how to call python variables inside bash commands in a python script or can I do that?

Question

I am trying to list cronjobs of all users

user_file = open('/root/pys/userdomains', 'r')
for line in user_file:
    print line
    splitted_line = line.split(': ')
    print splitted_line
    user_cron = splitted_line[1].split()[0]
    print user_cron
    print "crons for", user_cron, "is", CronTab(user=user_cron)

On last line, can I use

os.system('crontab -l -u user_cron')

to get similar result? I know there is CronTab option, but in similar cases, can I use python variables (e.g. user_cron) inside bash commands.

`os.system('crontab -l -u %s'%user_cron_variable)` ? is that what you are asking? — Joran Beasley, Mar 20 '17 at 18:06

Prune · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-20T18:07:21.367

1

Not quite: you need to construct the actual command string you want to use: Append the string value of user_cron to the literal part of the command.

os.system('crontab -l -u ' + user_cron)

edited Mar 20 '17 at 18:07

answered Mar 20 '17 at 18:05

Prune

76,765
14
60
81

1

i think you are missing a trailing space – Joran Beasley Mar 20 '17 at 18:06
Not any more, thanks to you. :-) – Prune Mar 20 '17 at 18:07

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 18:35

0

Yes you can use os.system function, but you must import os.

import os
os.system('crontab -l -u user_cron')

edited Mar 20 '17 at 18:35

tripleee

175,061
34
275
318

answered Mar 20 '17 at 18:16

Dipesh Tanna

76
4

how to call python variables inside bash commands in a python script or can I do that?

2 Answers2