ClusterSSH is a tool to manage simultaneous interactive sessions across multiple SSH-accessible hosts. It opens one master terminal and many child terminal windows (or tabs), sending the same keystrokes to all clients while allowing isolated input per host. This is useful when orchestrating repetitive tasks—such as rolling updates or diagnosing distributed systems—without copying and pasting into each window. The interface supports splitting windows, delayed input modes, and host groupings to make clusters more manageable. It also includes features like per-host prompt prefixing or context awareness to avoid confusion in mixed environments. Because the architecture is simple and terminal-based, it works across diverse systems with minimal dependencies and remains popular among sysadmins wanting bulk control with tactile feedback.
Features
- Opens multiple SSH sessions and sends input to all servers simultaneously
- Ideal for managing homogeneous cluster configurations or administrative tasks
- Simple CLI-based invocation; requires no specialized setup beyond SSH access
- Provides pattern-based command targeting (e.g., search lines, group actions)
- Acts as a lightweight, GUI-free alternative to orchestration tools
- Alerts users to pitfalls where terminal output or ordering may differ across hosts