Reading output of Top command using Paramiko

Question

I am writing a script in Python for login to ssh and read the output of commands just executed. I am using paramiko package for this. I am trying to execute command "top" and get its output printed on the console. However, I am not able to do this. Please find the snippet:

import sys
import time
import select
import paramiko

host = 'localhost'
i = 1

#
# Try to connect to the host.
# Retry a few times if it fails.
#
while True:
    print 'Trying to connect to %s (%i/30)' % (host, i)

    try:
        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
        ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
        ssh.connect(host, port=22, username='dummy', password='dummy')
        print "Connected to %s" % host
        break
    except paramiko.AuthenticationException:
        print "Authentication failed when connecting to %s" % host
        sys.exit(1)
    except:
        print "Could not SSH to %s, waiting for it to start" % host
        i += 1
        time.sleep(2)

    # If we could not connect within time limit
    if i == 30:
        print "Could not connect to %s. Giving up" % host
        sys.exit(1)

# Send the command (non-blocking)
stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command("uname")

# Wait for the command to terminate
while not stdout.channel.exit_status_ready():
    # Only print data if there is data to read in the channel
    if stdout.channel.recv_ready():
        rl, wl, xl = select.select([stdout.channel], [], [], 0.0)
        if len(rl) > 0:
            # Print data from stdout
        print '-------------------------------'
            print stdout.channel.recv(1024)
        print '-------------------------------'

# Send the command (non-blocking)
stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command("top -n 1")

# Wait for the command to terminate
while not stdout.channel.exit_status_ready():
    # Only print data if there is data to read in the channel
    if stdout.channel.recv_ready():
        rl, wl, xl = select.select([stdout.channel], [], [], 0.0)
        if len(rl) > 0:
            # Print data from stdout
        print '-------------------------------'
            print stdout.channel.recv(1024)
        print '-------------------------------'

# Send the command (non-blocking)
stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command("uname")

# Wait for the command to terminate
while not stdout.channel.exit_status_ready():
    # Only print data if there is data to read in the channel
    if stdout.channel.recv_ready():
        rl, wl, xl = select.select([stdout.channel], [], [], 0.0)
        if len(rl) > 0:
            # Print data from stdout
        print '-------------------------------'
            print stdout.channel.recv(1024)
        print '-------------------------------'

#
# Disconnect from the host
#
print "Command done, closing SSH connection"
ssh.close()

Output: Trying to connect to localhost (1/30)

Connected to localhost

Linux

-------------------------------

Linux

---

Command done, closing SSH connection

I am not sure, where I am doing wrong. I am able to get output of other linux commands though. But not sure, why top command's output is not getting printed.

Answer 1

as Jason S pointed out

stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command("top -b -n1")
print stdout.read()

works just fine.

Answer 2

top normally uses curses for display rather than just printing. Try the -b for batch option along with the -n 1 you have (top options vary by platform, check the manpage). And in the future, try isolating the problem more - if you were to invoke top via ssh on the command line without your script you would still have an issue.