CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bashexeclinux-from-scratch
Christian Teijon
Christian Teijon

Reputation: 495

Using 'exec' in bash_profile stops login shell

I'm creating the following .bash_profile (from linuxfromscratch guide) for lfs user:

exec env -i HOME=$HOME TERM=$TERM PS1='\u:\w\$ ' /bin/bash

When executing su - lfs I get:

[1]+  Stopped                 su - lfs

Executing fg resumes lfs' user shell. Why is this happening?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 469

Answers (1)

Bayou
Bayou

Reputation: 3461

That's because exec executes the code in the current process. Normally a command is executed in a child shell/environment. Try the following:

$ bash        # open second shell
$ exec false  # close second shell
$ echo $?     # get exit code
$ exit        # close terminal

The man page isn't really helpful here. I often use exec if I run a script through a Qt process and it should end after some period of time, regardless whether the command if finished or not.

Upvotes: 0

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