Why does Perl's Net::SFTP->new complain about "Not an ARRAY reference"?

Question

I am trying to use Net::SFTP to get connected to remote server.

My script is:

my %args = ( 
    ssh_args => { 
       user => 'canneu_scp', 
       identity_files => [ '/home/home1/cgrshah/responsys/capgemini.private' ], 
       debug => 1, 
 } );

my $targetserver='files.responsys.net';

my $sftp = Net::SFTP->new($targetserver, %args) 
      or die "could not open connection to $targetserver\n";

But when I run this, I get an error stating:

 Not an ARRAY reference at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.1/Net/SFTP.pm line 36.

Can anyone help me with this?

Answer 1

This is just a wild shot in the dark, but the user option should not be in the hash handed to ssh_args, it is at the same level. Try using this code instead:

my $sftp = Net::SFTP->new(
    $targetserver,
    user     => 'canneu_scp', 
    ssh_args => { 
        identity_files => [ '/home/home1/cgrshah/responsys/capgemini.private' ], 
        debug => 1,
    } 
) or die "could not open connection to $targetserver\n";

It sounds like the code above got you further along, and now you are having problems because your version of Math::BigInt is too old. I see three ways to move forward:

1. switch to an RSA key instead of a DSA key
2. find an RPM of Math::BigInt version 1.78 or later
3. manually install a copy of Math::BigInt

The third option has many pitfalls, and if you decide to go with it I would suggest the following steps:

1. install App::cpanminus
   1. make sure you have a gcc installed
   2. run wget -O- http://cpanmin.us | perl - --local-lib=~/perl5 App::cpanminus
   3. add ~/perl5/bin to your path
2. install Math::BigInt into your home directory with cpanm --local-lib=~/perl5 Math::BigInt
3. add use lib "$ENV{HOME}/perl5"; to the start of your script so it can find the new modules

Answer 2

hi Chas...i am the same user who asked this question. Was not able to access my account so created a new one.

Actually I am still stuck up in the same problem of Math::BigInt. Can you explain me how to exactly go for option 1: 1. switch to an RSA key instead of a DSA key