How to run a command on the startup of an xterm? - startup

How can I run a command on xterm startup i.e. when an xterm terminal is launched a the command is already executed?
I have edited the .bashrc file to add this line:
xterm "ls"
But this does not work.
Please suggest what should I do to acheive this.
Thanks.

According to the bash manual, ~/.bashrc is used for interactive shells. xterm runs a shell, so perhaps your "does not work" causes a chain of xterm's.
The xterm program sets these environment variables which are useful for scripting: XTERM_VERSION and XTERM_SHELL. In your ~/.bashrc file, you could use the former to run the xterm -ls once only:
if [[ -z "$XTERM_VERSION" ]]
then
xterm -hold -e ls &
fi
which seems to be what you are asking for:
it would run an xterm if not run from an existing xterm
it prevents the xterm from closing when the ls is done.
A more useful-seeming way of showing an ls on shell startup would be to run ls in each shell as it is started (for that case, you do not need run a separate xterm). Again, you can use environment variables to do this once (in case you run bash to make a subshell):
if [[ -z "$XTERM_ONCE" ]]
then
export XTERM_ONCE=$(date)
ls
fi

I use this:
-e /bin/bash -login
-e command [arguments]
Run the command with its command-line arguments in the rxvt window;
also sets the window title and icon name to be the basename of the
program being executed if neither -title (-T) nor -n are given on the
command line. If this option is used, it must be the last on the
command-line. If there is no -e option then the default is to run the
program specified by the SHELL environment variable or, failing that,
sh(1).
http://linux.die.net/man/1/rxvt

Related

How to see the PATH inside a shell without opening a shell

Use the command flag looked like a solution but it doesn't work
Inside the following shell:
nix shell github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello
the path contain a directory with an executable hello
I've tried this:
nix shell github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello --command echo $PATH
I can't see the hello executable
My eyes are not the problem.
diff <( echo $PATH ) <( nix shell github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello --command echo $PATH)
It see no difference. It means that the printed path doesn't not contains hello.
Why?
The printed path does not contain hello because if your starting PATH was /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/run/current-system/sw/bin, then you just ran:
nix shell 'github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello' --command \
echo /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/run/current-system/sw/bin
That is to say, you passed your original path as an argument to the nix shell command, instead of passing it a reference to a variable for it to expand later.
The easiest way to accomplish what you're looking for is:
nix shell 'github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello' --command \
sh -c 'echo "$PATH"'
The single quotes prevent your shell from expanding $PATH before a copy of sh invoked by nix is started.
Of course, if you really don't want to start any kind of child shell, then you can run a non-shell tool to print environment variables:
nix shell 'github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#hello' --command \
env | grep '^PATH='

Inside sudo, environment variables are not set when command is inline versus calling a second script

I am running a korn shell script as root and need to sudo to a different user (oracle) to execute some commands and I need access to the environment variables set in .profile.
I am seeing different behavior if I call a 2nd script to execute the commands versus executing them inline.
Here is a simple test to demonstrate. This works and displays the $ORACLE_HOME environment variable:
sudo su - oracle -s /bin/ksh -c "/home/u6vzbes/upgrade/get_oracle_home_test.ksh"
Where the called script is just this:
#!/bin/ksh
echo 'Called from script - ORACLE_HOME is ' ${ORACLE_HOME}
But this DOES NOT work, with the $ORACLE_HOME environment variable being blank:
sudo su - oracle -s /bin/ksh -c "
echo 'Called from sudo - Oracle home is ${ORACLE_HOME}'
"
Why do these two work differently? I would prefer to execute commands inline rather than have a second script as I will need to sudo to oracle multiple times throughout the root script. FYI, the environment variable is set in the .profile of the oracle user.
The ' escape doesn't work in this case. The following works, escaping the $ character:
sudo su - oracle -s /bin/ksh -c "echo Called from sudo - Oracle home is \${ORACLE_HOME}"
So remove the ' and place \ in front of $

How to set environment variable in docker container system wide at container start for all users?

I need to set some environment variable for all users and processes inside docker container. It should be set at container start, not in Dockerfile, because it depends on running environment.
So the simple Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu
RUN echo 'export TEST=test' >> '/root/.bashrc'
works well for interactive sessions
docker run -ti test bash
then
env
and there is TEST=test
but when docker run -ti test env there is no TEST
I was trying
RUN echo 'export TEST=test' >> '/etc/environment'
RUN echo 'TEST="test"' >> '/etc/environment'
RUN echo 'export TEST=test' >> /etc/profile.d/1.sh
ENTRYPOINT export TEST=test
Nothing helps.
Why I need this. I have http_proxy variable inside container automatically set by docker, I need to set another variables, based on it, i.e. JAVA_OPT, do it system wide, for all users and processes, and in running environment, not at build time.
I would create a script which would be an entrypoint:
#!/bin/bash
# if env variable is not set, set it
if [ -z $VAR ];
then
# env variable is not set
export VAR=$(a command that gives the var value);
fi
# pass the arguments received by the entrypoint.sh
# to /bin/bash with command (-c) option
/bin/bash -c $#
And in Dockerfile I would set the entrypoint:
ENTRYPOINT entrypoint.sh
Now every time I run docker run -it <image> <any command> it uses my script as entrypoint so will always run it before the command then pass the arguments to the right place which is /bin/bash.
Improvements
The above script is enough to work if you are always using the entrypoint with arguments, otherwise your $# variable will be empty and will give you an error /bin/bash: -c: option requires an argument. A easy fix is an if statement:
if [ ! -z $# ];
then
/bin/bash -c $#;
fi
Setting the parameter in ENTRYPOINT would solve this issue.
In docker file pass parameter in ENTRYPOINT

How to set PS1 in Docker Container

I want to set $PS1 environment variable to the container. It helps me to identify multilevel or complex docker environment setup. Currently docker container prompts with:
root#container-id#
If I can change it as following , I can identify the container by looking at the $PS1 prompt itself.
[Level-1]root#container-id#
I did experiments by exporting $PS1 by making my own image (Dockerfile), .profile file etc. But it's not reflecting.
I had the same problem but in docker-compose context.
Here is how I managed to make it work:
# docker-compose.yml
version: '3'
services:
my_service:
image: my/image
environment:
- "PS1=$$(whoami):$$(pwd) $$ "
Just pass PS1 value as an environment variable in docker-compose.yml configuration file.
Notice how dollars signs need to be escaped to prevent docker-compose from interpolating values (documentation).
This Dockerfile sets PS1 by doing:
RUN echo 'export PS1="[\u#docker] \W # "' >> /root/.bash_profile
We use a similar technique for tracking inputs and outputs in complex container builds.
https://github.com/ianmiell/shutit/blob/master/shutit_global.py#L1338
This line represents the product of hard-won experience dealing with docker/(p)expect combinations:
"SHUTIT_BACKUP_PS1_%s=$PS1 && PS1='%s' && unset PROMPT_COMMAND"
Backing up the prompt is handy if you want to revert, setting the PS1 with PS1= sets the PS1, and unsetting the PROMPT_COMMAND removes any nasty surprises with the terminal being reset etc.. for the expect.
If the question is about how to ensure it's set when you run the container up (as opposed to building), then you may need to add something to your .bashrc / .profile files depending on how you run up your container. As far as I know there's no way to ensure it with a dockerfile directive and make it persist.
I normally create /home/USER/.bashrc or /root/.bashrc, depending on who the USER of the Dockerfile is. That works well. I've tried
ENV PS1 '# '
but that never worked for me.
Here's a way to set the PS1 when you run the container:
docker run -it \
python:latest \
bash -c "echo \"export PS1='[python:latest] \w$ '\" >> ~/.bashrc && bash"
I made a little wrapper script, to be able to run any image with my custom prompt:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# ~/bin/docker-run
set -eu
image=$1
docker run -it \
-v $(pwd):/opt/app
-w /opt/app ${image} \
bash -c "echo \"export PS1='[${image}] \w$ '\" >> ~/.bashrc && bash"
In debian 9, for running bash, this worked:
RUN echo 'export PS1="[\$ENV_VAR] \W # "' >> /root/.bashrc
It's generally running as root and I generally know I am in docker, so I wanted to have a prompt that indicated what the container was, so I used an environment variable. And I guess the bash I use loads .bashrc preferentially.
Try setting environment variables using docker options
Example:
docker run \
-ti \
--rm \
--name ansibleserver-debug \
-w /githome/axel-ansible/ \
-v /home/lordjea/githome/:/githome/ \
-e "PS1=DEBUG$(pwd)# " \
lordjea/priv:311 bash
docker --help
Usage: docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]
Run a command in a new container
Options:
...
-e, --env list Set environment variables
...
You should set that in .profile, not .bashrc.
Just open .profile from your root or home and replace PS1='\u#\h:\w\$ ' with PS1='\e[33;1m\u#\h: \e[31m\W\e[0m\$ ' or whatever you want.
Note that you need to restart your container.
On my MAC I have an alias named lxsh that will start a bash shell using the ubuntu image in my current directory (details). To make the shell's prompt change, I mounted a host file onto /root/.bash_aliases. It's a dirty hack, but it works. The full alias:
alias lxsh='echo "export PS1=\"lxsh[\[$(tput bold)\]\t\[$(tput sgr0)\]\w]\\$\[$(tput sgr0)\] \"" > $TMPDIR/a5ad217e-0f2b-471e-a9f0-a49c4ae73668 && docker run --rm --name lxsh -v $TMPDIR/a5ad217e-0f2b-471e-a9f0-a49c4ae73668:/root/.bash_aliases -v $PWD:$PWD -w $PWD -it ubuntu'
The below solution assumes that you've used Dockerfile USER to set a non-root Linux user for Bash.
What you might have tried without success:
ENV PS1='[docker]$' ## may not work
Using ENV to set PS1 can fail because the value can be overridden by default settings in a preexisting .bashrc when an interactive shell is started. Some Linux distributions are opinionated about PS1 and set it in an initial .bashrc for each user (Ubuntu does this, for example).
The fix is to modify the Dockerfile to set the desired value at the end of the user's .bashrc -- overriding any earlier settings in the script.
FROM ubuntu:20.04
# ...
USER myuser ## the username
RUN echo "PS1='\n[ \u#docker \w ]\n$ '" >>.bashrc

Why is capistrano interpreting a flag passed with a command to `run` as input?

I'm trying to do this:
run "echo -n 'foo' > bar.txt"
and the contents of bar.txt ends up being:
-n foo \n
(With \n representing an actual newline)
I use run for other commands like rm -rf and, to my knowledge, it works fine.
I just found this in man echo:
Some shells may provide a builtin echo command which is similar or identical to this utility. Most notably, the builtin echo in sh(1) does not accept the -n option. Consult the builtin(1) manual page.
My version of bash has an echo builtin but seems to be respecting the -n flag. It looks like the shell on your deployment machine doesn't, in which case using the full path to the echo binary might do what you want here:
run "/bin/echo -n 'foo' > bar.txt"
It appears as though the -n flag isn't being interpreted as a flag by the shell. If, from the command line, one executes echo -Y hi, the output will be -Y hi.

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