Software Distributor Administration Guide for HP-UX 11i

Using Control Scripts
General Script Guidelines
Chapter 11378
General Script Guidelines
Here are some guidelines for writing control scripts:
• Consider doing most control script work within the configure script.
• All scripts are executed serially and directly impact the total time
required to complete an installation, configuration, or removal task.
Consider the impact control scripts will have on performance.
• The current working directory in which the agent executes a control
script is not defined. Use the environment variables provided by the
agent for all pathname references.
• Disk space analysis does not account for files created, copied or
removed by control scripts.
• The control scripts you write may be executed several times (for
example, configure, then unconfigure, then configure…) so they must
be able to support multiple executions.
• You may have to re-execute or debug control scripts, especially when
they generate error or warning conditions, so your scripts should be
well-written and commented.
• Control script stdout and stderr are both logged, so you should
restrict output to only the information the user requires.
• Make sure you specify the path to a shell that is proper for your
system. If you get the following message when you execute a script:
Cannot execute /var/adm/sw/products/PRODUCT/FILESET/
configure. Bad file number (9).
it means the shell in your script has a path that is not correct for
your system. (HP-UX 9.X scripts = #!/bin/sh and HP-UX 10.X and
11.X scripts = #!/sbin/sh.)