Tim here. It sounds like you're going down the right path here. If something modified the $PATH environment variable, it would cause exactly the symptoms the OP is experiencing. The most common cause I've seen is trying to set the PATH to include a new location but failing to keep the old one around, something like PATH=/path/to/new/location instead of PATH=/path/to/new/location:$PATH I presume that the tools are still around and can be accessed by absolute path name, so if "ls" fails, I imagine that "/bin/ls" still works as expected. If this isn't the case, it would be valuable information to have in troubleshooting. -tim On February 4, 2019, Linux for blind general discussion wrote: > I have seen stuff like that also. When you first boot and > everything works, echo $PATH as others have already advised and > save that to somefile as in echo $PATH >somefile. > > Then when things go to pot, echo $PATH >someotherfile. > > Also, do the following: > > pwd >mydir. In this case, the file mydir will contain your > absolute path. Then things go bust. Try pwd again and see what > happens. You might have something going that does a chroot which > is a great command but very powerful. If it occurs for the wrong > reasons, you may have been put in to an environment that can't > reach all your normal executables. > > You still will have to figure out what caused this and > how to fix it, but that's what makes unix good. You have grownup > power tools to fix things with. Just as a table saw will cut off > fingers as easily as it cuts wood, it's been said that unix can > give you some of the prettiest rope you ever hanged yourself with > so go cautiously. > > At least your boot starts out working so whatever happens > isn't a permanent change. > > Martin McCormick > Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx> writes: > your execution path and causes everything to stop working. > > If you run something that uses a command like chroot, you > can get pure weirdness because chroot makes it impossible to > search outside your current directory > > On Mon, 4 Feb 2019, Linux for blind general discussion wrote: > > > > > > I'm having strange behaviour on fresh install of Debian 9 > > After I login and work for a while then any command on bash > > terminal is > > missing with message such as the following > > bash: ls command not found > > > > > > You're not bumping the capslock by any chance? > > > > If not, run: > > > > echo $PATH > > > > (note PATH in all capitals) > > > > > > to make sure that your search path hasn't changed. It should > > include /usr/ bin and /bin and ideally /usr/local/bin. Root > > should also have /usr/sbin and /sbin. > > > > > > HTH, > > Geoff. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Blinux-list mailing list > > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Blinux-list mailing list > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list