Script file creation problem

[David Land]

I have a fairly simple problem that I seem to not be able to get figured out.
I have created a simple script that displays contents of a file. The problem I
am running into seems to stem from another problem I had run into before, I think.

After I created the file I did a chmod 777 on it. Then everytime I tried to run
the script, I receive "sh: scriptname: not found." But if I put a ./scriptname, it works.
I decided to create a test user to see if the problem was with my user id and
everything worked correctly.

The only difference I see between my actual user and my test user is the Start-Up
Program in SAM.

This is where the earlier problem I ran into must be the factor. I had to change the
Start-Up Program from /usr/bin/sh to /sbin/sh so I could make FTP work. I do not have
an /etc/ftpd/ftpusers file so I know that cannot be the problem.

My question is this, 1) Why am I having problems running this simple script that
I created and 2) Do I really need the Start-Up Program to list /sbin/sh for this
user id to FTP?

[RAC_1]

What do you use in your script??

/sbin/sh or /usr/sbin/sh??
what are the perms on /sbin/sh

Anil

[Mark Greene_1 · Accepted solution]

At some point the PATH variable is getting reset to not include the current directory. Do test of both scenarios to capture the output from "env" and see which one has a "." in the PATH and which one does not.

mark

[Siddhesh]

What is the name you have given to your script? Make sure that you should not give any `commandname` to your script.
Because when you try to execute your script, your shell searches the PATH for the `scriptname` and if the commandâ s PATH comes before your script's PATH, then your shell will try to execute the `command` instead of your script.
And that `command` must be requiring Root privileges to run(/sbin/sh is a rootâ s shell).
Your script works when you give ./ that is because of the same reason. Since you specify the current directory and run your script, it does not search the PATH for the `scriptname` and runs it from the current directory.

Please let me know whether it resolves your issue.

Sid

[David Land]

Mark, you were right. The . was not in my users PATH statement but was in the test PATH.

[Govind_3]

/sbin/sh should be for roots default shell. I would suggest you to use /usr/bin/sh for ordinary users. In anycase the problem is your initialization files, I think, check your .profile and .login for these users, its defintely the $PATH variable which is not including "." the current directory in the 1st case (where it isnt working) and it is being included in the seocnd case where its working.
-Good luck
Govind

[David Land]

Last question, since the "." seemed to be the problem, what is the . actually used for?

[Pete Randall]

The "." stands for the current directory or PWD.


Pete

[Mark Greene_1]

"." is current directory, and ".." is parent directory. If you go to somewhere like /var/spool and do an ls -la|pg, at the top of the listing you'll see them. You can use them as an indirect directory reference, like "cd ..".

mark