Correct sed syntax for variables

Question

I'm getting a syntax error when running sed in my bash script. Non of the similar issues on here have resolved my problem.

I need to update a line in a config for a VPN connection.

serverconfig='vpnsrv.tcp.ovpn'
auth='auth-user-pass'
update='../login.conf'

sed -i.bak "s/$auth/$update" $serverconfig

# I have also tried these:
#sed -i.bak 's/auth-user-pass/auth-user-pass "${update}"' $serverconfig
#sed -i.bak 's/auth-user-pass/auth-user-pass '"${update}"'' $serverconfig
#sed -i.bak 's/auth-user-pass/auth-user-pass\ "${update}"' $serverconfig
#sed -i.bak 's/auth-user-pass/auth-user-pass\ "$update"' $serverconfig
#sed -i.bak 's/'"$auth"'/'"$auth $update"' $serverconfig
# sed: -e expression #1, char 32: unterminated `s' command

Line in file "auth-user-pass" should found and replaced with "auth-user-pass ../login.conf". I'm unable to get passed the syntax error: sed: -e expression #1, char [#]: unterminated `s' command

You just need a trailing slash: `sed -i.bak "s/$auth/$update/" $serverconfig` — James K. Lowden, May 27 '19 at 19:58
I get `sed: -e expression #1, char 32: unterminated `s command` with: `sed -i.bak "s/$auth/$update/" $serverconfig` — z3r0n0id, May 27 '19 at 20:03

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 27 '19 at 20:08

0

Sed can use almost any character as its 'delimiter'. You're having trouble because your chosen delimiter / appears in your variable.

sed -i.bak "s,$auth,$update" $serverconfig

You can also perform this substitution as many times as possible with the global operation:

sed -i.back "s,$auth,$update,g" $serverconfig

answered May 27 '19 at 20:08

vintnes

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Thanks for the tip, this solved my issue – z3r0n0id May 27 '19 at 20:25
@z3r0n0id, Thanks for showing your work. Please have a look at https://stackoverflow.com/help/someone-answers – vintnes May 27 '19 at 20:28

Correct sed syntax for variables

1 Answers1