Implemented timeout around the SSH handshake, including a unit test

communicator/ssh/communicator.go

@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
-	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
-	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/agent"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
@@ -16,8 +13,15 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
+	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/agent"
 )
 
+var ErrHandshakeTimeout = fmt.Errorf("Timeout during SSH handshake")
+
 type comm struct {
 	client  *ssh.Client
 	config  *Config
@@ -40,6 +44,10 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// DisableAgent, if true, will not forward the SSH agent.
 	DisableAgent bool
+
+	// HandshakeTimeout limits the amount of time we'll wait to handshake before
+	// saying the connection failed.
+	HandshakeTimeout time.Duration
 }
 
 // Creates a new packer.Communicator implementation over SSH. This takes
@@ -273,9 +281,39 @@ func (c *comm) reconnect() (err error) {
 	}
 
 	log.Printf("handshaking with SSH")
-	sshConn, sshChan, req, err := ssh.NewClientConn(c.conn, c.address, c.config.SSHConfig)
+
+	// Default timeout to 1 minute if it wasn't specified (zero value). For
+	// when you need to handshake from low orbit.
+	var duration time.Duration
+	if c.config.HandshakeTimeout == 0 {
+		duration = 1 * time.Minute
+	} else {
+		duration = c.config.HandshakeTimeout
+	}
+
+	timeoutExceeded := time.After(duration)
+	connectionEstablished := make(chan bool, 1)
+
+	var sshConn ssh.Conn
+	var sshChan <-chan ssh.NewChannel
+	var req <-chan *ssh.Request
+
+	go func() {
+		sshConn, sshChan, req, err = ssh.NewClientConn(c.conn, c.address, c.config.SSHConfig)
+		connectionEstablished <- true
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case <-connectionEstablished:
+		// We don't need to do anything here. We just want select to block until
+		// we connect or timeout.
+	case <-timeoutExceeded:
+		return ErrHandshakeTimeout
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("handshake error: %s", err)
+		return
 	}
 	log.Printf("handshake complete!")
 	if sshConn != nil {

communicator/ssh/communicator_test.go

@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ package ssh
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
-	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
 	"net"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
 )
 
 // private key for mock server
@@ -94,6 +96,28 @@ func newMockLineServer(t *testing.T) string {
 	return l.Addr().String()
 }
 
+func newMockBrokenServer(t *testing.T) string {
+	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unable tp listen for connection: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	go func() {
+		defer l.Close()
+		c, err := l.Accept()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unable to accept incoming connection: %s", err)
+		}
+		defer c.Close()
+		// This should block for a period of time longer than our timeout in
+		// the test case. That way we invoke a failure scenario.
+		time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
+		t.Log("Block on handshaking for SSH connection")
+	}()
+
+	return l.Addr().String()
+}
+
 func TestCommIsCommunicator(t *testing.T) {
 	var raw interface{}
 	raw = &comm{}
@@ -157,10 +181,44 @@ func TestStart(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("error connecting to SSH: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	var cmd packer.RemoteCmd
-	stdout := new(bytes.Buffer)
-	cmd.Command = "echo foo"
-	cmd.Stdout = stdout
+	cmd := &packer.RemoteCmd{
+		Command: "echo foo",
+		Stdout:  new(bytes.Buffer),
+	}
+
+	client.Start(cmd)
+}
+
+func TestHandshakeTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	clientConfig := &ssh.ClientConfig{
+		User: "user",
+		Auth: []ssh.AuthMethod{
+			ssh.Password("pass"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	address := newMockBrokenServer(t)
+	conn := func() (net.Conn, error) {
+		conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", address)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unable to dial to remote side: %s", err)
+		}
+		return conn, err
+	}
+
+	config := &Config{
+		Connection:       conn,
+		SSHConfig:        clientConfig,
+		HandshakeTimeout: 50 * time.Millisecond,
+	}
 
-	client.Start(&cmd)
+	_, err := New(address, config)
+	if err != ErrHandshakeTimeout {
+		// Note: there's another error that can come back from this call:
+		//   ssh: handshake failed: EOF
+		// This should appear in cases where the handshake fails because of
+		// malformed (or no) data sent back by the server, but should not happen
+		// in a timeout scenario.
+		t.Fatalf("Expected handshake timeout, got: %s", err)
+	}
 }