Expect script cronjob tty problem

[Craig A. Sharp]

I am running an expect script from a cronjob. The script runs fine when run manually from a console but when run from cron, I get strange errors tty errors and the scrips fails.

The cronjob calls the expect script as follows:

su - is2prod -c /usr/local/bin/expect /home/is2prod/isbackup.exp

Here is what is happening when the expect script trys to run:

# tail -f isprod.log
ttytype: couldn't open /dev/tty for reading
stty: : Not a typewriter
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Not a terminal
stty: : Not a typewriter
stty: : Not a typewriter
logout Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

[Darren Prior]

Hi Craig,

Running su - is2prod will read the user's .profile - which probably contains stty settings and other things that require a tty. The way round it is to use su is2prod without the "-"; then ensure that any relevant parts of .profile are included in a script which is called before you run expect.

regards,

Darren.

PS: Please remember to assign points to people who have helped you - it rewards those that have spent time on solutions, and helps others determine useful answers.

[Craig A. Sharp]

Expect spawns it own shell with:

spawn $env(SHELL)

If I set the env variables in the script prior to calling the expect script, would the above command spawn a new shell without the variables or would they remain set.

[Darren Prior]

I believe if you export them, they will be passed through the shell.

ie export MYDATABASE=/data1/blah

regards,

Darren.