Cannot ssh to run a remote script using Python

Question

I have the script below (test.py on 1.1.1.1) to run another remote script on another server (script.py on 2.2.2.2). I have set up the ssh keys so I don't get prompted for password.

import subprocess
USER="user"
SERVER_IP="2.2.2.2"
SCRIPT_PATH="/home/abc/script.py"
print ("ssh {0}@{1} '/usr/bin/python {2} aaa bbb'".format(USER, SERVER_IP, SCRIPT_PATH))
rc = subprocess.check_output("ssh {0}@{1} '/usr/bin/python {2} aaa bbb'".format(USER, SERVER_IP, SCRIPT_PATH))

script.py itself is on 1.2.3.4, and takes in 2 arguments.

If I copy the command that is printed out in the script, I can execute script.py successfully on 1.1.1.1. But running test.py on 1.1.1.1 gives me an error:

OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

I don't understand why the script didn't work but the exact same command works on its own.

Answer 1

Use the additional argument:

shell=True

Your command will be:

rc = subprocess.check_output("ssh {0}@{1} '/usr/bin/python {2} aaa bbb'".format(USER, SERVER_IP, SCRIPT_PATH),shell=True)

I assume you need a shell to run a python script.

Answer 2

If your question is to address the need of executing a remote command and not making your script working - then if I could introduce Paramiko:

import paramiko
ssh_handle = paramiko.SSHClient()
ssh_handle.load_system_host_keys()
ssh_handle.connect(
 hostname=address,
 port=int(port),
 username=login)
stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh_handle.exec_command("whoami")

IMO it's currently the most "usable" SSH library and works just fine in my projects.