1shc(1)                                                                  shc(1)
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NAME

6       shc - Generic shell script compiler
7

SYNOPSIS

9       shc  [  -e  date ] [ -m addr ] [ -i iopt ] [ -x cmnd ] [ -l lopt ] [ -o
10       outfile ] [ -ABCDhUHvSr ] -f script
11

DESCRIPTION

13       shc creates a stripped binary executable version of the  script  speci‐
14       fied with -f on the command line.
15
16       The  binary version will get a .x extension appended by default if out‐
17       file is not defined with [-o outfile] option and will usually be a  bit
18       larger  in  size than the original ascii code.  Generated C source code
19       is saved in a file with the extension .x.c or in a file specified  with
20       appropriate option.
21
22       If  you  supply  an  expiration  date  with the -e option, the compiled
23       binary will refuse to run after the date specified.  The message Please
24       contact  your  provider will be displayed instead.  This message can be
25       changed with the -m option.
26
27       You can compile any kind of shell script, but you need to supply  valid
28       -i, -x and -l options.
29
30       The  compiled  binary will still be dependent on the shell specified in
31       the first line of the shell code (i.e.  #!/bin/sh), thus shc  does  not
32       create completely independent binaries.
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34       shc itself is not a compiler such as cc, it rather encodes and encrypts
35       a shell script and generates C source code with  the  added  expiration
36       capability.   It  then  uses  the system compiler to compile a stripped
37       binary which behaves exactly like the original script.  Upon execution,
38       the compiled binary will decrypt and execute the code with the shell -c
39       option.  Unfortunately, it will not give you any speed improvement as a
40       real C program would.
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42       shc's  main  purpose is to protect your shell scripts from modification
43       or inspection.  You can use it if you wish to distribute  your  scripts
44       but don't want them to be easily readable by other people.
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OPTIONS

47       -e date : Expiration date in dd/mm/yyyy format [none]
48
49       -m   message   :  message  to  display  upon  expiration  ["Please con‐
50       tact your provider"]
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52       -f script_name : File path of the script to compile
53
54       -i inline_option : Inline option for the shell interpreter i.e: -e
55
56       -x   command   :   eXec   command,   as   a    printf    format    i.e:
57       exec(\\'%s\\',@ARGV);
58
59       -l last_option : Last shell option i.e: --
60
61       -o outfile : output to the file specified by outfile
62
63       -r  :  Relax security.  Make a redistributable binary which executes on
64       different systems running the same operating system.  You  can  release
65       your binary with this option for others to use
66
67       -v : Verbose compilation
68
69       -S : Switch ON setuid for root callable programs [OFF]
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71       -D : Switch on debug exec calls
72
73       -U : Make binary to be untraceable (using strace, ptrace, truss, etc.)
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75       -H  :  Hardening.   Extra security flag without root access requirement
76       that protects against dumping, code  injection,  cat /proc/pid/cmdline,
77       ptrace,  etc..   This  feature  is experimental and may not work on all
78       systems.  it require bourne shell (sh) scripts any  positional  parame‐
79       ters.
80
81       -C : Display license and exit
82
83       -A : Display abstract and exit
84
85       -B : Compile for BusyBox
86
87       -h : Display help and exit
88

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

90       CC : C compiler command [cc]
91
92       CFLAGS : C compiler flags [none]
93
94       LDFLAGS : Linker flags [none]
95

EXAMPLES

97       Compile  a  script  which  can  be  run on other systems with the trace
98       option enabled (without -U flag):
99
100              shc -f myscript -o mybinary
101
102       Compile an untraceable binary:
103
104              shc -Uf myscript -o mybinary
105
106       Compile an untraceable binary that doesn't require root access (experi‐
107       mental):
108
109              shc -Hf myscript -o mybinary
110

LIMITATIONS

112       The  maximum size of the script that could be executed once compiled is
113       limited by the operating  system  configuration  parameter  _SC_ARG_MAX
114       (see sysconf(2))
115

AUTHORS

117       Francisco Rosales <frosal@fi.upm.es>
118
119       intika <intika@librefox.org>
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121       Md Jahidul Hamid <jahidulhamid@yahoo.com>
122

REPORT BUGS TO

124       <https://github.com/neurobin/shc/issues>
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128shc user manual                January 14, 2019                         shc(1)
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