Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Hi All
I added the following to my profile

IP=`echo $DISPLAY|awk -F":" '{print $1}'`
readonly HISTFILE=$HOME/.history/.sh_history.$IP
export HISTFILE

but when I log in it still uses the standard history file

echo $HISTFILE
/home/itmadmin/.history/.sh_history.lap3165524.rtdom.com

ls -lart
-rw------- 1 itmadmin itmgroup 6920 15 Jul 13:26 .sh_history

oslevel
5.3.0.0

Any ideas?
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Check whether HISTFILE has been set previously in /etc/profile or /etc/environment. I assume that the ENV variable is not causing the conflict, as this would change what you saw in the echo command.
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

No nothing - I do see this when I enter the env command, maybe it is filtering it out

A__z=! HISTFILE=! LOGNAME="*TMOUT
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

The HISTFILE mention in the A__z variable is a consequence of your setting it as readonly.

Just out of interest; what happens if you do not define the HISTFILE variable as readonly. We do not define this variable, only:
EXTENDED_HISTORY=ON
HISTSIZE=1000
HISTDATEFMT=%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S
so that the history is stored in the user .sh_history file.
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

It fails with the following message

. ./.profile
ksh: %H:%M:%S: not found.

The extended history does work though and I am now able to see more than the last 150 commands

I set the HISTFILE to read-only to try and resolve the problem, it was originally set HISTFILE=$HOME/.history/.sh_history.$IP, which failed to work

Is it possible to use HISTDATEFMT so that it also includes the IP address?
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Changed it too HISTDATEFMT='%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S'
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

It sounds as though the HISTFILE variable is set before you execute your .profile, and it is not going to change. Has HISTFILE been set to readonly in /etc/profile or /etc/environment.

As a workaround, why don't you add a line to your .profile which writes the $IP to whichever history file is used;
e.g.
print $IP | read -s

or you could add the following to /etc/profile
e.g.
userDetail=`who am i | tr -s ' '`
echo "## $userDetail " | read -s
echo "##\n\n" | read -s

The above looks strange; but it works. It is handy for administrative logins, which are shared by various users.
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Yes thanks - have already added that - not sure it will convince the auditors to allow us to have a single, shared, privileged account but it's worth a shot
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Are you able to add the lines you tested in your .profile to /etc/profile instead? You will need to enclose them within an if statement, but this way the HISTFILE variable will be set at login.
e.g.

if ; then
IP=`echo $DISPLAY|awk -F":" '{print $1}'`
export HISTFILE=/home/itmadmin/.history/.sh_history.$IP
fi

I am not sure whether $HOME is available at this stage in the login, so I have expanded it in the code. You may need to replace this.
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Yer I already suggested that to the Admin, but they weren't to happy about me touching /etc/profile as it impacts other users, ah well just gonna have to live with it - thanks for your help
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Found this while looking for something else

The HISTFILE variable needs to be set to different name before the first history command is created.

when i check the history I see

1. #Þ#1280932694#ß#

if $# -ne 3 ; then
return 0
fi
var=$1 #The enviornment variable to be processed
addrm_str=$2 #The new path to be used
action=$3 #Action: a -> add, r -> remove
if ; then
return 0 # return without doing anything
fi
etc

So because whatever script is running during logon is writing to the history file - preventing me from changing the name
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Hi,

Try adding the following to your .profile

export HISTFILE=histfile.new; ksh -o vi

The second shell starts with the new history file. It worked when I tried it.

Good luck,
George
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Originally posted by: DjRobin69

Yes, it worked! Thanks again for your help
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