source: not found in shell script? [duplicate]

Question

I want to activate a virtual env in shell script, so I write a simple script as follow:

#!/bin/bash

source ~/env/lib/bin/activate
#nohup python mock_run.py
#echo $! > save_pid.txt

I start the script with sh start.sh, but I got error as follow:

start.sh: 3: start.sh: source: not found

I run source ~/env/lib/bin/activate is ok, so why can not in shell script?

Make sure you're running it with bash via #!/bin/bash in the top and sh start.sh. Also source has an alias . so try . ~/env/lib/bin/activate — Marc Young
– Marc Young, Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 2:34
I have #!/bin/bash in my script, and . ~/env/lib/bin/activate is ok, but why source is not ok? — roger
– roger, Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 2:37
Rather, don't use sh start.sh. Run the script with ./start.sh. Don't explicitly invoke the shell. — John Kugelman
– John Kugelman, Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 2:43

hek2mgl · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-21 02:42:34Z

15

Note that the shebang line:

#!/bin/bash

is not in effect when you invoke the script with

sh script.sh

The shebang is in effect only if you call the script directly, like a binary.

You need to either:

chmod +x script.sh
./script.sh

to make the shebang line working, or call it explicitly with bash:

bash script.sh

answered Sep 21, 2015 at 2:42

hek2mgl

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