sub executeCommand{
  my $command = join ' ', @_;
  $prot and print("Command: $command\n");
  my $response = qx($command 2>&1);
  my $status = $? >> 8;
  return ($status, $response);
}

my @src_cmd = ('ssh.exe ', $ssh_user.'@'.$hostname ." /fullpath/check_user_exists.pl " . "$user");
my ($status, $output) = &executeCommand(@src_cmd);