UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Hi All,

I am trying to use expect command in my shell script and it works fine if I have only expect. To it if I add a custom function which calls a PL/SQL procedure the shell errors saying

Code:

invalid command name "File_Entry()"
    while executing
"File_Entry()"

In the script the first line I have is

Code:

#!/opt/sfw/bin/expect -f

(the path where I have my expect utility)
If I remove this the script errors at my expect lines.

File_Entry is a custom function added to make an entry of the file transferred into a table. Like wise I will be doing few more activities by calling few more custom functions before and after sftp. The sftp script will be spwaned in the script as

Code:

proc connect {FTPPWD} {
  expect {
    "Password:" {
      send "$FTPPWD\r"
        expect {
          "sftp*" {
            return 0
          }
        }
    }
  }
  # timed out
  return 1
}

Code:

file_entry()
{
....
}

Code:

spawn sftp $FTPUSER@$FTPSERERVER 
set ftpstat [connect $FTPPWD]
if { $ftpstat == 0 } {
  send "cd $filepath\r"
  set timeout -1
  send "mget *abc.csv\r"
  send "quit\r"
  expect eof
  exit 0
}

How to over come this error and make the script to execute both my expect as well the custom function

Thanks in advance

Why are you using expect when you don't even need to bruteforce a password into something? Just use shell so you can use the command as designed, and it'll work much easier -- no expect histrionics at all. It gets what you type, period.

Code:

#!/bin/sh

sftp username@host <<EOF
cd $filepath
mget *abc.csv
quit
EOF

If you were using sftp to bruteforce the password into it, sftp designed to prevent you from using stored plaintext passwords for a reason -- that's why you need a third-party brute-forcing utility like expect to even attempt to input passwords in such an insecure way. "interactive password authentication" is supposed to mean "password typed by a human in realtime authentication" and nothing else will do.

You can save yourself a lot of trouble by using noninteractive sftp authentication as it was intended -- keys. You can find "passwordless ssh" tutorials all over the internet that will have the same effect on sftp. Then you can just log in without a password or any expect-based histrionics, and don't need to store your password in any manner for everyone to see.

thanks for your input Corona688.
I had tried earlier genrating public-private key and placed the public key in the remote server to which I connect. When I run the shell script as a concurrent program (from oracle apps) I get the following error

Code:

 
ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/lib/ssh/ssh-askpass): No such file or directory
Write failed: Broken pipe
Connection closed

So I was looking for passing the password and get connected to the remote server

The key needs to belong to the same user ssh is being run under and be stored in a manner that only they can access it. In other words, a copy of the key that belongs to the user you're running it under with Oracle, with the same permissions otherwise. And tell it how to get to the key with -i.

Sledgehammering in a password in an insecure manner with a third-party brute-forcing utility is not the answer.

Thanks Corona, I have raised the request to the unix team to do the configuration. Will check it after they do the settings