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I have my shell script ready to be run.

But my problem is when I need user to run my shell script and not the Ubuntu's built-in file

For example, I want user to run my passwd shell script and not Ubuntu's passwd at /usr/bin/passwd

I have written alias on the .bashrc which look like this 

alias passwd='./passwd'

My question is how do I make user to run my passwd instead of Ubuntu's passwd? How do I disable the real passwd file?

Off-topic question, how do I override sudo?
Because my shell script contains sudo which will print out the required password at first run.

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  • 2
    Overriding that type of utility is generally a really bad idea. Why don't you simply call your own version differently and put it in your $PATH? – Mat Aug 23 '13 at 9:16
  • I need too as the assignment requirement. It's about Computer Security where I need to make user think he/she is running the real command while truth is they're running my command. – Unknown Aug 23 '13 at 11:25
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You have to provide the name for the alias, like alias passwd='/home/Unknown/bin/passwd'. This is often done by default for some commands like ls or grep, like alias ls='ls --color=auto'. Some background in here.

To run the original command and not the alias, you might use command passwd stuff-to-do.

That being said, substituting security-related binaries is a dumb idea.

EDIT: .bashrc is not read in non-interactive shell by default, that is when running a script, a shell used by the script does not read the .bashrc file. You might use a function for that in .bashrc and then export it, like:

passwd(){
    /home/Unknown/bin/passwd
}
export -f passwd

I did not test that with passwd, but it should work.

Some of the details come from this question's answers.

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  • Oh, I'm so sorry for not double checking my question. My alias is perfect with the name as well and also the diretory. Just need to access my passwd instead of Ubuntu's passwd – Unknown Aug 23 '13 at 11:24
  • Did passwd(){ passwd } export -f passwd on my .bashrc but still the real passwd override my passwd file. Or did I wrote wrong? My file is at the root directory. – Unknown Aug 23 '13 at 12:21
  • @Unknown test with type passwd. Also, do you do source ~/.bashrc or perhaps open a new terminal to check? If not, editing a file is not enough to make the alias work. – moon.musick Aug 23 '13 at 13:44
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As said in previous answers, best practice is to not name your script with the same name of an already existing system file/command.

If you really have to call it like that, then perhaps at least add the .sh to diversify a bit, e.g. call you script 'passwd.sh' (in general, also a best practice for shell scripts) so you minimize chances of confusion.

As for your question, I would suggest to create a bin directory under your home directory or perhaps (if you have rights) place it in /usr/local/bin and then amend the user PATH variable so that the scripts in the chosen location are found/accessible, for example:

$ cd; mkdir bin
$ export PATH="$HOME/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Note that the PATH variable may already contain those locations, best check beforehand via:

$ echo $PATH
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  • I have to name my file the same with passwd because my assignment is Computer Security related where I need to make user think he/she is running the real command while truth is they're running my command. My problem is overriding the real command with alias – Unknown Aug 23 '13 at 11:29

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