Package post-install script problem

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

I wrote a post-install script, which is executed after the package installation by command like " pkgadd -d /mypackage.pkg".

I also want to read user input in post-install script as follows:

  while [ "$ANSWER" != "y" -a "$ANSWER" != "n" ] ;
  do
     echo "Apply changes to database? [y/n]:"
     read ANSWER
  done

However, it does NOT pause and wait for user input at all! Instead, it goes into an infinite loop:

Apply changes to database? [y/n]:
Apply changes to database? [y/n]:
Apply changes to database? [y/n]:
Apply changes to database? [y/n]:
Apply changes to database? [y/n]:
...

Any advice will be appreciated!

2

By the way, if I run the script separately, everything is fine!

3

I'm not familiar with pkgadd but it looks like it's running the script with input redirected from /dev/null. The recommendation for package installation scripts is to avoid user interaction, anyway. I'd suggest you avoid this dialog altogether; if it's absolutely necessary, I'm imagining the pkgadd documentation will have suggestions for how to properly engage the administrator in a dialogue (probably even before this script runs).

4

Thanks era.

I went through pkgadd and pkgmk documentation and got no answer for this, unfortunately!

After disucssion with my colleague, we came up with an idea - read the user input from a jar then return to shell script.

It works!

5

My mistake! It still doesn't work!

According to Solaris packaging documentation, the only place, which the installer can solicit user input, is through "request script". That's a stage far before post-install.

6

Yes, you just need to pass the result to the post-install script somehow.