Apple - "-bash: ls: command not found"
Since two commands are missing something “stomped” your path.
Before doing anything big, kicking off a backup might be prudent.
The default path on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is something like this:
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
If you reset the path by typing the above into a shell window, and then typing export PATH
it should manually let you test s local fix that window only.
This breakage is almost always something you need to fix in your dot files. For bash, edit and fix .bash_profile
and/or .bashrc
by undoing a recent change it just setting the $PATH you need again. The usual error is assigning a new path and not referring to the previous value of the variable on the right hand side of the =
This should fix the problem completely and permanently.
first, export environment paths by using below command in the terminal.
export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
now you have the commands you want. (eg. try ls
. You'll see the command is working). But this is only for the current session. If you close the terminal and open a new one, you will have the previous issue. To make this change permanent, use below command,
go to home directory
cd ~
open .bash_profile file in nano / vim (I'm using nano here)
nano .bash_profile
This will open up nano editor. In a new line, paste the following;
export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin:$PATH
press 'control'+'o' to save (WriteOut) and 'control'+'x' to exit nano.
All done ! Now try the commands.
To check that it is indeed a problem with your path, what's the result of /bin/ls
?
If it works, than you should restore your path to /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
, you can use for example VI
whose path is (on my mac) /usr/bin/vi
.