--- title: 'How to ssh with azure cli and use zmodem to transfer with iterm2 and mac' url: 'https://grav.munn.me/my-blog/how-to-ssh-with-azure-cli-and-use-zmodem-to-transfer-with-iterm2-and-mac' markdown: 'https://grav.munn.me/my-blog/how-to-ssh-with-azure-cli-and-use-zmodem-to-transfer-with-iterm2-and-mac.md' date: '2025-08-13' description: 'This is quite a post. I needed to transfer files back and forth to an ssh server behind bastion on azure. Alas, its not too terribly well documented, so I thought I would make a document explaining how to do it. First I am going to define some terms. Referencing the microsoft destination here are t…' --- This is quite a post. I needed to transfer files back and forth to an ssh server behind bastion on azure. Alas, its not too terribly well documented, so I thought I would make a document explaining how to do it. First I am going to define some terms. Referencing the microsoft destination here are the cli arguments explained (they do a TERRIBLE job of this) - [Microsoft general bastion documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/network/bastion?view=azure-cli-latest) - [Microsoft Bastion ssh cli reference (reprinted in part)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/network/bastion?view=azure-cli-latest#az-network-bastion-ssh) ```bash az network bastion ssh --auth-type [--ids] = horrible slashy thing with evil vm resource ids (not necessary) [--name] = Name of the actual (not vm!) bastion server [--resource-group] = Resource group of the bastion server [--resource-port] (not applicable for ssh) [--ssh-key] (your local key, I just use ssh-agent) [--subscription] the subscription with the proper bastion/vm [--target-ip-address] n/a [--target-resource-id] VERY EVIL long path you get from properties of vm [--username] remote username of the local user on the VM ``` Here is an example with everything filled out: ```bash az network bastion ssh --name MyHappyPastion-eus-VNet-bastion --resource-group MyHappyResourceGroupforBastion --target-resource-id /subscriptions//resourceGroups/-RG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/ --auth-type PASSWORD --username --subscription my-sub-name ``` This is 1/2 of the magic. You can get the resource vm by going to the vm and finding its "resource ID" which is that evil path I talked about. This also assumes you are properly logged into said sub with appropriate az login commands. ## Now for the Cool part: Zmodem transfer w/o portforwarding OR any scp/sftp subsystems and NO direct connectivity to remote network 1. Install lrzsz on the remote vm (it might be a different package name, basically zmodem on unix). 2. Install lrzsz on your mac (alas this doesn't work as nicely for unix!) brew install lrzsz 3. Follow [this guide](https://github.com/aurora/iterm2-zmodem) (assuming you have iterm2 installed!) 4. PROFIT! ## Appendix 1: saved text of github in case it disappears ```bash #!/usr/bin/env bash # # iterm2-zmodem # # copyright (c) 2013 by Harald Lapp # # AppleScript portion from: # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4309087/cancel-button-on-osascript-in-a-bash-script # licensed under cc-wiki with attribution required # # # This script can be found at: # https://github.com/aurora/iterm2-zmodem # # # This is a re-implementation of the shell scripts "iterm2-recv-zmodem.sh" and # "iterm2-send-zmodem.sh" found at https://github.com/mmastrac/iterm2-zmodem # # usage if [[ $1 != "sz" && $1 != "rz" ]]; then echo "usage: $0 sz|rz" exit fi # send Z-Modem cancel sequence function cancel { echo -e \\x18\\x18\\x18\\x18\\x18 } # send notification using growlnotify function notify { local msg=$1 if command -v growlnotify >/dev/null 2>&1; then growlnotify -a /Applications/iTerm.app -n "iTerm" -m "$msg" -t "File transfer" else echo "# $msg" | tr '\n' ' ' fi } #setup [[ $LRZSZ_PATH != "" ]] && LRZSZ_PATH=":$LRZSZ_PATH" || LRZSZ_PATH="" PATH=$(command -p getconf PATH):/usr/local/bin$LRZSZ_PATH ZCMD=$( if command -v $1 >/dev/null 2>&1; then echo "$1" elif command -v l$1 >/dev/null 2>&1; then echo "l$1" fi ) # main if [[ $ZCMD = "" ]]; then cancel echo notify "Unable to find Z-Modem tools" exit elif [[ $1 = "rz" ]]; then # receive a file DST=$( osascript \ -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to activate" \ -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to set thefile to choose folder with prompt \"Choose a folder to place received files in\"" \ -e "do shell script (\"echo \"&(quoted form of POSIX path of thefile as Unicode text)&\"\")" ) if [[ $DST = "" ]]; then cancel echo fi cd "$DST" notify "Z-Modem started receiving file" $ZCMD -e -y echo notify "Z-Modem finished receiving file" else # send a file SRC=$( osascript \ -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to activate" \ -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to set thefile to choose file with prompt \"Choose a file to send\"" \ -e "do shell script (\"echo \"&(quoted form of POSIX path of thefile as Unicode text)&\"\")" ) if [[ $SRC = "" ]]; then cancel echo fi notify "Z-Modem started sending $SRC" $ZCMD -e "$SRC" echo notify "Z-Modem finished sending $SRC" fi ``` # Z-Modem integration for iTerm2- backup in case github blows up ## Preface The purpose of this script is to add Z-Modem file transfer support to (in theory) any ssh session from within iTerm2. This script is inspired by and would probably not exist without the scripts "[iterm2-recv-zmodem.sh](http://iterm2-recv-zmodem.sh)" and "[iterm2-send-zmodem.sh](http://iterm2-send-zmodem.sh)" (c) by Matt Mastracci, . The motivation to not forking but rewriting the scripts was mainly to put the functionality into a single shell script to make it possible to share common code used by both sending and receiving funtionality and to make it more easy to extend the functionality in future. ## Installation ### Prework For sending and receiving files the Z-Modem tools are required on both machines involved in the transfer. I recommend installing the lrzsz package which should be available in most Linux distributions or which can be downloaded and build from source from: A recent version of iTerm2 is required for Mac OS X to make things work, downloadable from: Optionally the script supports Growl notifications. For this to work the Growl application and the additional tool "growlnotify" is needed. ### Installation and configuration The script iterm2-zmodem should by copied to /usr/local/bin. It's required to setup the following "Triggers" in iTerm2: ``` Regular expression: \*\*B0100 Action: Run Coprocess Parameters: /usr/local/bin/iterm2-zmodem sz Regular expression: \*\*B00000000000000 Action: Run Coprocess Parameters: /usr/local/bin/iterm2-zmodem rz ``` The script "iterm2-zmodem" tries to determine the names (lrz, rz, lsz, sz) and locations of the binaries of growlnotify and the Z-Modem tools. The pathes searched are: ``` /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin ``` If the Z-Modem tools are installed in some unusual place, the path can be specified when configuring the triggers using the LRZSZ\_PATH environment variable, the "Parameters" setting of the trigger has to be modified in this case to become for example: ``` Parameters: LRZSZ_PATH=/opt/lrzsz/bin /usr/local/bin/iterm2-zmodem rz ``` ## Usage The file transfer is initiated on the remote machine by executing rz respectively lrz (for receiving a file on the remote machine) or by executing sz respectively lsz (for sending a file to the remote machine). See the command usage information of the Z-Modem tools for additional details. Note, that sending files will overwrite the destination file on the local machine, if it already exists. ## Disclaimer Use with caution. This software may contain serious bugs. I can not be made responsible for any damage the software may cause to your system or files. ## License ### iterm2-zmodem iterm2-zmodem Copyright (C) 2013 by Harald Lapp This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see . ### 3rd party code The AppleScript portion included in the script is inspired by licensed under cc-wiki with attribution required --- ## Navigation - Parent: [My Blog](https://grav.munn.me/my-blog.md) - Previous: [how to use native python wheel packages on alpine](https://grav.munn.me/my-blog/how-to-use-native-python-wheel-packages-on-alpine.md) - Next: [How to use pass command to read qr codes for totp](https://grav.munn.me/my-blog/how-to-use-pass-command-to-read-qr-codes-for-totp.md)