/bin/sed: -e expression #1, char 56: unknown option to `s'

Question

I have the next file test.txt with content:

- name: MONGODB_HOST
    value: {{MONGODB-HOST}}

I want to replace {{MONGODB-HOST}} with this env variable:

MONGODB_HOST=server.dev.example,server2.dev.example

Command is:

/bin/sed -i 's,{{MONGODB-HOST}},'"$(MONGODB_HOST)"',' "test.txt";

And it fails:

/bin/sed: -e expression #1, char 56: unknown option to `s'

If I leave:

MONGODB_HOST=server.dev.example

it works. Can you help me find the reason why it is failing?

Welcome! You don't need to use /bin/sed AFAIK, just sed is fine. — schrodingerscatcuriosity, Feb 29 '20 at 14:59

Andy Dalton · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-02T15:02:00.773

5

In your sed command, you're using the , symbol to separate the fields. Your substitution also includes that symbol, so when sed sees that it thinks that's the field separator. Eventually it sees the "real" field separator, and sees content behind it that it doesn't recognize.

Try using a different field seprator; / is a common choice:

/bin/sed -i 's/{{MONGODB-HOST}}/'"${MONGODB_HOST}"'/' "test.txt"

edited Mar 02 '20 at 15:02

answered Feb 29 '20 at 14:58

Andy Dalton

13,993

Thank you very much! It works! – ovod Feb 29 '20 at 15:13
Imho, you don't need the quoting carnival. Just double qoutes one time, but curly braces around MDB_HOST, no quoting for the file without something to quote in the name: sed -i "s/{{MONGODB-HOST}}/${MONGODB_HOST}/" test.txt – user unknown Feb 29 '20 at 18:40
@userunknown Note that I suggested the minimal change the the author's original post – Andy Dalton Mar 01 '20 at 00:50
Noted. Did the round bracket work for you? – user unknown Mar 01 '20 at 03:49
Corrected -- thank you – Andy Dalton Mar 02 '20 at 15:02

/bin/sed: -e expression #1, char 56: unknown option to `s'

1 Answers1