Fix Bash Error in Docker

By  on  

I really enjoy working with Docker because it gives me more insight into creating and maintaining your own environments, mostly from scratch.  I instantly gained a greater appreciation for Ops engineers, package creators, and other engineers who work on low level software.  I think what I'm trying to say is that I've made a whole bunch of mistakes and completed an insane amount of Google searches for help.

One of the more basic errors I've recently encountered was trying to run a bash script within the container, only to get the following error:  env: can't execute 'bash': No such file or directory.  I was under the impression that bash was always a given in Linux machines, but apparently not in alpine images.  The fix was adding the following to my Dockerfile file:

RUN apk update && apk add bash

Or if you're in the machine, just run:

apk update && apk add bash

That command installs bash and your bash scripts should then work!

Recent Features

  • By
    Conquering Impostor Syndrome

    Two years ago I documented my struggles with Imposter Syndrome and the response was immense.  I received messages of support and commiseration from new web developers, veteran engineers, and even persons of all experience levels in other professions.  I've even caught myself reading the post...

  • By
    CSS Animations Between Media Queries

    CSS animations are right up there with sliced bread. CSS animations are efficient because they can be hardware accelerated, they require no JavaScript overhead, and they are composed of very little CSS code. Quite often we add CSS transforms to elements via CSS during...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Animated AJAX Record Deletion Using MooTools

    I'm a huge fan of WordPress' method of individual article deletion. You click the delete link, the menu item animates red, and the item disappears. Here's how to achieve that functionality with MooTools JavaScript. The PHP - Content & Header The following snippet goes at the...

  • By
    Web Notifications API

    Every UI framework has the same set of widgets which have become almost essential to modern sites: modals, tooltips, button varieties, and notifications.  One problem I find is each site having their own widget colors, styles, and more -- users don't get a consistent experience.  Apparently the...

Discussion

  1. Hamish

    Alternatively, you can use ash instead of bash.

    Not sure what the differences are, but I would expect parity on most standard features.

  2. If the script is simple you can use the default /bin/sh shell.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!