How to start up and shutdown a Netgear ReadyNAS from VERA

Developer's Corner General Dev Discussions
#22

Ok, it looks like we need to see what’s being reporting in the logs, Is there a logfile/syslog on your ReadyNAS so you can see what was recorded when you tried it ?

QQ:, when you first sent the shutdown command, (using putty to ssh on to Vera ) did you get a response back?

#23

Yes, when I entered the following: “ssh root@192.168.1.86 rnutil rn_shutdown”
It asked me for the ReadyNas password, which I entered and then it shut down.

#24

Ok, then sadly it hasn’t worked - as that key file you uploaded to your NAS should’ve allowed you connect from Vera without requiring a password. That’s why it’s not working when sending the command via Vera UI

#25

did the key get put in the right place? Here’s a snapshot of the folders/files from the WinSCP session:
image

#26

Yep ‘pubkey’ is the one you want …

Looking here - > ReadyNAS OS 6: Setting up a backup job with rsync over SSH | Answer | NETGEAR Support

It says “Keys must be uploaded via text file” so copy ‘pubkey’ to your pc, add ‘.txt’ to the end, and then upload ‘pubkey.txt’ via the ReadyNAS UI.

#27

that did not work.
after doing that, when I go back to Putty, and try to shut down the ReadyNas, I get:
“ssh: Connection to root@192.168.1.86:22 exited: No auth methods could be used.”

#28

Ok, let’s try this, connect to Vera via putty again and send this command.
(I think this includes the private key as part of the ssh command.)

ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 'rnutil rn_shutdown'
#29

that worked. What now?

#30

Worked ?
No password prompt ?

If so, wrap that same command in os.execute command, like you did with the previous ones and try it via the Vera UI

os.execute( " ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 'rnutil rn_shutdown' " )
#31

Yes - this worked from Putty: ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’
(no password prompt)

But this did not:
os.execute( " ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’ " )

UI says it’s sending the command but the NAS is not responding.

#32

Ok, you’re going to need to check logs to see what is being sent/received and any messages that might result.

Another thing to try is this.

Install LuaTest on your Vera…

… and then access your new LuaTest page which will be something like this (192.168.xxx.xxx:3480/data_request?id=lr_LuaTest ) and then paste this chunk of code in…


local function sshexecute (command)
    p = io.popen (command)
    local out = p: read "*a"
	print(command)
	print(out)
	local f = assert(io.open("/www/popen.txt", "a"))
	f:write(out.. "", "\n")
	f:write(command.. "", "\n")
	f:close()
    p:close()
    print("-----------")
    return out
end

at the very end of that code above , add the ssh command wrapped within this ‘sshexecute’ function

sshexecute( " ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 'rnutil rn_shutdown' " )

it should hopefully return any messages that would come back from the Command line.

*** Remember to use straight apostrophes and quotes, not curly ones :wink: ***

#33

not sure if I did this correclty, but this is what I get:

image
image794×536 13.6 KB

#34

Ok, please could you go to the following url

<vera_ip>/ popen.txt

Likely blank too, but worth a look…

#35

it shows:
ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’

ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’

ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’

ssh -i /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’

#36

Hummmm, not sure what’s occurring there, I’ll need to look at the code again (as that’s not my area) - For now, let’s look at the ‘ssh’ command we’re using on Vera, as it seems using ssh via Putty works …

~# ssh -help
Dropbear SSH client v2019.78 https://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html
Usage: ssh [options] [user@]host[/port] [command]
-p <remoteport>
-l <username>
-t    Allocate a pty
-T    Don't allocate a pty
-N    Don't run a remote command
-f    Run in background after auth
-y    Always accept remote host key if unknown
-y -y Don't perform any remote host key checking (caution)
-s    Request a subsystem (use by external sftp)
-o option     Set option in OpenSSH-like format ('-o help' to list options)
-i <identityfile>   (multiple allowed, default .ssh/id_dropbear)
-A    Enable agent auth forwarding
-L <[listenaddress:]listenport:remotehost:remoteport> Local port forwarding
-g    Allow remote hosts to connect to forwarded ports
-R <[listenaddress:]listenport:remotehost:remoteport> Remote port forwarding
-W <receive_window_buffer> (default 24576, larger may be faster, max 1MB)
-K <keepalive>  (0 is never, default 0)
-I <idle_timeout>  (0 is never, default 0)
-J <proxy_program> Use program pipe rather than TCP connection
-c <cipher list> Specify preferred ciphers ('-c help' to list options)
-m <MAC list> Specify preferred MACs for packet verification (or '-m help')
-b    [bind_address][:bind_port]
-V    Version

We currently just use -i, so as you know/trust the ReadyNAS you’re connecting to, let’s add -y too this time, and go back to the original os.execute approach.

os.execute( " ssh -i -y /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 'rnutil rn_shutdown' " )
#37

nope -
os.execute( " ssh -i -y /etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key root@192.168.1.86 ‘rnutil rn_shutdown’ " )
didn’t work. Command sent but did not shut down the NAS.

#38

Does it work, when you send it via putty ?

#39

I may have to admit defeat and defer to others who may be following this thread.

Sadly it’s not unusual for Vera to come up short, hence sometimes I have to use other tools, the main one being Node-Red - and conveniently someone has posted something there that might help.

#40

Actually, I get “failed loading keyfile ‘-y’”
image

#41

And without the ‘ -y ‘ - it works, or same message ?