Summary
This chapter has been an introduction to automating the command line. We have seen how to use the exec package to execute commands locally on a device. This can be useful when needing to string together a set of already made tools. We have shown how we can use the ssh package to run commands on remote systems or interact with complicated programs using ssh and goexpect packages. We tied this together with our Go knowledge from previous chapters to implement a basic workflow application that upgraded binaries on multiple systems concurrently and safely. Finally, in this chapter, we have learned how we can create a system agent that runs on a device to allow us to gather vital data and export it. We also have refined our ability to install programs by using the agent to control systemd on Linux devices.
This chapter has now given us new skills that will allow us to control local commandline applications, execute remote applications on any number of machines, and deal with interactive applications. We have also gained a basic understanding of building a workflow application, developing RPC services that can control a local machine, and how to export stats using Go's expvar package.
Quiz
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