Sysadmin SSH terminal session recording and playback with script/scriptreplay

Thought I'd share this useful tip where you can record your SSH terminal session and commands and actually play them back later via script/scriptreplay commands Record your terminal with script and scriptreplay.

I wrote a wrapper script called script-record.sh at GitHub - centminmod/scriptreplay: script and scriptreplay wrapper script which makes it easier to use script and scriptreplay commands.

Installation & Updates

Code (Text):

curl -sL https://github.com/centminmod/scriptreplay/raw/master/script-record.sh -o /usr/local/bin/script-record
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/script-record

Usage help file

• rec - enter your SESSION_NAME. If you do not pass a session name, the script will automatically name the session as session.
• play - pass the full paths to where the cmds.gz and time.txt.gz files are saved. You can optionally pass a 3rd arugument for playback speed i.e. pass 2 for 2x playback speed.
• play-nogz - pass the full paths to where the uncompressed non-gzip cmds and time.txt files are saved. You can optionally pass a 3rd arugument for playback speed i.e. pass 2 for 2x playback speed.
• list - list all previously saved cmds.gz and time.txt.gz files.

Code (Text):

script-record

Usage:

/usr/local/bin/script-record rec SESSION_NAME
/usr/local/bin/script-record play /path/to/cmds.gz /path/to/time.txt.gz
/usr/local/bin/script-record play /path/to/cmds.gz /path/to/time.txt.gz 2
/usr/local/bin/script-record play-nogz /path/to/cmds /path/to/time.txt
/usr/local/bin/script-record play-nogz /path/to/cmds /path/to/time.txt 2
/usr/local/bin/script-record list

Record SSH Terminal Session

Start an SSH terminal session recording

Code (Text):

./script-record.sh rec cmds1
 your_ssh_commands

To exit and save the recorded session, type exit command which will output the where the cmds.gz and time.txt.gz files are saved and also the exact command used for scriptreplay playback:

Code (Text):

exit

files saved:
/root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/cmds.gz
/root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/time.txt.gz

to replay 1x speed:
./script-record play /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/cmds.gz /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/time.txt.gz

to replay 2x speed:
./script-record play /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/cmds.gz /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/time.txt.gz 2

List

List previously saved SSH terminal sessions

Code (Text):

script-record list
saved files listing:

/root/.script
├── /root/.script/2022-08-25
│   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_22-44-10-cmds1
│   │   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_22-44-10-cmds1/cmds.gz
│   │   └── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_22-44-10-cmds1/time.txt.gz
│   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1
│   │   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/cmds.gz
│   │   └── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-01-40-cmds1/time.txt.gz
│   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-40-10-cmds1
│   │   ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-40-10-cmds1/cmds.gz
│   │   └── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-40-10-cmds1/time.txt.gz
│   └── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1
│       ├── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/cmds.gz
│       └── /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/time.txt.gz
└── /root/.script/2022-08-26
    └── /root/.script/2022-08-26/2022-08-26_00-33-21-cmd1
        ├── /root/.script/2022-08-26/2022-08-26_00-33-21-cmd1/cmds.gz
        └── /root/.script/2022-08-26/2022-08-26_00-33-21-cmd1/time.txt.gz

7 directories, 10 files

Replay Recorded SSH Terminal Session

Proper scriptreplay passing the previously saved cmds.gz and time.txt.gz files - single line command below:

Code (Text):

./script-record.sh play /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/cmds.gz /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/time.txt.gz

You can also speedup playback by passing a 3rd argument for playback speed i.e. 2x speed

Code (Text):

./script-record.sh play /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/cmds.gz /root/.script/2022-08-25/2022-08-25_23-42-06-cmds1/time.txt.gz 2

Example playback on Centmin Mod 130.00beta01 installed system on Alma Linux 8.6 test server.

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Enjoy

 

Thought I'd do a Centmin Mod 130.00beta01 installation on Alma Linux 8.6 and record the SSH terminal session using above script-record.sh script and replay it below