pyautossh 0.3.1

Automatically reconnect SSH sessions

PyAutoSSH

A Python tool that automatically reconnects SSH sessions after connection interruptions. Perfect for maintaining persistent connections when using terminal multiplexers like screen or tmux on remote hosts.

Features

• Automatic reconnection on connection loss
• Compatible with existing SSH configurations
• Minimal dependencies

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or newer
• SSH client (ssh command available in PATH)
• Configured SSH key-based authentication (recommended)

Installation

# Via pip (or pipx / uvx)
pip install pyautossh

# From source
git clone https://github.com/chrisdeutsch/pyautossh
cd pyautossh
pip install .

Usage

Basic Usage

pyautossh <args forwarded to ssh>

# For example
pyautossh -t user@hostname tmux new -A -s session_name

PyAutoSSH Options

PyAutoSSH accepts several specific options that control its behavior:

# Set maximum connection attempts before giving up
pyautossh --autossh-max-connection-attempts 10 user@hostname

# Set delay between reconnection attempts (in seconds)
pyautossh --autossh-reconnect-delay 5 user@hostname

# Enable verbose logging for debugging
pyautossh --autossh-verbose user@hostname

These options must be specified before any SSH arguments. All other arguments are passed directly to the SSH client.

Advanced Configuration

Create an SSH config entry in ~/.ssh/config:

Host hostname-tmux
    User username
    HostName hostname
    RequestTTY yes
    RemoteCommand tmux new-session -A -s base
    ServerAliveInterval 5
    ServerAliveCountMax 1

Then simply connect using:

pyautossh hostname-tmux

The parameters

• ServerAliveInterval: Time interval (in seconds) for sending keep-alive messages
• ServerAliveCountMax: Number of keep-alive messages that can be lost before disconnecting
• RequestTTY: Forces TTY allocation (required for interactive sessions)

can be configured depending on how aggressively you want to reconnect.

Tips

1. Use key-based authentication
2. Configure SSH agent for passwordless authentication with passphrase-protected keys
3. Adjust keep-alive settings based on how aggressive you want to reconnect
4. Use terminal multiplexers (e.g. tmux or screen) for session persistence

Related Projects

• autossh - The original AutoSSH by Carson Harding