Return status of `cd` is always 0

Question

I am executing following command.

cd dirname; echo $?

This always return 0 whether of not cd is successful. This is giving me incredible headache.

How to check if cd was successful without reading its error message.

Strange. I'm not seeing that behavior on Linux with bash 4.2.39. — Vaughn Cato, May 30 '13 at 01:56
I can't reproduce this in bash 4.2.37 on Ubuntu; it will return 1 for me if I try to `cd` to a nonexistent directory as expected. What version are you using? — j883376, May 30 '13 at 01:56
What version of bash (`bash --version`) are you using? Also, what operating system are you using? — , May 30 '13 at 02:10
@HaukeLaging Thanks. On lab machine, it was already aliased to keep_cd_history. Will check it on my personal machine! — Dilawar, May 30 '13 at 02:59

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered May 30 '13 at 10:34

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The reason may be that cd is not a shell builtin as usual but

a shell function
or an alias

This can be checked with type cd.

(I make the comment an answer so that the question can be "closed".)

answered May 30 '13 at 10:34

Hauke Laging

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Dilawar · Answer 2 · 2020-09-25T09:20:43.393

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My stupidity!

As suggested by HaukeLaging, I did type cd. It turned out the cd was aliased to some bash function which was logging the user cd activity on the server.

I aliased cd back to cd and the script started working fine. I had the fleeting temptation to delete the question altogether first the I thought I should answer it here. I might be useful for someone else.

edited Sep 25 '20 at 09:20

answered May 30 '13 at 03:07

Dilawar

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I would suggest checking all aliases on your account. See for example http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/8581/which-is-the-safest-way-to-get-root-privileges-sudo-su-or-login (there is worse) ... also whatever did it accidentally could have done it twice. – babou May 30 '13 at 07:53
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Also think about using `\cd` to override the alias. – terdon May 30 '13 at 15:45
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To remove an alias: `unalias cd`. To remove a function: `unset -f cd`. To call the builtin `cd`, in `bash` and a few other shells: `builtin cd` (`\cd` would bypass aliases but not functions). `command cd` would call the builtin `cd` in POSIX shells, but the `cd` command in `zsh` (when not in POSIX mode). – Stéphane Chazelas Sep 25 '20 at 10:01

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 11 '21 at 16:13

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The same thing happened to me. As all others mentioning, it was because my "cd" was wrapped by a function.

Anyway, this should be worked.

command cd /mnt/c/nowhere && echo y # does not console "y"

answered Mar 11 '21 at 16:13

ー PupSoZeyDe ー

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 08 '13 at 00:01

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One solution is to prefix the call w/ the bash builtin 'command'. This will force the use of the actual binary file 'cd'

    root@ds002:~# command cd /foo
    -bash: cd: /foo: No such file or directory
    root@ds002:~# echo $?
    1

answered Jun 08 '13 at 00:01

christopher barry

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Return status of `cd` is always 0

4 Answers4