[SOLVED] stuck with > at start of command line?

borgy95 · 04-26-2012, 04:55 AM

Using Centos ive come across something ive not seen before - for a newb!

i've logged in and then set about config my nics

after a while i wrote

[root@alexandria} if config

the space between if and config was an error this resulted in all following lines to start with

>
and no matter what command i entered it did nothing and repeated a new line starting

>

how can i ezxit this mode?
what is this > mode for?

thanks

acid_kewpie · 04-26-2012, 04:57 AM

just hit "Ctrl C". Or type in "fi"

it's just expecting you to continue the "if" statement you accidentally started, so until it sees a "fi" it will keep that block open.

catkin · 04-26-2012, 04:58 AM

Did you try Ctrl+C? > is the conventional prompt indication incomplete input. Ctrl+C should kill the command and allow you to continue.

borgy95 · 04-26-2012, 05:00 AM

Oww gosh! that really was simple!

haha thanks!

David the H. · 04-26-2012, 05:16 AM

The character you see is the PS2 prompt, which is the string that the shell prints out for multi-line input.

As the others have pointed out, any command you type that is considered "unfinished" by the shell, such as unpaired quotes or keyword blocks (if..fi, for..done, etc.), results in a new line being provided for you to continue on. Either complete the command as it expects or crtl+c to terminate it.