#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use diagnostics;
use Net::SSH::Perl;

my $remote_host = 'localhost';
my $password    = 'yourpassword';
my $username    = 'yourusername';
my $cmd         = 'if [ -d $test_dir ]; then echo 1; else echo 0; fi';

warn "Starting SSH Services:...";
my $ssh = Net::SSH::Perl->new($remote_host, protocol => '1,2');
print "done", "\n";

warn "Starting Login:...";
$ssh->login($username, $password);
print "login done", "\n";

my $test_dir = '/foo/bar';

warn "Starting command:...";
my($stdout, $stderr, $exit) = $ssh->cmd($cmd);
print $stdout, "\n";
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There are a myriad of possible causes. I've had a Solaris host sending an ident back to the client and timing out on the response. A google search shows others.

I'd guess that you get the same delay when using ssh from the command line. Try ssh -v -l user host to see what is happening. Multiple vs can be specified to get more and more debug output.

If you just need to connect and run a script, consider using the command-line SSH via the Expect module. I've found that quite helpful. Something like:

use strict; use warnings;
use Expect;

my $login = "xxx";
my $pass  = "xxx2";
my $test_dir = "/foo/bar/";
my $cmd = "if [ -d $test_dir ]; then echo DIR_EXIST:1; else echo DIR_E
+XIST:0; fi";
my $timeout = 30;

my $ex = Expect->new('ssh','-t',"$login\@hostname",$cmd);  # the -t fo
+rces TTY allocation, helpful for Expect!

$ex->expect( $timeout,
    [ qr/password:\s*$/i => sub { $ex->send($pass,"\n"); return 1; } ]
+,
    [ timeout => sub { warn "Timeout waiting for password prompt"; ret
+urn 1; } ],
);

$ex->expect ( $timeout,
    [ qr/DIR_EXIST:\d/ => sub { print "Result: ",$ex->match(); } ],
);
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I've used this approach to do remote password-resets, user deletes, software installation, &c. It's a bit more code, but you get a lot more control.

This is a common problem, usually caused by the XS based Math modules (which are fast) not being installed, and then it results in the math intensive work done by plain Perl routines. See Net::SSH::Perl and f-Secure SSH. Also read the README file for Net::SSH::Perl, which states you need Math::Pari or Math::GMP for best performance. The other thing to try is to move up to the Net::SSH2 module ( which avoids the Math module dependencies). See A little demo for Net::SSH2

Math::Pari and Math::GMP are both installed. When we originally wrote the script, the remote box was old and could only handle protocol 1. Obviously the box has been upgraded so maybe we can switch to Net::SSH2. I'd just like to figure out what is different between box 1 and box 2. Both are supposed to be clones but obviously something is different.