ON(1)ON(1)NAMEon - execute a command on a remote system with the local environment
SYNOPSISon [-i] [-d] [-n] host command [argument] ...
DESCRIPTION
The on program is used to execute commands on another system, in an
environment similar to that invoking the program. All environment vari‐
ables are passed and the current working directory is preserved. To
preserve the working directory, the working file system must be either
already mounted on the host or be exported to it. Relative path names
will only work if they are within the current file system. Absolute
path names may cause problems.
The standard input is connected to the standard input of the remote
command. The standard output and the standard error from the remote
command are sent to the corresponding files for the on command.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-d
Debug mode. Prints out some messages as work is being done.
-i
Interactive mode. Uses remote echoing and special character pro‐
cessing. This option is needed for programs that expect to be
talking to a terminal. All terminal modes and window size changes
are propagated.
-n
No Input. This option causes the remote program to get EOF when
it reads from the standard input, instead of passing the standard
input from the standard input of the on program. For example, -n
is necessary when running commands in the background with job
control.
SEE ALSOchkey(1), rlogin(1), rsh(1), telnet(1), attributes(5)DIAGNOSTICS
unknown host
Host name not found.
cannot connect to server
Host down or not running the server.
can't find
Problem finding the working directory.
can't locate mount point
Problem finding current file system.
RPC: Authentication error
The server requires DES authentication and you do not have a
secret key registered with keyserv. Perhaps you logged in without a
password. Try to keylogin. If that fails, try to set your pub‐
lickey with chkey.
on server: RPC: can't encode arguments
The 10240 byte limit for arguments to be encoded and passed from
the sending to the receiving system has been exceeded.
Other diagnostic messages may be passed back from the server.
BUGS
When the working directory is remote mounted over NFS, a Control-Z
hangs the window.
Root cannot use on.
Oct 8, 2003 ON(1)
