Java Unix agent not falling back to sh when invalid shell is set in /etc/passwd

Products

• CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading a C-Based Linux Agent to the Java Based Linux Agent, jobs that were submitted with a login object pointing to a user that had an invalid shell defined in /etc/passwd would fail with:

Unable to execute command '/bin/shell_in_passwd', reason: 2 - No such file or directory

Whereas the same Jobs launched with the C-Based Linux Agent would work as the agent would use the standard shell sh in such case:

Shell 'shell_in_passwd' not found. Using standard shell.

To be noted that the parameter allow_nologin_shell=Y was set in the ini file.

Environment

Agent Unix Java 21.x and 24.x

Cause

DE173464

Resolution

Update to a fix version listed below or a newer version if available.

Fix version:
Component(s): Agent Unix Java
Automation.Engine 24.4.2 - Planned release October 2025

Additional Information

Public Description: The Java-based Linux/Unix-Agent was enhanced to support the INI parameter [GLOBAL]/allow_nologin_shell. In addition, the same fallback mechanism to /bin/sh if the login shell does not exist was implemented. This ensures the same behavior as in the previous implementation.