How to pass arguments to terminal?

Question

I have a python script that does a zipping of a few files. For zipping the files with a password I use os.system() function and pass my zipping command ie. zip -j -re <file_path> <to_path>. This command asks for a password on the terminal which I have to put manually on the terminal like this.

Enter password: 
Verify password:

I want to hardcode my password and pass it when the terminal asks for a password. I tried to send the passwords using os.system(password) twice thinking that it will take it but it did not work.

cmd = "zip -j -re {} {}".format(DUMPSPATH,TEMPPATH)
passwrd = 'hello123'
os.system(cmd)
os.system(passwrd)
os.system(passwrd)

How do I send arguments using python to fill passwords automatically?

computer_geek64 · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-18 16:19:55Z

1

When you call os.system(), you are sending a command to your shell to run. So calling os.system(passwrd) is sending your password as a standalone command to be run by the shell, which is not what you want here.

The zip program features a -P password argument that allows you to specify the password to encrypt zip files when you initially run the command without having to manually input it for batch jobs. So essentially your code should be changed to something like this:

passwrd = 'hello123'
cmd = "zip -j -re -P {} {} {}".format(passwrd, DUMPSPATH,TEMPPATH)
os.system(cmd)

Another side note, it's recommended to use the subprocess module instead of resorting to os.system, so take a look at subprocess.Popen if you get a chance.

answered Jul 18, 2021 at 16:19

computer_geek64

4782 gold badges4 silver badges13 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

swaggg · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-18 16:39:49Z

1

It's nice computer_geek has found the correct command line argument (I can't see it listed over here, but it works), but I absolutely HAVE to post my ludicrous solution (for posterity). NOTE - requires xdotool installed on your system.

import subprocess

DUMPSPATH = ""
TEMPPATH = ""
pwd = "lala"

zipper = subprocess.Popen(['zip','-j','-re',DUMPSPATH,TEMPPATH])
subprocess.run(['xdotool','type',pwd])
subprocess.run(['xdotool','key', 'Return'])
subprocess.run(['xdotool','type',pwd])
subprocess.run(['xdotool','key', 'Return'])
zipper.wait()

answered Jul 18, 2021 at 16:39

swaggg

4801 gold badge5 silver badges15 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to pass arguments to terminal?

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related