root default shell

[Idham]

What is the risk having default shell for root account other than /bin/sh. Let say../bin/tcsh or /bin/bash.

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

The risk is an unbootable system - don't try!

[Idham]

Thanks Torsten.

[Dennis Handly]

>default shell for root account other than /bin/sh.

This is /sbin/sh.

[Kapil Jha]

A google search gave me
******************
/bin:This directory contains executable programs which are needed in single user mode and to bring the system up or repair it.

/sbin:Like /bin, this directory holds commands needed to boot the system, but which are usually not executed by normal users.

/usr/bin:This is the primary directory for executable programs. Most programs executed by normal users which are not needed for booting or for repairing the system and which are not installed locally should be placed in this directory.

/usr/sbin:This directory contains program binaries for system administration which are not essential for the boot process, for mounting /usr, or for system repair.
************************

and /usr is not availbale while booting so wee need to have shell which is there in /sbin to have a bootable server.

Hope this help.

BR,
Kapil+

[Dennis Handly]

>Kapil: /bin: This directory contains executable programs which are needed in single user mode ...

This isn't true for HP-UX. What it should say:
This directory is an illusion, it's just smoke and mirrors. See /usr/bin/. :-)

[Kapil Jha]

hehehehheheheeh

yeh i check now....i got it from a linux forum :).....
but it was easy to understand to u pasted it...

BR,
Kapil+

[Steven Schweda]

> and /usr is not availbale while booting so
> wee need to have shell which is there in
> /sbin to have a bootable server.

More important, you need to have a shell
which does not need any run-time libraries
which are in /usr. If you can figure out a
way to get a completely static link of, say,
"bash", and put it somewhere under "/" (like,
say, "/sbin"), then you'd be ok. But I doubt
that this is possible (for a normal user) on
HP-UX.

[Matti_Kurkela]

Another reason is that almost all programs are dynamically linked and so will require at least some essential libraries from /lib. All the usual shells located in /usr/bin belong to this category.

/sbin/sh is statically linked, so it does not need any libraries to run. It's the only shell that can be started even if your /lib directory is damaged for some reason.

MK