When managing multiple servers, the simplest method to execute local scripts remotely is using SSH's pipe functionality. This requires no pre-installed agents and works with standard SSH access:

cat local_script.sh | ssh user@remote-server "bash -s"

For more robust execution across multiple servers, consider this enhanced approach:

#!/bin/bash
SCRIPT_PATH="/path/to/configure.sh"
SERVERS=("server1.example.com" "server2.example.com" "192.168.1.10")

for server in "${SERVERS[@]}"; do
  echo "Executing on ${server}"
  ssh -T "admin@${server}" < "${SCRIPT_PATH}"
done

To pass arguments to your remote script:

ssh user@remote-server 'bash -s' < local_script.sh arg1 arg2

When your script depends on environment variables:

ssh user@remote-server "env VAR1=value1 VAR2=value2 bash -s" < script.sh

For production use, implement proper error handling:

ssh user@remote-server "bash -s" < script.sh 2>&1 | tee -a remote_exec.log
exit_code=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Execution failed on ${remote-server}" >&2
  exit $exit_code
fi

• Use SSH keys instead of passwords
• Limit SSH access to specific IPs
• Consider using ssh-agent for key management
• Validate all remote inputs in your scripts

For large-scale deployments:

parallel -j 10 ssh user@{} 'bash -s' < script.sh ::: "${SERVERS[@]}"

When managing multiple remote servers, you often need to execute configuration scripts without installing additional software on target machines. SSH provides a perfect solution for this scenario.

The simplest method is to pipe your local script through SSH:

cat local_script.sh | ssh user@remote_host "bash -s"

This approach:

• Requires no pre-installed software on remote machines
• Works with any standard SSH server
• Preserves your local script's variables and logic

You can pass arguments just like with local scripts:

cat configure.sh | ssh admin@server01 "bash -s -- --param1 value1 --param2 value2"

For executing across multiple hosts, use a loop:

#!/bin/bash
SCRIPT="./deploy_config.sh"
HOSTS=("server1.example.com" "server2.example.com" "server3.example.com")

for host in "${HOSTS[@]}"; do
    echo "Deploying to ${host}"
    cat "${SCRIPT}" | ssh "admin@${host}" "bash -s"
done

For scripts requiring environment variables:

ssh user@remote_host "export VAR1=value1 && export VAR2=value2 && bash -s" < local_script.sh

Implement proper error handling:

ssh user@remote_host "bash -s" < setup.sh 2>&1 | tee remote_execution.log

• Use SSH keys instead of passwords
• Limit SSH access to specific IPs
• Consider using ssh-agent for credential management

For larger scripts, first copy then execute:

scp config_script.sh user@remote_host:/tmp/
ssh user@remote_host "chmod +x /tmp/config_script.sh && /tmp/config_script.sh"

Here's how to install CFEngine without manual intervention:

#!/bin/bash
# bootstrap_cfengine.sh
cat << 'EOF' | ssh root@new_host "bash -s"
#!/bin/bash
wget https://cfengine.com/pub/gpg.key
rpm --import gpg.key
yum install -y cfengine-community
systemctl start cfengine3
EOF