root's shell - need to verify

[Daniel Arredondo]

root - must use /sbin/sh ! correct
checked /etc/passwd - its /usr/bin/sh
question: why does sam only show /usr/bin/
then what shell to use.
it does not allow you to use /sbin/sh

Shouldn't root in /etc/passwd be /sbin/sh

[Patrick Wallek]

Yes, root ABSOLUTELY MUST use /sbin/sh as its shell.

Don't trust SAM. You can easily change root's default shell by editing /etc/passwd with the vipw command or by using the usermod command.

[Bill Hassell]

And one other way to change your shell: chsh will do it without editing /etc/passwd. The reason that it must be /sbin/sh is that this version of the shell uses archived libraries, that is, it self-contained and does not need the shared libraries found in /usr/lib. This is all due to single user mode where /sbin is available for the executable but /usr is not.

As far as SAM, it 'fills-in' /usr/bin/sh for all users. Perhaps it is too friendly and should gray-out the shell choice just for root.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Daniel:

To add to this discussion: the use of '/usr/bin/sh' for *non-root* users is preferred over '/sbin/sh' since as noted, the version in '/usr' uses shared libraries rather than archived ones. This allows some sharing of code and reduces the overall, cumulative memory footprint of n+ instantiations.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Ralph Grothe]

What has been said is all correct and should be general policy for root's shell.
However, if you are adventurous you could get the sources of another shell, say Bash, and build it as a self-contained statically linked binary.
Install the build in /sbin and try it on a test box.
You could always get a working root shell if you booted from an install CD to fix things.
I also wonder if it worked to boot from ISL with something like "hpux -i/sbin/shell", analogous to the init boot param on Linux?

[Dennis Handly]

>Ralph: if you are adventurous you could get the sources of another shell, say Bash, and build it as a self-contained statically linked binary.

You can't do this on IPF since libc.a is no longer provided.
It is just better to stick with /sbin/sh.

>JRF: the version in /usr uses shared libraries

This also allows you to use alternate locales.

[Daniel Arredondo]

Thank You, All ! for the info....

Daniel.

[Dennis Handly]

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