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Re: Use of SHELL env var by login


On 9/27/2016 3:58 AM, Andrew Schulman wrote:
I just moved the cygwin installation. The "last" peculiarity I ran into
was that the login shell, with the shortcut "F:\cygwin64\bin\mintty.exe
-i /Cygwin-Terminal.ico -", a ps showed

      /cygdrive/c/cygwin64/bin/bash

instead of /usr/bin/bash

I tracked this down the the windows setting for SHELL, the one you get
to from windows' SystemProperties dialog, which was
C:/cygwin64/bin/bash. The /etc/passwd file specifies /bin/bash.

Is this expected behavior? (Though I can see why SHELL is there and I'd
need to change it)
/etc/passwd is deprecated. Since Cygwin 2.5 IIRC, Cygwin no longer looks for it,
getting information about users directly from the operating system instead.

Not exactly. IIUC /etc/passwd is *not* deprecated. /etc/passwd is used if "passwd: files" is in /etc/nsswitch.conf. But I'll be studying about all this in detail very soon.

In any event, one of the reasons I'm moving the cygwin installation is so that I have a copy. I'm making sure I know how to switch between installations. I'm finally upgrading my installation from 1.7 (ancient, before SAM/AD and new permissions) and I want to be able to go back temporarily if things don't go smoothly.

The only reason I started this thread, is that it seems wrong that $SHELL is used to specify the login shell. AFAIK, it should come from passwd, or (according to my reading of cygwin docs) from one of the methods specified by /etc/nsswitch.conf in modern cygwin releases. When I upgrade, I guess I'll find out.

Unless you have a special need for it, you should remove it. Same for
/etc/group.

In the absence of /etc/passwd, setting SHELL is the right way to set your login
shell.

Andrew


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