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I have accidentally deleted /bin/sh, and I am trying to to re-install it.
If I type sh in the terminal, It says

The program 'sh' can be found in the following packages:
 * bash
 * dash

If I try to apt-get install bash, I get 

bash is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 109 not upgraded.

So, how am I supposed to get /bin/sh back?

Kevin
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Fingolfin
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2 Answers2

4

You can do

apt-get --reinstall install bash
enzotib
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  • I tried that and I got the following: >E: Sub-process /usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt || >true returned an error code (100) >E: Failure running script /usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure >--apt || true – Fingolfin Nov 26 '11 at 22:18
  • @AdelCKod Try `ln -s bash /bin/sh`, and then enzotib's answer. Also, learn from whatever mistake you made that resulted in the removal, and try to never make it again. – jw013 Nov 26 '11 at 22:53
  • @jw013 No, it works, but is not the default. @Arcege is right: `/bin/sh` was not `bash` in his **Debian** system, it was `dash`, the _Debian Almquist Shell_. – admirabilis Jan 23 '12 at 07:14
4

Try sudo ln -s dash /bin/sh. The "dash" package should already have set this symlink in its post-installation routines.

Arcege
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  • I think you mean bash...? – amphetamachine Nov 27 '11 at 06:26
  • `/bin/sh` is the Bourne shell equivalent, which in the case of the OP, is `dash`. – Arcege Nov 27 '11 at 07:04
  • I meant "I think you mean `sudo ln -s bash /bin/sh`." – amphetamachine Nov 27 '11 at 17:49
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    No, i meant what I said: `lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 2011-05-03 11:01 /bin/sh -> dash` on Ubuntu; on Solaris and FreeBSD, `/bin/sh` was a smaller, statically linked version of the Bourne shell; I can't remember about HP-UX, AIX and IRIX, but it wasn't `bash`. As I said, `/bin/sh` should be the closest to the Bourne shell. If using bash syntax, then `#!/bin/bash` should always be specified. – Arcege Nov 27 '11 at 19:18