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How to wrap utilities and applications on Unix and Linux platforms

Administrators can greatly simplify usage of commercial applications and custom utilities by providing wrappers that set up the required environment for complex applications; and can monitor usage of critical programs by creating a directory of wrappers, and placing this directory in the default command path.

The modules(1) application is a powerful example of an alternative method of providing similar functionality; but a simple systematic approach using a single script can provide this service. Here is a simple example shell script that can easily be expanded. I use a more expansive version to make access to over a hundred applications as simple for the user as executing a standard command such as ls(1): wrapper.

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Released: Sat Feb 9, 2008; John S. Urban
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