# Chef mangling bash command?

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-mangling-bash-command/2882>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [June 27, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-mangling-bash-command/2882 "2012-06-27T20:48:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Michael\_Glenney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Michael\_Glenney](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Michael_Glenney)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-mangling-bash-command/2882/1 "2012-06-27T20:48:47Z")

</div>

I have an issue with nastly bash command I’m trying to get chef to execute  
and it’s not working properly, but if I run the same command from the  
command line it works without errors and does what I expect. Here’s  
resource:

bash “Set newrelic java options” do  
user “root"  
group “root"  
cwd glassfishconfig  
code \<\<-EOH  
awk -v searchterm=”\<java-config” -v payload="  
-javaagent:#{newrelic\_dir}/newrelic-#{node[:newrelic][:version]}/newrelic.jar\n  
-Dnewrelic.config.file=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/newrelic.yml\n  
-Dnewrelic.config.log\_file\_path=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/logs"  
’{ if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 “\n” payload; else print $0 }'  
domain.xml.newrelic.bak \> domain.xml  
EOH  
action :nothing  
end

and here’s the error:

---- Begin output of “bash” “/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup” ----  
STDOUT:  
STDERR: awk: { if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 "  
awk: ^ unterminated string  
---- End output of “bash” “/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup” ----

I am not able to use a template in this case (just saying because that was  
suggested on IRC).

Unfortunately, when using debug logging the command that is run isn’t shown  
and there’s no way I know of to tell chef-client to leave behind the  
/tmp/chef-script#### files (though this should be an option or happen  
automatically when debug logging is used because without it you can’t  
properly troubleshoot this type of issue). I’ve been told in the past chef  
passes the command along “as it is in the resource” to the temp script and  
just runs it but obviously that isn’t the case.

I’ve tried different variations of the above script including escaping all  
double and single quotes but doesn’t help. Does anyone have an additional  
insight or suggestions? I could just drop it into a shell script and  
include it as a cookbook file but it should work as I have it above. Plus  
I’d really like to know what the “gotcha’s” are when using the script  
resources (what needs to be escaped, what doesn’t, what won’t work at all,  
etc.) but I haven’t found anything in the documentation about it.

Thanks,

Mike G.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ash\_Berlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Ash\_Berlin](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Ash_Berlin)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-mangling-bash-command/2882/2 "2012-06-27T21:03:50Z")

</div>

Chatting on IRC I think the problems are with the \n in the ruby HERDOC block is causing that to be output as a litteral new line in the /tmp/chef-script it runs. Replacing it with \n should do the trick. (Make ruby output \n so that bash sees it as a newline escape, not a new-line literal.)

($0 could also be a problem but that is in a single-quotes string in the script when bash gets hold of it so should be fine.)

-ash

On 27 Jun 2012, at 21:48, Michael Glenney wrote:

> I have an issue with nastly bash command I'm trying to get chef to execute and it's not working properly, but if I run the same command from the command line it works without errors and does what I expect. Here's resource:
> 
> bash "Set newrelic java options" do  
> user "root"  
> group "root"
> 
> cwd glassfishconfig  
> code \<\<-EOH  
> awk -v searchterm="\<java-config" -v payload=" -javaagent:#{newrelic\_dir}/newrelic-#{node[:newrelic][:version]}/newrelic.jar\n -Dnewrelic.config.file=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/newrelic.yml\n -Dnewrelic.config.log\_file\_path=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/logs" '{ if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 "\n" payload; else print $0 }' domain.xml.newrelic.bak \> domain.xml
> 
> EOH  
> action :nothing  
> end  
> and here's the error:
> 
> ---- Begin output of "bash" "/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup" ----
> 
> STDOUT:  
> STDERR: awk: { if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 "  
> awk: ^ unterminated string
> 
> ---- End output of "bash" "/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup" ----
> 
> I am not able to use a template in this case (just saying because that was suggested on IRC).
> 
> Unfortunately, when using debug logging the command that is run isn't shown and there's no way I know of to tell chef-client to leave behind the /tmp/chef-script#### files (though this should be an option or happen automatically when debug logging is used because without it you can't properly troubleshoot this type of issue). I've been told in the past chef passes the command along "as it is in the resource" to the temp script and just runs it but obviously that isn't the case.
> 
> I've tried different variations of the above script including escaping all double and single quotes but doesn't help. Does anyone have an additional insight or suggestions? I could just drop it into a shell script and include it as a cookbook file but it should work as I have it above. Plus I'd really like to know what the "gotcha's" are when using the script resources (what needs to be escaped, what doesn't, what won't work at all, etc.) but I haven't found anything in the documentation about it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mike G.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Michael\_Glenney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Michael\_Glenney](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Michael_Glenney)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-mangling-bash-command/2882/3 "2012-06-27T21:15:48Z")

</div>

Responding for closure.

Ash is right (helped me on IRC after I sent this). Can't put \n in a bash  
(and probably others) script resource without escaping it. I'll see if I  
can update the wiki page with that info. If anyone else knows of any other  
stuff that needs to be escaped send them on and I'll include them in the  
update.

On a side note, I'm a little annoyed that Ruby parses heredocs in that  
way. In my opinion it should pass it as written except for variable  
substitution. But maybe I'm just annoyed because I've had to spend so much  
time on this silly issue but seems wrong.

Thanks again Ash.

MG

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Ash Berlin [ash\_opscode@firemirror.com](mailto:ash_opscode@firemirror.com)wrote:

> Chatting on IRC I think the problems are with the \n in the ruby HERDOC  
> block is causing that to be output as a litteral new line in the  
> /tmp/chef-script it runs. Replacing it with \n should do the trick. (Make  
> ruby output \n so that bash sees it as a newline escape, not a new-line  
> literal.)
> 
> ($0 could also be a problem but that is in a single-quotes string in the  
> script when bash gets hold of it so should be fine.)
> 
> -ash
> 
> On 27 Jun 2012, at 21:48, Michael Glenney wrote:
> 
> > I have an issue with nastly bash command I'm trying to get chef to  
> > execute and it's not working properly, but if I run the same command from  
> > the command line it works without errors and does what I expect. Here's  
> > resource:
> > 
> > bash "Set newrelic java options" do  
> > user "root"  
> > group "root"
> > 
> > cwd glassfishconfig  
> > code \<\<-EOH  
> > awk -v searchterm="\<java-config" -v payload="  
> > -javaagent:#{newrelic\_dir}/newrelic-#{node[:newrelic][:version]}/newrelic.jar\n
> 
> -Dnewrelic.config.file=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/newrelic.yml\n
> 
> -Dnewrelic.config.log\_file\_path=#{newrelic\_dir}/#{node[:app][:key]}/logs"  
> '{ if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 "\n" payload; else print $0 }'  
> domain.xml.newrelic.bak \> domain.xml
> 
> > EOH  
> > action :nothing  
> > end  
> > and here's the error:
> > 
> > ---- Begin output of "bash" "/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup" ----
> > 
> > STDOUT:  
> > STDERR: awk: { if ($0 ~ searchterm) print $0 "  
> > awk: ^ unterminated string
> > 
> > ---- End output of "bash" "/tmp/chef-script20120627-8350-r7jiup" ----
> > 
> > I am not able to use a template in this case (just saying because that  
> > was suggested on IRC).
> > 
> > Unfortunately, when using debug logging the command that is run isn't  
> > shown and there's no way I know of to tell chef-client to leave behind the  
> > /tmp/chef-script#### files (though this should be an option or happen  
> > automatically when debug logging is used because without it you can't  
> > properly troubleshoot this type of issue). I've been told in the past chef  
> > passes the command along "as it is in the resource" to the temp script and  
> > just runs it but obviously that isn't the case.
> > 
> > I've tried different variations of the above script including escaping  
> > all double and single quotes but doesn't help. Does anyone have an  
> > additional insight or suggestions? I could just drop it into a shell  
> > script and include it as a cookbook file but it should work as I have it  
> > above. Plus I'd really like to know what the "gotcha's" are when using the  
> > script resources (what needs to be escaped, what doesn't, what won't work  
> > at all, etc.) but I haven't found anything in the documentation about it.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Mike G.