Introduction

The error “bash: php: command not found” occurs when the system cannot locate the PHP binary. This usually happens because the PHP path is not included in the $PATH variable.


Prerequisites

  • Root or SSH access
  • Basic knowledge of Linux commands
  • Access to .bash_profile

Implementation

bash: php: command not found

[root@01 ~]# php -v
-bash: php: command not found
[root@01 ~]#

A common type of message you can see on H-Sphere servers. These kinds of command-line messages are displayed because the PATH variable was not specified in the .bash_profile file.

The $PATH variable is a list of directories Red Hat will look in for executable files.

To edit the bash_profile, vi .bash_profile, then arrow down until you find the line that looks similar to “PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin”

and add the location of the PHP binary to the above line in the .bash_profile file.

To get the path of PHP, you can use the following command:

ps aux | grep php

Please note that the ‘which php’ command will not work as the PATH is not specified.


Conclusion

By adding the correct PHP binary path to the $PATH variable in .bash_profile, the system will recognise the php command and execute it successfully.

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