script breaks bash prompt

English Programming/Scripting
#1

The environment is Novell oes2. i.e. SLES 10

Users can ssh into the oes2 server fine.

I have created a one line script

id -gn = “trax” ] && exec /bin/bash

If the same user is made a member of group trax and logs in, they do NOT get a bash prompt, only a blinking cursor.

No commands work at the blinking cursor, although you do see characters echoed when you type.

ctrl-c closes the session.

Why is this happening?

Ideally I want to evolve the script to start a menu

id -gn = “trax” ] && exec /usr/local/bin/menu.sh

I can execute this script and menu.sh runs, but if I try to
execute the menu choice that gives me a shell, I get no bash prompt, and the behavior is the same as above.

#2

adelatorre wrote:
> The environment is Novell oes2. i.e. SLES 10

you are, of course, welcome here…and, you might even get good help
here, as there are a few folks here from time to time who can help
you…so, you are welcome to hang out, check back and see…

but, except for a growing handful of volunteer helpers, most of the
folks here are relative n00bs fleeing opressive systems and giving
openSUSE a try…

i guess you are more likely to run into a ‘real’ hacker over in
forums.novell.com

anyway, as a Novell customer, you are entitled to something other than
the volunteer guesses you are likely to get here…

–
goldie
Give a hacker a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach man and you feed him for a lifetime.

#3

To begin with goldie is right, but as shells are the same for openSUSE and SLES, maybe we can help you.

But I think I am missing some points.
First there is no such thing as a one line script. There should at least be two lines

#!/bin/bash
 `id -gn` = "trax" ] && exec /bin/bash

or any other shell/interpreter you think your script must be run by in the shebang on the first line.

You say a connection is made and a user logs in. Then, as in a miracle, you say they do not get a bash prompt, because of this script. But you never told tre script was even called. Please explain if the script is called, and when yes, where it resides and how it is called. In other words, we need all the information you omitted, maybe because you thought that we at openSUSE are clairvoyant like your SLES friends :wink:

#4

In sles 9 you could create a script to run out of profile.d which used the exec function.

The same script in sles 10 does not work.

How to recreate
create test.sh in /etc/profile.d

contents of test.sh

exec /bin/bash

In sles 9 you will get a bash prompt

In sles 10 you will have blinking cursor

Behavior is the same whether or not you have the hashpling as the first line of the script.

#5

When it is realy something do do with the difference between SLES 9 and SLES 10, that might be beyond our (openSUSE based) competence. You will most certain be better served at the Novell forums about SLES/SLED at NOVELL FORUMS as goldie already pointed out to you.

I did not say that the missing #! is the cause of the problem, but that you in any case need a proper one, else you can not call it a shell script. This with the motto: We do things correct, or we do not do them at all.

When you want that we carry on trying helping you you realy must be more talkative.

When you do not use the exec, what is the shell you normaly get? In other words, which shell is interpreting your profile.d?

When you want particular users getting bash on login (instead of some other shell), why do you not configure that in their /etc/passwd entry?

I did not go and spend a lot of time reading the bash man page, but when bash is started from exec, I am not sure that it starts as a login-shell. When it is not login shell a lot of environment variables (including the prompt string) mat not be set.