ikctl 1.0.13

CLI tool for deploying software to remote and local servers via SSH/SFTP.

ikctl — Install Kit Control

CLI tool to deploy and execute bash scripts ("kits") on remote servers via SSH/SFTP or on the local machine.

How it works

A kit is a folder containing bash scripts and an ikctl.yaml manifest. ikctl uploads the scripts to the remote server via SFTP and executes them over SSH. Everything is driven by a configuration file at ~/.ikctl/config that defines one or more contexts (sets of servers, kits path and secrets).

~/.ikctl/config          ← main config: contexts, active context
~/kits/
  ikctl.yaml             ← index of available kits
  config.yaml            ← server groups
  show-date/
    ikctl.yaml           ← kit manifest (uploads + pipeline)
    date.sh              ← the actual script

Requirements

• Python 3.13+
• uv (recommended) or pip

Installation

From PyPI:

pip install ikctl
# or with uv:
uv tool install ikctl

From source:

git clone <repo>
cd ikctl
uv sync
uv run ikctl --version

Initial setup

On first run, ikctl creates ~/.ikctl/ and ~/kits/ automatically and prompts for confirmation. To skip the prompt:

ikctl --list context   # triggers bootstrap if config is missing

Or create the config manually:

# ~/.ikctl/config
context: remote
contexts:
  remote:
    path_kits: ~/kits
    path_servers: ~/kits
    path_secrets: ~/.passwords/password
    mode: remote
    timeout_connect: 30.0
    timeout_exec: 120.0
  local:
    path_kits: ~/kits
    path_servers: ~/kits
    path_secrets: ~/.passwords/password
    mode: local

Server config

# ~/kits/config.yaml
servers:
  - name: web
    user: ubuntu
    hosts: [10.0.0.10, 10.0.0.11]
    port: 22
    pkey: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  - name: db
    user: root
    hosts: [10.0.0.20]
    port: 22
    password: $PASSWORD

Passwords in YAML can reference environment variables ($PASSWORD). Set them before running:

export PASSWORD="your-password"

Kit structure

# ~/kits/show-date/ikctl.yaml
kits:
  uploads:
    - date.sh        # files to upload to the remote server
  pipeline:
    - date.sh        # scripts to execute (in order)

Register the kit in the index:

# ~/kits/ikctl.yaml
kits:
  - show-date/ikctl.yaml
  - install-docker/ikctl.yaml

Usage

ikctl [-h] [-l {kits,servers,context,mode}] [-i INSTALL] [-n NAME]
      [-p [PARAMETER ...]] [-s {sudo}] [-c CONTEXT] [-m {local,remote}]
      [-v] [--dry-run] [--timeout-connect FLOAT] [--timeout-exec FLOAT]
      [--parallel-workers N]

List

ikctl --list kits       # available kits in the active context
ikctl --list servers    # configured server groups
ikctl --list context    # contexts, active context and paths
ikctl --list mode       # current execution mode

Switch context

ikctl --context production

Run a kit

# Remote (default)
ikctl --install show-date --name web

# With parameters passed to the script
ikctl --install deploy --name web -p v1.2.3

# With sudo
ikctl --install install-docker --name web --sudo sudo

# Local machine (no SSH)
ikctl --install show-date --mode local

Preview without executing

--dry-run shows exactly what would be uploaded and executed, without opening any SSH connection:

ikctl --install deploy --name web -p v1.2.3 --sudo sudo --dry-run

Output:

[DRY RUN] Host: 10.0.0.10
[DRY RUN] UPLOAD: ~/kits/deploy/deploy.sh → .ikctl/deploy/deploy.sh
[DRY RUN] EXEC: echo *** | sudo -S bash deploy.sh v1.2.3

Parallel execution

When a server group has multiple hosts, ikctl runs them concurrently:

ikctl --install show-date --name web --parallel-workers 4

Output includes per-host prefix and a final summary:

[10.0.0.10] UPLOAD: ...
[10.0.0.11] UPLOAD: ...
2 hosts OK, 0 hosts FAILED

Timeouts

# Override SSH connection timeout (default 30s)
ikctl --install show-date --name web --timeout-connect 60

# Override local execution timeout (default 120s)
ikctl --install build --mode local --timeout-exec 300

Timeouts can also be set per context in ~/.ikctl/config (timeout_connect, timeout_exec). CLI values take precedence over config values.

SSH authentication

ikctl supports all standard SSH authentication methods:

Method	Config key
Ed25519 / ECDSA / RSA key	pkey: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
Password	password: $PASSWORD
SSH agent	enabled by default
Jump host (ProxyCommand)	configured in SSHOptions

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE for details.