swapinfo execute permission

[Alex Lavrov.]

Hello, I created a user named alex, and when I'm logged in with this user, I have permission to run swapinfo, so I wrote a script that runs and calculate some values from swapinfo, but for some reason inside the script I get:
/usr/sbin/swapinfo: Execute permission denied.

I can run swapinfo as alex, but can't run it in the script? If so, how can I calculate swap utilization if I'm not root? (this script should not run as root).

thanx.

[Jannik]

swapinfo:
-r-xr-xr-- 1 bin bin 24576 Feb 5 2001 /usr/sbin/swapinfo

so you need to be able to execute as bin group, ade alex user to bin group or du a:

chmod 555 /usr/sbin/swapinfo

[Alex Lavrov.]

In my system:
-r-xr--r-x 1 bin bin 20480 Nov 9 2000 /usr/sbin/swapinfo

And it still does not explain why can I run it in shell and not in script.

thanx.

[Victor BERRIDGE]

Hi,
I dont know your context, but for some security reason the execution of swapinfo were modified...
Now it can be in your script you have something not set...( PATH seems OK since /usr/sbin/swapinfo shows out). I dont undestand why execution was removed from group bin though...
You could make a copy of swapinfo where youre script is give alex full perms on it, change the name if you wish and see if it works now but dont forget to add its path in the script.

All the best
Victor

[Kent Ostby]

Alex -- Check the path variable in the script . Is it set ?

Can you post the script here (from start to the swapinfo call at least) so we can take a look ?

Oz

[Steven E. Protter]

It may be some other command in your script or the permissions of the script or a script called that gives you the permission denied messge.

If you don't want root running this script, add logic to the top that forces an exit if the user is root.

SEP

[Peter Godron]

Alex,
just to check through your script add
set -x
at the top and trace through the output.
Compare the out put of "env" from the command line and the script for differences.
Regards

[Stephen Keane]

If you do

which swapinfo

as you, in shell, not in a script
do you get /usr/sbin/swapinfo ? If not, that would explain your eror, if you have a local copy of swapinfo on your PATH, but not in the PATH in the script, so the script is picking up the 'real' swapinfo which doesn't have world execute permission on it.

As an aside, why do HP do this? If you have world read permissions on the file you can always make a local copy and chmod it, so unless the code is smart and can tell where it is being run from, it's hardly a security feature is it?

[Alex Lavrov.]

Hello all,
I jut did chmod 555 and it worked, something weird, but the problem is solved.
I did not want to do it, bt had no choise.


Thanx for the replies.