Command Execution › Run Telnet Command Operator › Input Parameters › Switch User Information

Switch User Information

Run Commands/Script as Another User?

Should the script or the specified commands be run as a different user? Select True or False.

• If true, the current logged in user switches to another user before executing the commands.
• If false, the following fields are disabled: Switch User Command, Switch User Password Text Prompt, Switch User Password, and Switch User Command Prompt.

This field overrides the value specified at the operator category level. If it is left blank, the operator uses the default value set at the category level.

Switch User Command

The command to switch the user on the remote host. This is generally:

• su - username

  or

• sudo su - username

This field overrides the value specified at the operator category level. If it is left blank, the operator uses the default value set at the category level.

Switch User Password Text Prompt

The text prompt that indicates that the remote host requires a password for switching the user to another user. This is generally:

• Password:

  or

• password:

This parameter must be specified as a regular expression. For example, ".*assword: " to match any input (including new lines) followed by "assword: ".

This field overrides the value specified at the operator category level. If it is left blank, the operator uses the default value set at the category level.

If a password is not required for switching to another user (for example, when switching from root to another user), you can enter any value in this field. The operator attempts to match the data read from the Telnet session after submitting the Switch User Command against the Switch User Password Text Prompt first, and if it does not match, it then attempts to match the data against the Switch User Command Prompt to check if a password is required.

Switch User Password

The password to switch the user to another user. This field overrides the value specified at the operator category level. If it is left blank, the operator uses the default value set at the category level.

This field is not used if switching to another user does not require a password.

Switch User Command Prompt

This field serves two purposes:

• To indicate that the user switch occurred.
• To indicate that a command in the list of Commands or Commands Array executed on the Telnet session under the new user (that the operator switched to) has finished, and the operator can send the next command in the list.

This field is generally an indication of the command prompt of the new user (that the operator switched to). It is generally "#", "$", ">", etc. It must be specified as a regular expression.

For example: ".*[$>?:#]" to match any input (including new lines) followed by $ or > or ? or : or #. Specify all the prompts that you expect to see during the execution of the commands. The regular expression should also start with .* to match all data returned by the command until the prompt shows up. This regular expression should be able to match all output from the command until the next prompt.

Note: The brackets are required around the $ to indicate the $ character. $ has a special meaning in regular expressions if not surrounded by brackets.

Be careful with the RegEx to avoid false positives, for instance:

The user enters a bad password when switching to root:

# su - root
Password: 

The answer for a bad password ends with #:

su: Sorry
#

Which gives the same prompt as when the user enters a good password, where the answer also ends with #:

Sun Microsystems Inc.   SunOS 5.10      Generic January 2005
#

This field overrides the value specified at the operator category level. If it is left blank, the operator uses the default value set at the category level.