External SSH Tool

This Node Is Deprecated — This node is kept for backwards-compatibility, but the usage in new workflows is no longer recommended. The documentation below might contain more information.

Deprecated: Please use the SSH Command Executor instead. It supports more cryptography algorithms through the SSH Connector and has more features.

Allows running an external program on another machine on the input data. The node creates an SSH connection to a remote host, transfers the input data via sftp (as comma separated values), executes the specified command and transfers back the result file, assuming that the command generated a file with comma separated values.
NOTE: KNIME has no control over the execution of the external tool. There will be no progress, no failure message, and exceptions will not be caught. Highlighting will not work across this node. Colors are lost (the Color Manager node must be inserted in the flow to re-generate colors).
For additional SSH settings, please refer to the preference page "General" - "Network Connections" - "SSH2". There the directory with the known_hosts file and the private key file can be specified.

Options

Host: Name or IP address of the computer the command should be executed on. This host must be in the list of known hosts (see SSH2 preference page).
Port: The port number used for the ssh connection. Leave empty for the default port no. 22.
Timeout: Enter the number of seconds after any try to connect should time out. Leave empty for the default of 50 seconds.
Username: Specify the user name for the ssh connection. Leave empty for the current user.
Password: Enter the password for the ssh connection. Leave empty if you use your private key file or no password is required.
Passphrase: If your private key file requires a passphrase, enter it here.
Use known host: The host and its fingerprint have to be known. Further configuration can be found in the "SSH2" preference page. If this is unchecked the check will be bypassed.
Check Connection: Checks if the current configuration can be used to open a connection to the host.
Remote Command: Specify the command that is executed on the remote host. It must be found in the remote environment. You can specify arguments (space separated). Use the placeholders "$inFile" and "$outFile" for the remote input file and remote output file.
Temporary Remote Input File: Specify the name of the file where the input data is stored. Specify the full remote path. Not existing directories will be created. The file contains the node's input table as comma separated values, with column headers and row IDs in the first column. The file is deleted after execution.
Temporary Remote Output File: Specify the name of the file where the remote command writes the output data to. Specify the full remote path. The file must contain the output data as comma, tab, or space separated values. The file is deleted after execution.

Input Ports

: Input data for the external tool

Output Ports

: Data read from the output file of the tool

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Installation

To use this node in KNIME, install the extension KNIME External Tool Support from the below update site following our NodePit Product and Node Installation Guide:

v5.9

A zipped version of the software site can be downloaded here.

Plugin provider: KNIME AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Plugin version: 5.9.0.v202511130854

On NodePit since: 2025-12-11

Last update: 2026-01-16

Tags: Deprecated

KNIME versions: Since v3.6

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