I'm doing manual way to add and remove "#" on etc/services.
Is there anyway I can modify the file using awk or sed or any other program.

I use vi to modify /etc/services for enabling telnet , the problem is I don't know how to do it automatically in script.

production state:
#telnet

maintenance state:
telnet

production state:
#telnet

Thanks.

i've moved the thread to scripting cause it's not a solaris problem...

Insert the hash in front:

Removing the hash:

hi zaxxon,
During the file overwrite process. Will there by any impact ?

Nope, there usually is no impact when overwriting the file. But you have to write it 1st into some temporary file and then cp or mv it over the original. Doing so, it is usually good to have copy of the former original before you modified.

May I ask what this is good for or is the services and telnet just an example?

telnet is just an example. server is tighten by previous admin and i need to chmod and modify here and there just to make it work.

grep -v "^#" /etc/services > /tmp/alt_services.tmp