When executing an SSH command in Jenkins, the bash profile is different to when connecting over SSH with the same user

Question

I'm trying to run some CLI nodejs commands on a remote server using the Jenkins SSH exec functionality.

I'm receiving an error message when trying to run forever, which I had installed globally with npm.

Edit : the error was; -bash: forever: command not found .

Connecting over SSH as root and running which npm returns;

/root/local/bin/npm

Whereas via Jenkins, with the same command as root returns;

/usr/bin/npm

I've tried setting bash variables, but these seem to be inconsistent across the two connection mediums too.

Both were installed using the top method detailed here; https://gist.github.com/isaacs/579814#file-node-and-npm-in-30-seconds-sh

Answer 1

Try this:

ssh user@host -t 'bash -l -c "forever"'

You can read with man ssh :

If command is specified, it is executed on the remote host instead of a login shell.

No login shell no rc-files ( .bashrc , .bash_profile etc.) so probably no $PATH you expect to have.

To read more about the login shell check man bash and search for -l option explanation.