Re: /dev/tcp

On Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:15:27 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:

> In comp.os.linux.misc, Lawrence DOliveiro <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:59:41 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:
>>>
>>> This came up in the context of "how to test network on a system
>>> with no root and no helpful utilities installed."
>>
>> So a version of bash that supports /dev/tcp is somehow excluded
>> from that “no helpful utilities installed” assumption?
>
> The system being tested did not have bash installed. Busybox
> provided /bin/sh there.

I thought you said you were testing the *network*, not the *system*.

You can’t really do that (in general) without access to a proper
suite of diagnostic tools.

In such a situation, I would try one (or both) of two things:

* Reboot the machine with a SystemRescue USB stick
  <https://www.system-rescue.org/>. That way, I get unconstrained
  access to an entire system custom-designed precisely for running
  diagnostics.
* Bring in my own machine, which already has my own custom setup on
  it, and connect it to the network.

Both of these also have the advantage of ruling out screwups in the
existing OS installation.

And if you’re saying the situation would not allow me to do either of
these things, then I would not have accepted the job in the first
place.