Help with script execution in bashrc
 

Hello,

I am running Ubuntu 7.10 and yesterday i added a script in my .bashrc file.

I want this script to be executed only when i login via SSH to my account. I have tested the script execution and it works.

Unfortunately though, the script gets executed also when i locally open a terminal window.

Is there a way i can make this script executed ONLY when i login via SSH?

Thank you in advance.

Hi there,

All the scripts in .bashrc will be automatically executed with each new terminal.

The trick is to use an alias ssh_new_script='whatever_path_to_real_script', and in this way you can call only the alias.

Have fun!

Basically, you have two possibilities.

Option 1: add the script invocation to .bash_profile, and your other stuff in .bashrc (with .bash_profile sourcing .bashrc, assuming you've got something you want in there too). .bash_profile is sourced on login sessions, .bashrc on interactive non-login sessions. But this would also get you console logins and screen session starts, so may not be ideal.

Option 2: add it to .bash_profile or .bashrc with a conditional
(which checks if SSH_CLIENT is a nonzero-length string, and if it is executes the script). This takes advantage of the fact that ssh sessions set a couple variables that interactive logins don't, but the downside is that those variables propagate to child processes, so descendants wouldn't be able to tell.

Combining the two approaches and a little more gives us a complete solution though.
In .bash_profile (or, really, .bashrc would work at this point too):
This checks if the SSH variables are defined and the SSH_CONNECTED variable isn't. If that's the case, then it sets it, and executes the script. The nonzero SSH_CONNECTED variable propagates with the other ssh vars, so that no longer evaluates true even if you source .bash_login again (eg: invoking screen).

Hi complich8,

thanks for the prompt reply.

I have used
in /etc/bash.bashrc file and it still executes the script.sh when i open a terminal window.

When i open a terminal window though, as you correctly said above, the $SSH_IS_CONNECTED env. variable is not defined. When i connect via SSH then it is.

Any suggestions?


Thanks in advance.

Put your commands in ~/.ssh/rc.