Entering enable mode using JSch

It does seem like shell mode would be your best bet.

That being said you could introduce a false sort of delay if you really wanted to use exec.

https://epaul.github.io/jsch-documentation/simple.javadoc/com/jcraft/jsch/ChannelExec.html

Maybe something like:

Session session = jsch.getSession(user, host, 22);
session.setPassword(password);
session.setConfig("StrictHostKeyChecking", "no");
session.connect();

// command1
ChannelExec channel1 = (ChannelExec) session.openChannel("exec");
channel1.setCommand("enable");
channel1.connect();
channel1.disconnect();

Thread.sleep(1000);  // Delay for 1 second

// command2
ChannelExec channel2 = (ChannelExec) session.openChannel("exec");
channel2.setCommand("your_next_command");
channel2.connect();
channel2.disconnect();

session.disconnect();

There could be issues depending on how certain devices response, or if connection session up/down takes an extended amount of time.

Using shell would be easier for sure, and more consistent across devices, but hope this helps!

Plus, if i’m going to switch to shell, i might as well switch to expect.