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Requirements

Prerequisites for Introduction and Prepare. You can start local-only; add the remote pieces when you SSH to other hosts. pkg> add DistSSHKit does not install ssh, rsync, or git.

All machines

Applies to the machine where you run the kit and each SSH host that runs jobs.

  • macOS, Linux, and WSL2 Ubuntu (not native Windows)
  • Julia 1.12+
    • Library (Pkg.add / using / go! / drive!), CLI (julia -m DistSSHKit), and optional distsshkit (User Guide)
    • Same major.minor on the controller and SSH hosts (setup --check fails on a mismatch unless --ignore-julia-version; patch-only differences warn)
    • Prefer juliaup ($HOME/.juliaup/bin/julia): E2E workers and remote auto-detect start there. --julia / JULIA_DISTRIBUTED_EXE override. Missing path or a related bug: open an Issue.

WSL2 is Linux, with a few extra rules:

  • Run the kit inside the distro, not PowerShell
  • Keep the project on the Linux filesystem (~/…), not /mnt/c/…
  • Install ssh / rsync / Julia inside WSL
  • SSH E2E uses the same ./testenv/docker-ssh/scripts/up.sh --e2e as Linux (Docker Compose must be visible from WSL)

Remotes

No hard limit on the number of remote hosts. More hosts just means more time spent on SSH connections and deployment, so start with a few and scale up. If SSH disconnects are a risk, use machines that stay up, and keep the master's run alive with something like tmux.

When you use SSH hosts (not just local:N):

Where you run the kit — also install:

  • ssh — passwordless login to each host
  • rsync — collect results (go / drive); push the project tree only without git (setup --rsync)
  • git — git deploy path only (clone / push / pull); skip for rsync-only

Each SSH host:

  • Passwordless SSH from the machine where you run the kit (repeat per host; use a connect timeout — bare ssh can hang on a bad IP). See Checks below.
  • git — git deploy path only (clone / pull on the host); skip for rsync-only. Git vs rsync: First Steps · Prepare, User Guide · setup.

Project

DistSSHKit assumes a Julia project — Project.toml at the project root (not a subfolder like demos/):

  • Run with julia --project=. from that directory (the kit activates the nearest Project.toml above each script). julia -m DistSSHKit from a project that only depends on DistSSHKit uses that job's Project.toml, not the kit's (DISTRIBUTED_PROJECT_ROOT overrides).
  • Declare dependencies in that Project.toml / Manifest.toml. Install them on every machine that runs jobs: local Pkg.instantiate(), and setup --instantiate on remotes (after --clone or --rsync).

Demo scripts live under ./demos/ after demo install with_kit (or without_kit); see Introduction.

Checks

The ssh … snippets below are examples you can type yourself — DistSSHKit does not run them. USER@HOST is a placeholder (user@hostname, an IP, or an SSH config Host alias). Timeouts and extra -o flags need not match the kit (ConnectTimeout here is 5; the kit uses 10 plus keepalives).

  • Local-only first run: the Where you run the kit list is enough.
  • Using remotes: add Each SSH host too. For the kit's own probe, use setup --check at the end of that subsection.

Where you run the kit

  • julia --version
  • uname -s — Darwin or Linux
  • which rsync — remotes / collect
  • which git — git deploy path only

Each SSH host

Example — passwordless login (once per host):

ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new USER@HOST echo ok

Example — Julia 1.12+ (same major.minor as the kit machine, via juliaup). Log in, find the binary, then check with that full path (non-interactive ssh often has no login PATH, so bare julia fails):

  • ssh USER@HOST
  • which julia (often $HOME/.juliaup/bin/julia)
  • exit

Replace /path/from/which/julia with that path:

ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new USER@HOST '/path/from/which/julia --version'

The kit covers the same ground (ssh, Julia path / version, remote project) with setup --check (probes common Julia locations; this is a DistSSHKit command):

julia --project=. -m DistSSHKit setup --check USER@HOST

Example — git only if that host will clone / pull:

ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new USER@HOST 'which git'

Next: Introduction · Prepare.