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Exit Status within sudo su - $user

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# 1  
Old 07-24-2008
Exit Status within sudo su - $user
I am having a problem reading the exit status of a command or script within a sudo.


Code:
return_code=99

sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
$Script
return_code=$? 
exit $return_code
EOF

echo "return_code=$return_code"

returns
"return_code=99"

the $script above is a test script with a "exit 5" at the end. When I run it as the user and echo $? I get a 5.

I have been scanning the forums, trying my own stuff too, but cant seem to find the answer. How do I get the return code from the script (or command) passed out?

Thanks if you can help.
# 2  
Old 07-24-2008
Quote:
Originally Posted by quigley007
I am having a problem reading the exit status of a command or script within a sudo.


Code:
return_code=99

sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
$Script
return_code=$? 
exit $return_code
EOF

echo "return_code=$return_code"

returns
"return_code=99"

the $script above is a test script with a "exit 5" at the end. When I run it as the user and echo $? I get a 5.

I have been scanning the forums, trying my own stuff too, but cant seem to find the answer. How do I get the return code from the script (or command) passed out?

Thanks if you can help.
You need to echo it, or stick it in a file, or shove it down a pipe, or send it to syslog, or use it as padding in a ping... point is, $return_code is going to be the "return_code" variable of the shell that launched the sudo, and never the "return_code" variable of the shell you launched via sudo. You need to pass it some other way than as a shell variable.

You can test by doing this:

Code:
return_code="Luke, I am your father."

sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
$Script
return_code=$? 
exit $return_code
EOF

echo "return_code=$return_code"

And sure enough, you'll get "return_code=Luke, I am your father."
# 3  
Old 07-24-2008
One of the things I tried was sticking it in a file, and reading it from the file:
Code:
sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
echo 99 > $output_error_file1
$Script
echo "$?" > $output_error_file1
chmod 644 $output_error_file1
EOF

cat $output_error_file1

I still recieve a "0" ..

I am not sure what I am doing wrong here... I need the $? from $Script ... I am not grasping some concept I am sure of that, and once I get it I will understand what you are getting at.
# 4  
Old 07-27-2008
Quote:
Originally Posted by quigley007
One of the things I tried was sticking it in a file, and reading it from the file:
Code:
sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
echo 99 > $output_error_file1
$Script
echo "$?" > $output_error_file1
chmod 644 $output_error_file1
EOF

cat $output_error_file1

I still recieve a "0" ..

I am not sure what I am doing wrong here... I need the $? from $Script ... I am not grasping some concept I am sure of that, and once I get it I will understand what you are getting at.
If you're getting 0 back from the script you mentioned above, then you *are* getting the return value back from inside the su, since otherwise it'd be 99, no?
# 5  
Old 07-28-2008
Here is the script I am calling :

Code:
#!/usr/bin/ksh
#
echo "hi..."
exit 5

When I run it as the user it echos hi... and returns a 5. the only exit status it seems to be capturing is the 0 from the su.
# 6  
Old 07-29-2008
You are still not capturing the exit code correctly. Try this.

Code:
sudo su - $User << EOF >> $output_file
$Script
EOF

If your example is incomplete, and you really do need to store $? somewhere temporarily, you need to quote it inside the here document, because as you originally wrote it, it will be expanded to the exit code when the here document is read and evaluated, not to the exit code from $Script.
# 7  
Old 07-29-2008
Hmm, really? Admittedly, this is just on a Cygwin box I have handy, but...
Code:
angry-chipmunk:~$ FOO=bar
angry-chipmunk:~$ echo $FOO
bar
angry-chipmunk:~$ cat <<"EOF"
> Hello, everyone
> This is $FOO.
> EOF
Hello, everyone
This is $FOO.
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