What is wrong? "Syntax error: unexpected end of file"

Question

I keep getting this error, do you guys know what is wrong?

rapache is an alias for restart apache

mugbear:/usr/bin# cat /usr/bin/mkdomain                                         
if [ -d "/srv/www/$1" ]; then
        echo "Domain $1 already exists!"
else
        mkdir -p /srv/www/$1/public_html
        mkdir -p /srv/www/$1/logs
        cat >> /etc/apache2/sites-available/"$1" << EOF
        <VirtualHost removed:80>
                ServerAdmin support@$1
                ServerName $1
                ServerAlias www.$1
                        DocumentRoot /srv/www/$1/public_html/
                ErrorLog /srv/www/$1/logs/error.log
                CustomLog /srv/www/$1/logs/access.log combined
        </VirtualHost>
        EOF
        a2ensite $1
    rapache
fi
mugbear:/usr/bin# mkdomain test.com                                        
/usr/bin/mkdomain: line 19: syntax error: unexpected end of file

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '10 at 05:09

3

Your heredoc never ends since the terminator is not at the beginning of the line.

answered Oct 31 '10 at 05:09

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

45,939
6
79
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I don't see a terminator in the other answer: http://serverfault.com/questions/196557/how-can-i-make-this-script-better Could you show me me an example? Also, I cannot seem to find a manual on EOF. – Strawberry Oct 31 '10 at 05:33
1

The `EOF` must be the only thing on the line. No spaces before, and none after. And you want to find a manual for `<<`, not `EOF`. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Oct 31 '10 at 05:35
Ahh. I see, it looks weird without the indentation, but it works. Thakns! – Strawberry Oct 31 '10 at 05:38
Generally heredocs are not indented. It's understood that they're not really part of the script. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Oct 31 '10 at 05:40

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 24 '11 at 17:10

3

someFile <<EOF
...
EOF

works

    someFile <<EOF
    ...
    EOF

will not work

    someFile <<-EOF
    ...
    EOF

works

See 'man bash' and the Bash Reference Manual, section "3.6.6 Here Documents" for details on <<-EOF. Note that the indentation of the heredoc terminator must be done using tabs, not spaces.

edited Mar 24 '11 at 17:10

Stefan Lasiewski

23,667
41
132
186

answered Mar 24 '11 at 16:12

Arno Nym

31
1

Good point re: `<<-EOF`. I fixed your formatting and added the detail about tabs for you. – MikeyB Mar 24 '11 at 16:43
+1 for mentioning `<<-EOF`. Also see [Bash Reference Manual, section "3.6.6 Here Documents"](http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Redirections) for an explanation. I added some links to your answer. – Stefan Lasiewski Mar 24 '11 at 16:58

What is wrong? "Syntax error: unexpected end of file"

2 Answers2