Bash scripting on debian installer not accepting user input on preseeding - linux

I have a very small script that needs to be run on debian installer: (via preseeding, pre installation script)
echo -n -e " # Your option [1] [2] [3]: "
read REPLY
if [ "$REPLY" == "1" ]
The script stops here and whatever I press is just displayed onto screen however it is not accepting the enter key. Normally, when you press 1 and press enter, the read should return 1 to $REPLY. But nothing happens. It keeps accepting user input but no further action happens.
Then, I switched to tty2 with ALT+F2 and run the script there, it was fine, it works as expected, when I press; it takes the input. Why tty1 is not accepting enter as usual?

Use debconf for that kind of configuration, it tackles exactly needs like yours.
Adapted example from the manual
Template file (debian/templates):
Template: your_package/select_option
Type: select
Choices: 1, 2, 3
Description: Which option?
Choose one of the options
Script (debian/config):
#!/bin/sh -e
# Source debconf library.
. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
db_input medium your_package/select_option || true
db_go
# Check their answer.
db_get your_package/select_option
if [ "$RET" = "1" ]; then
# Do stuff
fi

Had the same problem (read not processing my input) with busybox on an embedded Linux.
Took me some time to realize that busybox's read is not CR-tolerant — my terminal program (used miniterm.py) sent CR/LF line ends by default; switching it to LF only solved my problem!

with bash interpreter, try replace read by :
builtin read
with other sh interpreter, specify the variable name :
read REPLY

The following script works fine for me:
#!/bin/sh
echo -n -e " # Your option [1] [2] [3]: "
read
case $REPLY in
1 )
echo "one" ;;
2 )
echo "two" ;;
3 )
echo "three" ;;
*)
echo "invalid" ;;
esac
It prints out one nicely if I choose 1. Any reason why you'd like to stick to if...fi?

Related

Linux Script to execute something when F1 is hitter

I have this script start.sh
#!/bin/bash
while[1]
do
read -sn3 key
if [$key=="\033[[A"]
then
./test1
else
./test2
fi
done
I want to set up a forever loop check see if F1 key pressed. If pressed execute test1 else test2. I did start.sh & running in background so other programs can run.
I got error
while [1] command not found
syntax error near unexpected token 'do'
[f==\033]: command not found
Also where is this read command located? I type which read, it didn't find it.
Also, if try ./start.sh & it gives totally different behavior. I enter a key and it says that key is not found. I though & just run the script at background
There are several basic syntax problems in your code (consider using shellcheck before posting to clean up these things), but the approach itself is flawed. Hitting "q" and "F1" produces different length inputs.
Here's a script relying on the fact that escape sequences all come in the same read call, which is dirty but effective:
#!/bin/bash
readkey() {
local key settings
settings=$(stty -g) # save terminal settings
stty -icanon -echo min 0 # disable buffering/echo, allow read to poll
dd count=1 > /dev/null 2>&1 # Throw away anything currently in the buffer
stty min 1 # Don't allow read to poll anymore
key=$(dd count=1 2> /dev/null) # do a single read(2) call
stty "$settings" # restore terminal settings
printf "%s" "$key"
}
# Get the F1 key sequence from termcap, fall back on Linux console
# TERM has to be set correctly for this to work.
f1=$(tput kf1) || f1=$'\033[[A'
while true
do
echo "Hit F1 to party, or any other key to continue"
key=$(readkey)
if [[ $key == "$f1" ]]
then
echo "Party!"
else
echo "Continuing..."
fi
done
Should be
while :
or
while true
Try this:
#!/bin/bash
while true
do
read -sn3 key
if [ "$key" = "$(tput kf1)" ]
then
./test1
else
./test2
fi
done
It is more robust to use tput to generate the control sequence, you can see a full list in man terminfo. If tput isn't available, you can use $'\eOP' for most terminal emulators or $'\e[[A' for the Linux console (the $ is necessary with the string to make bash interpret escape sequences).
read is a bash builtin command - try help read.

Set local environmental variable within a bash script

I'm trying to set an environmental variable that will persist once the script has finished running. It can go away after I end an ssh session.
Sample bash script:
# User picks an option
1) export dogs = cool
2) export dogs = not_cool
Running the script as source script.sh doesn't work since it kicks me out of my shell when ran and also requires the interactive menu so it won't work. Basically I want the user to be able to pick an option to switch between environmental variables in their shell. Is that even possible?
Source:
#!/bin/bash
set -x
show_menu(){
NORMAL=`echo "\033[m"`
MENU=`echo "\033[36m"` #Blue
NUMBER=`echo "\033[33m"` #yellow
FGRED=`echo "\033[41m"`
RED_TEXT=`echo "\033[31m"`
ENTER_LINE=`echo "\033[33m"`
echo -e "${MENU}*********************************************${NORMAL}"
echo -e "${MENU}**${NUMBER} 1)${MENU} Option 1 ${NORMAL}"
echo -e "${MENU}**${NUMBER} 2)${MENU} Option 2 ${NORMAL}"
echo -e "${MENU}*********************************************${NORMAL}"
echo -e "${ENTER_LINE}Please enter a menu option and enter or ${RED_TEXT}enter to exit. ${NORMAL}"
read opt
}
function option_picked() {
COLOR='\033[01;31m' # bold red
RESET='\033[00;00m' # normal white
MESSAGE=${#:-"${RESET}Error: No message passed"}
echo -e "${COLOR}${MESSAGE}${RESET}"
}
clear
show_menu
while [ opt != '' ]
do
if [[ $opt = "" ]]; then
exit;
else
case $opt in
1) clear;
option_picked "Option 1";
export dogs=cool
show_menu;
;;
2) clear;
option_picked "Option 2";
export dogs=not_cool
show_menu;
;;
x)exit;
;;
\n)exit;
;;
*)clear;
option_picked "Pick an option from the menu";
show_menu;
;;
esac
fi
done
The problem here is that . ./script.sh or source ./script.sh cannot run an interactive menu style script like this one. No way that I'm aware of to set local environmental variables from a bash script like I am trying to do here.
Redirect your normal echo's for user interaction to stderr (>&2)
echo the value that you want to have in your parent's environment to stdout (>&1)
if you changed your script that way you can call it like:
ENV_VAR=$( /path/to/your_script arg1 arg2 arg3 arg_whatever )
and now you have "exported" a variable to the "parent"
Try running your script with "./myscript.sh" which will use the current shell without invoking the new shell (still i doubt the hash bang might invokes the new shell).
Have a look here
Can also be solved with ~/.bashrc. The required environments can added in this file. If you need new shell with your own environment, you invoke "bash" with "bash --rcfile ".

Echo text that is user-editable

Is it possible to output text to a shell window, via bash script, that is user-editable? I essentially want to pre-fill certain information and give the user the ability to edit it if it's wrong.
For instance, if I were to write in a script:
echo -n "Enter your name: Anthony"
while read user_input
do
# do stuff with $user_input
done
How can I allow the user to inline edit the word Anthony only (aka, don't allow backspacing past the A in Anthony), and how can I store the value into a variable once the RETURN key is pressed?
EDIT
I'm looking for something similar to the -i option of read (see answer posted here), but this is only available on bash 4+. Is there an alternative for bash 3?
I needed similar setup recently so what I did was
$ cat a.sh
function input {
python -c '
import sys,readline
readline.set_startup_hook(lambda: readline.insert_text(sys.argv[2]))
sys.stderr.write(raw_input(sys.argv[1]))
' "$#" 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3
}
A=$( input 'question: ' default )
echo "A='$A'"
$ ./a.sh
question: default
A='default'
Well, it's not actually bash, but it made the job done.

Making Sublime Text 2 command on linux behave as it does on MacOS X

There are many questions asking about accessing the Sublime Text 2 editor from the command line. The responses, in summary, are to make a symlink, alias or simple shell script to run the appropriate sublime_text command. I can do that. What I want is to make the linux version behave like the MacOS version.
On MacOS, I have the following:
ln -s /Applications/Sublime\ Text\ 2.app/Contents/SharedSupport/bin/subl ~/bin/subl
Then in my .zshrc:
alias subl="$HOME/bin/subl -n"
export EDITOR="$HOME/bin/subl -n -w"
This does two things. It gives me a subl command that opens any files given on the command line in a new window. The subl command does not block the terminal. It also sets up my editor to open sublime text to edit the arguments, but this time it does block. In particular, $EDITOR blocks until its arguments are closed. It does not block on unrelated sublime text windows.
I can achieve a similar effect on linux with the following:
In ~/bin/subl:
#! /bin/zsh
$HOME/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text -n $# &
and then in ~/bin/subl_wait: (think mate_wait for TextMate users)
#! /bin/zsh
exec $HOME/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text -n -w $#
I can then set EDITOR to subl_wait, and things almost work. subl opens files for editing and doesn't block. subl_wait opens files for editing and does block.
The problem is that subl_wait is waiting until all open files are closed, not just its arguments.
Is it possible to get this working perfectly?
Looks like I've found the issue. (Thanks to this post: http://www.sublimetext.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7003 )
Basic point: sublime behaves differently depending upon whether an instance is already running!
If an instance is already running then sublime on linux behaves similarly to MacOS. If no instance is running then the terminal blocks until you exit sublime.
With that in mind, we just need to modify the scripts to make sure sublime is running:
in ~/bin/subl_start:
#! /bin/zsh
if [ ! "$(pidof sublime_text)" ] ; then
# start sublime text main instance
# echo "Starting Sublime Text 2"
$HOME/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text &
sleep 1 # needed to avoid a race condition
fi
in ~/bin/subl:
#! /bin/zsh
. $HOME/bin/subl_start
exec $HOME/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text -n $#
in ~/bin/subl_wait:
#! /bin/zsh
. $HOME/bin/subl_start
exec $HOME/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text -n -w $#
Note that I've used the -n flags everywhere. This might not be your cup of tea. If you are using -n then you possibly also want to look at your close_windows_when_empty setting.
Inspired by the OP's answer, I've created a bash wrapper script for Sublime Text that incorporates all your findings and runs on both OSX and Linux.
Its purpose is threefold:
provide a unified subl CLI that works like ST's own subl on OSX: invoke ST without blocking, unless waiting is explicitly requested.
encapsulate a workaround for the waiting-related bug on Linux.
when saved or symlinked to as sublwait, provide a sublwait CLI that automatically applies the --wait and --new-window options so as to make it suitable for use with $EDITOR (note that some programs, e.g. npm, require the $EDITOR to contain the name of an executable only - executables + options are not supported); also makes sure that at least one file is specified.
The only open question is whether the OP's approach to avoiding the race condition - sleep 1 - is robust enough.
Update:
Note that subl on OSX is by default NOT placed in the $PATH - you normally have to do that manually. If you haven't done so, the script will now locate subl inside ST's application bundle; (it tries app names in the following sequence: 'Sublime Text', 'Sublime Text 2', 'Sublime Text 3', first in /Applications, then in ~/Applications.)
Here's the output from running the script with -h:
Multi-platform (OSX, Linux) wrapper script for invocation of Sublime Text (ST)
from the command line.
Linux:
Works around undesired blocking of the shell (unless requested)
and a bug when waiting for specific files to be edited.
Both platforms:
When invoked as `sublwait`, automatically applies the
--wait --new-window
options to make it suitable for use with $EDITOR.
Therefore, you can to the following:
- Name this script `subl` for a CLI that supports ALL options.
(On OSX, this will simply defer to the `subl` CLI that came with ST.)
- Place the script in a directory in your $PATH.
- In the same directory, create a symlink to the `subl` script named
`sublwait`:
ln -s subl sublwait
and, if desired, add
export EDITOR=sublwait
to your shell profile.
Note that if you only use OSX, you can make do with ST's own subl and just save this script directly as sublwait.
Script source:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Multi-platform (OSX, Linux) wrapper script for invocation of Sublime Text (ST)
# from the command line. Invoke with -h for details.
[[ $1 == '-h' || $1 == '--help' ]] && showHelpOnly=1 || showHelpOnly=0
[[ $(basename "$BASH_SOURCE") == 'sublwait' ]] && invokedAsSublWait=1 || invokedAsSublWait=0
[[ $(uname) == 'Darwin' ]] && isOsX=1 || isOsX=0
# Find the platform-appropriate ST executable.
if (( isOsX )); then # OSX: ST comes with a bona-fide CLI, `subl`.
# First, try to find the `subl` CLI in the $PATH.
# Note: This CLI is NOT there by default; it must be created by symlinking it from
# its location inside the ST app bundle.
# Find the `subl` executable, ignoring this script, if named subl' as well, or a
# script by that name in the same folder as this one (when invoked via symlink 'sublwait').
stExe=$(which -a subl | fgrep -v -x "$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")/subl" | head -1)
# If not already in the path, look for it inside the application bundle. Try several locations and versions.
if [[ -z $stExe ]]; then
for p in {,$HOME}"/Applications/Sublime Text"{,' 2',' 3'}".app/Contents/SharedSupport/bin/subl"; do
[[ -f $p ]] && { stExe=$p; break; }
done
fi
[[ -x $stExe ]] || { echo "ERROR: Sublime Text CLI 'subl' not found." 1>&2; exit 1; }
else # Linux: `sublime_text` is the only executable - the app itself.
stExe='sublime_text'
which "$stExe" >/dev/null || { echo "ERROR: Sublime Text executable '$stExe' not found." 1>&2; exit 1; }
fi
# Show command-line help, if requested.
# Add preamble before printing ST's own help.
# Note that we needn't worry about blocking the
# shell in this case - ST just outputs synchronously
# to stdout, then exits.
if (( showHelpOnly )); then
bugDescr=$(
cat <<EOF
works around a bug on Linux (as of v2.0.2), where Sublime Text,
if it is not already running, mistakenly blocks until it is exited altogether.
EOF
)
if (( invokedAsSublWait )); then
# We provide variant-specific help here.
cat <<EOF
Wrapper script for Sublime Text suitable for use with the \$EDITOR variable.
Opens the specified files for editing in a new window and blocks the
invoking program (shell) until they are closed.
In other words: the --wait and --new-window options are automatically
applied.
Aside from encapsulating this functionality without the need for options
- helpful for tools that require \$EDITOR to be an executable name only -
$bugDescr
Usage: sublwait file ...
EOF
# Note: Adding other options doesn't make sense in this scenario
# (as of v2.0.2), so we do NOT show ST's own help here.
else
cat <<EOF
Multi-platform (OSX, Linux) wrapper script for invocation of
Sublime Text (ST) from the command line.
Linux:
Works around undesired blocking of the shell (unless requested)
and a bug when waiting for specific files to be edited.
Both platforms:
When invoked as \`sublwait\`, automatically applies the
--wait --new-window
options to make it suitable for use with \$EDITOR.
Therefore, you can to the following:
- Name this script \`subl\` for a CLI that supports ALL options.
(On OSX, this will simply defer to the \`subl\` CLI that came with ST.)
- Place the script in a directory in your \$PATH.
- In the same directory, create a symlink to the \`subl\` script named
\`sublwait\`:
ln -s subl sublwait
and, if desired, add
export EDITOR=sublwait
to your shell profile.
Sublime Text's own help:
------------------------
EOF
# Finally, print ST's own help and exit.
exec "$stExe" "$#"
fi
exit 0
fi
# Invoked as `sublwait`? -> automatically apply --wait --new-window options.
if (( invokedAsSublWait )); then
# Validate parameters.
# - We expect NO options - to keep things simple and predictable, we do NOT allow
# specifying additional options (beyond the implied ones).
# - We need at least 1 file argument.
# - As a courtesy, we ensure that no *directories* are among the arguments - ST doesn't support
# that properly (always waits for ST exit altogether); beyond that, however, we leave input
# validation to ST.
if [[ "$1" =~ ^-[[:alnum:]]+$ || "$1" =~ ^--[[:alnum:]]+[[:alnum:]-]+$ ]]; then # options specified?
{ echo "ERROR: Unexpected option specified: '$1'. Use -h for help." 1>&2; exit 1; }
elif (( $# == 0 )); then # no file arguments?
{ echo "ERROR: Missing file argument. Use -h for help." 1>&2; exit 1; }
else # any directories among the arguments?
# Note: We do NOT check for file existence - files could be created on demand.
# (Things can still go wrong - e.g., /nosuchdir/mynewfile - and ST doesn't
# handle that gracefully, but we don't want to do too much here.)
for f in "$#"; do
[[ ! -d "$f" ]] || { echo "ERROR: Specifying directories is not supported: '$f'. Use -h for help." 1>&2; exit 1; }
done
fi
# Prepend the implied options.
set -- '--wait' '--new-window' "$#"
fi
# Finally, invoke ST:
if (( isOsX )); then # OSX
# `subl` on OSX handles all cases correctly; simply pass parameters through.
exec "$stExe" "$#"
else # LINUX: `sublime_text`, the app executable itself, does have a CLI, but it blocks the shell.
# Determine if the wait option was specified.
mustWait=0
if (( invokedAsSublWait )); then
mustWait=1
else
# Look for the wait option in the parameters to pass through.
for p in "$#"; do
[[ $p != -* ]] && break # past options
[[ $p == '--wait' || $p =~ ^-[[:alnum:]]*w[[:alnum:]]*$ ]] && { mustWait=1; break; }
done
fi
if (( mustWait )); then # Invoke in wait-for-specified-files-to-close mode.
# Quirk on Linux:
# If sublime_text isn't running yet, we must start it explicitly first.
# Otherwise, --wait will wait for ST *as a whole* to be closed before returning,
# which is undesired.
# Thanks, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14598261/making-sublime-text-2-command-on-linux-behave-as-it-does-on-macos-x
if ! pidof "$stExe" 1>/dev/null; then
# Launch as BACKGROUND task to avoid blocking.
# (Sadly, the `--background` option - designed not to activate the Sublime Text window
# on launching - doesn't actually work on Linux (as of ST v2.0.2 on Ubuntu 12.04).)
("$stExe" --background &)
# !! We MUST give ST some time to start up, otherwise the 2nd invocation below will be ignored.
# ?? Does a fixed sleep time of 1 second work reliably?
sleep 1
fi
# Invoke in blocking manner, as requested.
exec "$stExe" "$#"
else # Ensure invocation in NON-blocking manner.
if ! pidof "$stExe" 1>/dev/null; then # ST isn't running.
# If ST isn't running, invoking it *always* blocks.
# Therefore, we launch it as a background taks.
# Invocation via a subshell (parentheses) suppresses display of the
# background-task 'housekeeping' info.
("$stExe" "$#" &)
else # ST is already running, we can safely invoke it directly without fear of blocking.
exec "$stExe" "$#"
fi
fi
fi
On Ubuntu Gnu/Linux 13.04 64-bit:
I just keep subl running pretty much all the time. So my git config has:
core.editor=/usr/bin/subl -n -w
And that's all I need. I save the git commit file with ctrl-s, close the window with ctrl-w and I'm done. But I then have to really close the window by hitting the X in the upper corner... 96% perfect.

Bash script to capture input, run commands, and print to file

I am trying to do a homework assignment and it is very confusing. I am not sure if the professor's example is in Perl or bash, since it has no header. Basically, I just need help with the meat of the problem: capturing the input and outputting it. Here is the assignment:
In the session, provide a command prompt that includes the working directory, e.g.,
$./logger/home/it244/it244/hw8$
Accept user’s commands, execute them, and display the output on the screen.
During the session, create a temporary file “PID.cmd” (PID is the process ID) to store the command history in the following format (index: command):
1: ls
2: ls -l
If the script is aborted by CTRL+C (signal 2), output a message “aborted by ctrl+c”.
When you quit the logging session (either by “exit” or CTRL+C),
a. Delete the temporary file
b. Print out the total number of the commands in the session and the numbers of successful/failed commands (according to the exit status).
Here is my code so far (which did not go well, I would not try to run it):
#!/bin/sh
trap 'exit 1' 2
trap 'ctrl-c' 2
echo $(pwd)
while true
do
read -p command
echo "$command:" $command >> PID.cmd
done
Currently when I run this script I get
command read: 10: arg count
What is causing that?
======UPDATE=========
Ok I made some progress not quite working all the way it doesnt like my bashtrap or incremental index
#!/bin/sh
index=0
trap bashtrap INT
bashtrap(){
echo "CTRL+C aborting bash script"
}
echo "starting to log"
while :
do
read -p "command:" inputline
if [ $inputline="exit" ]
then
echo "Aborting with Exit"
break
else
echo "$index: $inputline" > output
$inputline 2>&1 | tee output
(( index++ ))
fi
done
This can be achieved in bash or perl or others.
Some hints to get you started in bash :
question 1 : command prompt /logger/home/it244/it244/hw8
1) make sure of the prompt format in the user .bashrc setup file: see PS1 data for debian-like distros.
2) cd into that directory within you bash script.
question 2 : run the user command
1) get the user input
read -p "command : " input_cmd
2) run the user command to STDOUT
bash -c "$input_cmd"
3) Track the user input command exit code
echo $?
Should exit with "0" if everything worked fine (you can also find exit codes in the command man pages).
3) Track the command PID if the exit code is Ok
echo $$ >> /tmp/pid_Ok
But take care the question is to keep the user command input, not the PID itself as shown here.
4) trap on exit
see man trap as you misunderstood the use of this : you may create a function called on the catched exit or CTRL/C signals.
5) increment the index in your while loop (on the exit code condition)
index=0
while ...
do
...
((index++))
done
I guess you have enough to start your home work.
Since the example posted used sh, I'll use that in my reply. You need to break down each requirement into its specific lines of supporting code. For example, in order to "provide a command prompt that includes the working directory" you need to actually print the current working directory as the prompt string for the read command, not by setting the $PS variable. This leads to a read command that looks like:
read -p "`pwd -P`\$ " _command
(I use leading underscores for private variables - just a matter of style.)
Similarly, the requirement to do several things on either a trap or a normal exit suggests a function should be created which could then either be called by the trap or to exit the loop based on user input. If you wanted to pretty-print the exit message, you might also wrap it in echo commands and it might look like this:
_cleanup() {
rm -f $_LOG
echo
echo $0 ended with $_success successful commands and $_fail unsuccessful commands.
echo
exit 0
}
So after analyzing each of the requirements, you'd need a few counters and a little bit of glue code such as a while loop to wrap them in. The result might look like this:
#/usr/bin/sh
# Define a function to call on exit
_cleanup() {
# Remove the log file as per specification #5a
rm -f $_LOG
# Display success/fail counts as per specification #5b
echo
echo $0 ended with $_success successful commands and $_fail unsuccessful commands.
echo
exit 0
}
# Where are we? Get absolute path of $0
_abs_path=$( cd -P -- "$(dirname -- "$(command -v -- "$0")")" && pwd -P )
# Set the log file name based on the path & PID
# Keep this constant so the log file doesn't wander
# around with the user if they enter a cd command
_LOG=${_abs_path}/$$.cmd
# Print ctrl+c msg per specification #4
# Then run the cleanup function
trap "echo aborted by ctrl+c;_cleanup" 2
# Initialize counters
_line=0
_fail=0
_success=0
while true
do
# Count lines to support required logging format per specification #3
((_line++))
# Set prompt per specification #1 and read command
read -p "`pwd -P`\$ " _command
# Echo command to log file as per specification #3
echo "$_line: $_command" >>$_LOG
# Arrange to exit on user input with value 'exit' as per specification #5
if [[ "$_command" == "exit" ]]
then
_cleanup
fi
# Execute whatever command was entered as per specification #2
eval $_command
# Capture the success/fail counts to support specification #5b
_status=$?
if [ $_status -eq 0 ]
then
((_success++))
else
((_fail++))
fi
done

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