by unsavory actors. Anyone have any thoughts?

scoopertrooper 5y ago
This one appears to have been created by a real people person. https://www.anish.io/ https://www.anish.io/
- dspillett 5y ago
  With anonymous I think matt_f was referring to the users, not the creator or manager of the service, the issue being that an anonymous user could use the service to transmit illegal/immoral/... information (stolen CC info or identity data, CP, trade secrets, government secrets, and so forth) using the service. The assumption that makes this a problem is that the service makes such users (at least slightly) less easy to trace, and/or the person(s) running the service might in some jurisdictions be seen as responsible for enabling the illegal activity.
unixhero 5y ago
I for one love transient web services.

zinodaur 5y ago

Aww, what a great idea. I'd love to use a self hosted version of this for work, but there's no way I could pipe my shell output to a 3rd party site, too many juicy secrets.

Shared404 5y ago
Before clicking through, it didn't even register to me that something like this would be done some way that wasn't self hosted. I'm kinda shocked anyone uses it, I must admit.
- zinodaur 5y ago
  Yeah. Looks like there's an open source version of this, similarly polished streamhut.io
  - Shared404 5y ago
    Nice. Great find, thanks for doing the looking!

ChrisArchitect 5y ago

(2019) Anything new here? Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625440 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625440

ec109685 5y ago

This would be even cooler if it could be end to end encrypted. E.g. client side it spits out a decryption key, and encrypts all traffic with it. Then on the browser, you paste that in and it will decrypt. Obviously you have to trust the javascript to not do anything nefarious with your data, so maybe it’s not really adding much security.

RileyJames 5y ago
Yea that’s a cool idea. You could leverage inspiration from wormhole. This podcast with the developer goes into some interesting details on key management and usability fo e2ee in the browser. https://changelog.com/jsparty/185 https://changelog.com/jsparty/185

anyfactor 5y ago

I think the application of it is reasonable only when you are thinking of simple applications like Yes/No notifier and not outputting logs. I wonder if it works well with TQDM so I can see the code execution progress bar.

singularity2001 5y ago

The coolest feature idea that I will probably never use

enriquto 5y ago

To be even more unixy, this needs a file interface /dev/sls that you can pipe directly to.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

globular-toast 5y ago

Something similar has existed in the Gentoo community for many years: wgetpaste [0]. Also I distinctly remember seeing something like this before which exactly the same minus the Python package (so you could only use netcat). wgetpaste is mostly for sharing debug information in IRC but I could imagine it being useful for many other ad hoc troubleshooting type things. [0] https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wgetpaste https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wgetpaste

kristopolous 5y ago

Just sayin' you can do something like this in bash out of the box... Don't let me spoil the party though, the more the merrier. https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Redirections.html https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Redirecti... "/dev/tcp/host/port If host is a valid hostname or Internet address, and port is an integer port number or service name, Bash attempts to open the corresponding TCP socket. /dev/udp/host/port If host is a valid hostname or Internet address, and port is an integer port number or service name, Bash attempts to open the corresponding UDP socket." I've got an example of a "practical" way to use it in an answer I did over here https://superuser.com/questions/563083/how-to-transfer-files-over-ssh-while-already-sshd-into-the-server/1632961#1632961 https://superuser.com/questions/563083/how-to-transfer-files...

freddie_mercury 5y ago
"Seashells lets you pipe output from command-line programs to the web in real-time, even without installing any new software on your machine" The page already told us you can do this out of the box. It's the very first sentence. It also clearly explains the benefits provided by using the additional, optionally installed tooling.
- kristopolous 5y ago
  I'm claiming this can already be accomplished using standard tools already installed, without much effort. It won't look The Exact Same but it is functionally equivalent for many uses and is self hosted It's not meant to be discouraging, if people find it useful then great
  - Linosaurus 5y ago
    > self hosted The article has two points. 1. They are providing a web server. 2. They are providing instructions on sending things to that server using netcat or an optional client/script. I think your bash example covers point 2 only.
pierrec 5y ago

pixelbeat__ 5y ago

For generally converting cli output to HTML see also https://github.com/pixelb/scripts/commits/master/scripts/ansi2html.sh https://github.com/pixelb/scripts/commits/master/scripts/ans...

ilaksh 5y ago

Anyone know an easy way to force this to run in interactive mode or pty or whatever? I am trying to get color output from `bat` for example.

testesttest 5y ago

You can't self host? Piping server data to a remote untrusted server doesn't seem appealing. Unless I am missed something?

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
I'm sure someone has a use case for when the data being public is inconsequential.
nirui 5y ago
Maybe try streamhut: https://github.com/miguelmota/streamhut https://github.com/miguelmota/streamhut Of course, both of them are not ready for security-related tasks such as terminal sharing. So treat them like a "console" streaming service there you broadcast your terminal to the world. Streamhut can be made more secure with some configuration tricks, namely, don't expose it's TCP port to the public, instead, only expose it's HTTP service. Then you can create a back tunnel (with SSH -L for example) to feed data into it's TCP port in a safer manner. However, I'd imagine a better option is to beg miguelmota the author to add support for websocket in the cli client, that way the feeder connection can be protected by TLS rather than just a raw TCP.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lioeters 5y ago

Piping Server is a similar (but more extensive) solution: https://github.com/nwtgck/piping-server https://github.com/nwtgck/piping-server https://dev.to/nwtgck/the-power-of-pure-http-screen-share-real-time-messaging-ssh-and-vnc-5ghc https://dev.to/nwtgck/the-power-of-pure-http-screen-share-re...