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Expect Script Not working with Crontab

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Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting Expect Script Not working with Crontab
# 1  
Old 04-08-2012
Expect Script Not working with Crontab
I have the following expect script sitting on a Linux box.
===
Code:
#!/usr/bin/expect -f
#
# backup.expect
#
# Expect script to backup a  firewall via a SSH  session
#
#

set firewall    [ lrange $argv 0 0 ]
set username    [ lrange $argv 1 1 ]
set password    [ lrange $argv 2 2 ]
set prompt      [ lrange $argv 3 3 ]
set filename    [ lrange $argv 3 3 ]
match_max 50000

spawn ssh -l $username $firewall
expect "yes/no" { send "yes\r" }
expect "assword:"
send "$password\r"
expect -timeout 10 "word>"
set output [open "$filename" "w"]
set running 1
send "show config running\r"
expect "\n"
expect "\[K"
while { $running  > 0 } {
        expect {
                "\n"    { puts -nonewline $output "$expect_out(buffer)" }
                "lines *-* " { send " " }
                "assword:"   { set running 0 }
                eof             { set running 0 }
                timeout         { set running 0 }
        }
}
send "exit\r"

===

Its entire purpose is to login to a firewall device, do a "show config running", collect the output into a file. When i run it manually, it works flawlessly - but when it is executed VIA crontab i get the following:

===
Code:
Running commands on 10.0.0.1...
spawn ssh -l xxx 10.0.0.1
Password: 
Last login: Sun Apr  1 00:26:41 2012 from xxx
xxx@10.0.0.1> show 
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config 
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config running
WARNING: terminal is not fully functional
-  (press RETURN)Finished running commands on xxx...

===


and when i run the script manually i get this:
===
Code:
Password: 
Last login: Sun Apr  8 05:27:10 2012 from xxx
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config running

config { full config correctly displayed...

===

So my question is, why does crontab output
Code:
xxx@10.0.0.1> show 
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config 
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config running

when manualy it correctly inputs as per my script....:
Code:
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config running


Also, what could "WARNING: terminal is not fully functional" possibly mean? Is my SSH session spawned incorrectly when run VIA cron? By the way both the crontab and manual execution of the script is done through bash, and the same user...... any help is appreciated...... thanks!


-Alagondar
Last edited by Franklin52; 04-08-2012 at 06:33 AM.. Reason: Please use code tags for data and code samples, thank you
# 2  
Old 04-08-2012
Sorry, this should never work. There is no terminal context in cron. It is a background process.

Ps Please mention what Operating System and version you are running ("Linux box" is just too vague to be serious).
Just in case anybody on this board knows a dodge.


Quote:
When i run it manually, it works flawlessly
Please post what you typed verbatim and the response (abridged if it is long), and the exact and total response.
Last edited by methyl; 04-08-2012 at 06:01 PM..
# 3  
Old 04-09-2012
Code:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=11.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=natty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 11.04


And to get the script to run i type exactly this:

Code:
expect scriptmentionedabove.expect \$device_ip \$device_user \$device_userpw \$prompt config.cfg

And the response i get is this:
Code:
Password:  
Last login: Sun Apr  8 05:27:10 2012 from xxx 
xxx@10.0.0.1> show config running  config {}
#script then exits and copies config{} to the file "config.cfg"

By the way thank you for your response Smilie I am hoping you have an answer for me Smilie i am able to get another script to use expect with cron and SCP the config out... unfortunately this is not an option with this device.

Moderator's Comments:
Mod Comment Welcome to the UNIX and Linux Forums. Please use code tags. Video tutorial on how to use them
Last edited by Scrutinizer; 04-09-2012 at 07:39 AM..
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