-bash: /bin/cd: No such file or directory - automatically execute ls after cd

Question

I accidentially destroyed my cd command.

I tried to automatically execute ls after cd is called.

I found a post saying that I have to execute alias cd='/bin/cd && /bin/ls', but now I get -bash: /bin/cd: No such file or directory and can't change directoy anymore.

Enjoy https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/354123/ and what it hyperlinks to M. Dalton. (-: — JdeBP, Jun 25 '18 at 14:41
A POSIX compliant platform has a /bin/cd, but that only exists for formal reasons and is not usable for anything. — schily, Jun 25 '18 at 14:41
cd isn't a file on disk, It's a shell built-in command:type cd — PersianGulf, Jun 25 '18 at 17:26
@PersianGulf: You should use -a. One example: MacOS type -a cd outputs "cd is a shell builtin" and "cd is /usr/bin/cd". See this — Dennis Williamson, Jun 25 '18 at 21:21
@DennisWilliamson I use without -a on Debian and bash shell. — PersianGulf, Jun 26 '18 at 11:35
@PersianGulf: If you use -a (even on Debian and Bash), it will tell you all the ways the argument is defined (aliases, builtins, and functions and executable files - including instances in multiple parts of the PATH). — Dennis Williamson, Jun 26 '18 at 15:33

Kusalananda · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-30T08:33:19.863

23

Your system (like many Unix systems) does not have an external cd command (at least not at that path). Even if it had one, the ls would give you the directory listing of the original directory. An external command can never change directory for the calling process (your shell)¹.

Remove the alias from the environment with unalias cd (and also remove its definition from any shell initialization files that you may have added it to).

With a shell function, you can get it to work as cd ordinarily does, with an extra invocation of ls at the end if the cd succeeded:

cd () {
    command cd "$@" && ls -lah
}

or,

cd () { command cd "$@" && ls -lah; }

This would call the cd command built into your shell with the same command line arguments that you gave the function. If the change of directory was successful, the ls would run.

The command command stops the shell from executing the function recursively.

The function definition (as written above) would go into your shell's startup file. With bash, this might be ~/.bashrc. The function definition would then be active in the next new interactive shell session. If you want it to be active now, then execute the function definition as-is at the interactive shell prompt, which will define it within your current interactive session.

¹ On systems where cd is available as an external command, this command also does not change directory for the calling process. The only real use for such a command is to provide POSIX compliance and for acting as a test of whether changing directory to a particular one would be possible.

edited Jun 30 '18 at 08:33

answered Jun 25 '18 at 14:34

Kusalananda

333,661

Where do I have to put the function? – Black Jun 25 '18 at 14:37
1

@Black You may put it wherever you would have put the alias definition. In a bash shell, that would probably be in ~/.bashrc. – Kusalananda Jun 25 '18 at 14:38
I added the function to ~/.bashrc but it does not work. ls -lah is not executed at all. – Black Jun 25 '18 at 14:41
@Black No, you add it exactly the way I wrote it. Then it will be active in any new shell session. – Kusalananda Jun 25 '18 at 14:41
I tried it but it does not work at all. I am using Linux 4.4 – Black Jun 25 '18 at 14:43
@Black If you still have your cd alias, then unalias cd (and delete that alias definition from ~/.bashrc). – Kusalananda Jun 25 '18 at 15:31
1

Note that POSIXly, you'd use cd() { command cd "$@" && ls -lah; }, though that wouldn't work with zsh except in sh emulation. Not all shells have a builtin builtin. In ksh93, it does something different. – Stéphane Chazelas Jun 25 '18 at 16:30
@Black Linux 4.4 is not an OS and obviously not a shell, so it can't run any commands – phuclv Jun 26 '18 at 02:27
@phuclv, I see, I am using SUSE Linux – Black Jun 26 '18 at 10:52
I had to restart my shell, now your solution works! :) – Black Jun 26 '18 at 11:01

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 25 '18 at 17:18

7

I was able to solve it by removing the alias again with unalias cd

edited Jun 25 '18 at 17:18

ctrl-alt-delor

27,993

answered Jun 25 '18 at 14:29

Black

2,079

If you remove the stuck-out text, then this is the only answer that answers the question. – ctrl-alt-delor Jun 25 '18 at 17:18
1

@ctrl-alt-delor Note there's no question in the question. We could only guess what the implicit question is. In this situation "why?" is as good as "how to revert?" – Kamil Maciorowski Jun 26 '18 at 10:26

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 25 '18 at 14:33

5

That happened because:

$ type cd

cd is a shell builtin

answered Jun 25 '18 at 14:33

Vlastimil Burián

28,462

-bash: /bin/cd: No such file or directory - automatically execute ls after cd

3 Answers3

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