Block command history access in shell

Question

I don't want to access the shell command history in shell. It has to block for temporary purpose and after that I am able to release that block.

e.g. when I press up arrow in shell it shows the last command present in history, But i don't want to access history when I press up arrow on shell

Can we block history from accessing it?

i have tried set +o history but its for different purpose.

shell:> ifconfig
shell:> #some shell.py
Login: #when I press up arrow, "ifconfig" comes here as that was last command
Password:

for Login: it only has to access input, don't access history here. After accepting Login and Password then i can able to access history again.

Don't use [`readline`](https://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html) in `shell.py` (or start with a clean readline history) — hek2mgl, Jul 06 '17 at 08:56
i can't use `clean history` , it will delete all history of current session. I have to use history again after blocking it temporary @hek2mgl — , Jul 06 '17 at 08:58
Is this really a question about [bash] and [shell], or it is a question about [python] and [readline]? — gboffi, Jul 06 '17 at 09:08
it is a question about [python] and [readline]? you were right @gboffi — , Jul 06 '17 at 10:18
I don't exactly how atm. If I'll find time today I'll have a look at this — hek2mgl, Jul 06 '17 at 10:35
Who wrote `shell.py`? You or a third party? Do you have access to its source code? — Imho the problem is in `shell.py` that misuse the readline library to read the user name and their password. The user name should be read using, simply, `input` and the password should be read using the [`getpass`](https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/getpass.html#module-getpass) module from the Python standard library — gboffi, Jul 06 '17 at 21:51
yes for username we have read by using `raw_input` and password by using `getpass` @gboffi , still its not working — , Jul 07 '17 at 01:23
Can you show the most basic example of Python code which you are using? That's necessary to reproduce the problem — hek2mgl, Jul 08 '17 at 09:16

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 06 '17 at 08:58

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You can disable the Up Arrow Key by editing your ~/.bashrc and adding :

bind '"\e[A": '

Meaning : Bind Up Arrow Key to nothing

(You will need to reload it or re-open your session)

To re-enable it, simply remove the line and reload the .bashrc file

answered Jul 06 '17 at 08:58

Esteban

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Nahuel Fouilleul · Answer 2 · 2017-07-06T09:06:29.870

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To remove up-arrow binding

bind -r '\e[A'

To restore

bind '"\e[A": previous-history'

To retrieve all bindings to previous-history

bind -p | grep previous-history

or

bind -q previous-history

see also

help bind

edited Jul 06 '17 at 09:06

answered Jul 06 '17 at 08:58

Nahuel Fouilleul

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its only blocks `up arrow`, but when we hit `ctrl+p` this will access history again @NahuelFouilleul – Jul 06 '17 at 09:00
do you want to block all bindings to previous-history or prevent last command to be added in history list? – Nahuel Fouilleul Jul 06 '17 at 09:02
all bindings to previous history @NahuelFouilleul – Jul 06 '17 at 09:04
I am getting error as `/bin/sh: 1: bind: not found` @NahuelFouilleul when running it with `subprocess.call()` – Jul 06 '17 at 09:45
can i use same in `python shell` @NahuelFouilleul – Jul 06 '17 at 10:06
bind is a `bash` builtin, it affects only current shell session, launching a process from python could not affect python session – Nahuel Fouilleul Jul 06 '17 at 12:19
it seems it's not possible directly with python, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/12782553/1454708, and 2 answers below – Nahuel Fouilleul Jul 06 '17 at 12:34

Block command history access in shell

2 Answers2