How to run commands on a remote server (SSH) via a Bash script

We might want to perform some tasks on a remote server (via SSH) as part of a Bash automation script.

This is how it can be done.

Single commands

To execute just one command on a remote server, we can use the following syntax:

ssh host "/scripts/automated-task.sh"

This will execute the automated-task.sh file located in the /scripts folder on the remote server.

Multiple commands

Method 1: One line of code

We can run multiple commands on the remote server by separating those commands with ; or with &&.

ssh host "cd /scripts; automated-task.sh"

Or

ssh host "cd /scripts && automated-task.sh"

Method 2: Multiple lines of code

Another way to run multiple commands is:

ssh -T host <<'EOF'
	cd /scripts
    automated-task.sh
EOF

In this method, we write each command on a new line. If we run a lot of long commands, this might be the right choice to create more readable code.

Of course, in all of these examples, replace host with the actual host defined in the SSH config file or use the connection details (user@host).