Questions[remote](server)

I am looking for best way to call remote command over SSH. I create user 'rpcall', generate new certificate and fill authorized_keys. Secure it little bit more with

from="ip",no-agent-forwarding,no-X11-forwarding,no-port-forwarding,no-pty ssh-rsa ......

now user rpcall can't login to terminal

ssh -l rpc 192.168.12.1
PTY allocation request failed on channel 0

but it is possible to run any command

ssh -l rpc 192.168.12.1 cat /etc/passwd

Is there any solution i can limit command execution only to one processing script? For example /home/rpcall/bin/command.sh

I setuped bash shell for this user and using .bashrc force run processing script, but i don't know how to pass parameters from ssh call.

.bashrc for user rpcall

/home/rpcall/bin/command.sh $params1 $params2
exit

ssh call from other machine

ssh -l rpcall 192.168.12.1 "param1" "param2"

I'm having big troubles with a remote server that for some reason explorer.exe crashed and, although I didn't lose remote desktop connectivity, I can't do anything. Is there a way of restarting explorer without rebooting the server?

I appreciate ANY suggestions!!

I need to run SSH commands remotely with the output displaying locally. But if the connection breaks I want the command to still run.

I am not talking so much about logging in and executing but doing ssh user@remotehost 'commands && command etc'

How can I ensure the command runs even if the connection breaks?

I need to remotely install Ubuntu Server 10.04 (x86) on a server currently running RHEL 3.4 (x86). I'll have to be very careful because no one can press the restart button for me if anything goes wrong.

Have you ever remotely installed Linux? Which way would you recommend? Any advice for things to watch out?

Update:

Thanks for your help. I managed to "change the tires while driving"!

The main components of my method are drawn from HOWTO - Install Debian Onto a Remote Linux System, grub legacy: Booting once-only, grub single boot and kernel panic reboot , and Ubuntu Community Documentation: InstallationFromKnoppix

Here is the outline of what I did:

1. Run debootstrap on an existing Ubuntu server
2. Transfer the files to the swap partition of the RHEL 3.4 server
3. Boot into tha swap partition (the debootstrap system)
4. Transfer the files to the original root partition
5. Boot into the new Ubuntu system and finish up the installation with tasksel, apt-get, etc

I tested the method in a VM and then applied to the server. I was lucky enough that everything went smoothly :)

I'm about to terminate my relationship with my hosting provider of many years, but I'd like to securely wipe the box before I do. This is a dedicated server running Debian on a single EXT3 drive and although I have root access, I can't boot alternate media since it's headless in a rack somewhere.

I don't need multiple passes, but I would like to wipe free space if possible. Basically I'd like to walk away and make sure I don't leave any of my personal data behind. I'm worried that the box might crash before it finishes wiping/syncing the filesystem if I just run srm -R -s /