PUBLIC MARKS with tags "web developer" & debian

Not everyone knows about PHP's capabilities of making SSH connections and executing remote commands, but it can be very useful. I've been using it a lot in PHP CLI applications that I run from cronjobs, but initially it was a pain to get it to work. The PHP manual on Secure Shell2 Functions is not very practice or thorough for that matter, so I would like to share my knowledge in this how to, to make it a little less time consuming setting this up. In this article I'm going to assume that: * You're running Debian / Ubuntu If not, you will have to substitute the package manager aptitude with whatever your distribution provides * You're running PHP 5 If not, just replace php5 with php4 everywhere * You have basic knowledge of PHP & server administration * You already have PHP installed