When your .bashrc or .bash_profile contains errors, it can completely lock you out of SSH access. The moment you try logging in, the shell attempts to execute these initialization files, hits the error, and terminates the session immediately.

Common attempts like ssh user@host "rm ~/.bashrc" or using SCP won't work because:

1. The shell still executes initialization files before running your command
2. SCP actually uses SSH behind the scenes and suffers the same issue
3. Even --norc might not help if your shell is non-interactive

Method 1: Force Non-Interactive Shell

ssh user@host -t "/bin/bash --norc --noprofile"

Method 2: Use Alternative Shell

ssh user@host -t /bin/sh

Method 3: Direct Command Execution

ssh user@host "env -i /bin/bash -c 'mv ~/.bashrc ~/.bashrc.bak'"

Method 4: SFTP Workaround

sftp user@host
put /dev/null .bashrc

Always test shell config changes:

bash --norc --noprofile -c "source .bashrc"

Consider keeping a rescue alias:

alias ssh-rescue='ssh -o RemoteCommand="/bin/sh" -t'

For stubborn cases, chain multiple techniques:

ssh -t user@host "env -i /bin/sh -c 'exec /bin/bash --norc'"

When your .bashrc or .bash_profile contains errors, SSH login attempts fail because these files are automatically sourced during shell initialization. This creates a chicken-and-egg situation where you can't login to fix the broken files.

The fundamental approach is to force a non-interactive shell that skips reading these initialization files:

ssh user@host -t "/bin/bash --norc"
# or for systems that use .bash_profile:
ssh user@host -t "/bin/bash --noprofile"

When even --norc fails, try these approaches:

# Using env to bypass shell entirely
ssh user@host env /bin/bash -c "your_command"

# Force command mode (no PTY allocation)
ssh user@host -T "rm ~/.bashrc"

# Using scp to overwrite the file
echo "" | scp - user@host:~/.bashrc

For more stubborn cases, consider these professional techniques:

# 1. Using ssh with forced command
ssh -o "RemoteCommand=/bin/sh" user@host

# 2. Utilizing sftp for file operations
sftp user@host << EOF
rename .bashrc .bashrc.bak
EOF

# 3. Direct pipe to bash
cat fix_script.sh | ssh user@host "/bin/bash --norc"

Once you regain access, implement safeguards:

# 1. Add error trapping to your .bashrc
if [ -n "$PS1" ]; then
    # Interactive commands go here
    # With proper error handling:
    command -v important_binary || echo "Warning: binary missing" >&2
fi

# 2. Create a failsafe login path
mkdir -p ~/.safe
ln -s /bin/bash ~/.safe/clean_bash