Expected output:
# ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500......
Output that occurs:
# ifconfig
bash: ifconfig: command not found
If sudo is used it works:
# sudo ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500......
"command not found" means exactly that.
Your shell could not find an executable file called ifconfig in any of the places that it looked for executables files.
This will probably error in the same way:
which ifconfig
Examine the PATH environment variable:
echo ${PATH} | tr : "\n" # More readable
It is possible for start-up scripts (like .login and .bashrc) and interactive actions to "mess up" the PATH, even removing [system critical] entries like /sbin!
When using sudo to launch ifconfig as root, it starts up a new shell session, which will have its own, "clean" PATH, which might well explain why that method is working.
/usr/local/bin /usr/bin /bin /usr/local/games /usr/games su root: # /usr/local/bin /usr/bin /bin /usr/local/games /usr/games su - # /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/bin /usr/sbin /usr/bin /sbin /bin Is this proper behavior for Debian Bookworm? Maybe I need to relearn and never use su root, but su -. Thanks
PATHvariable is not set properly.sudo -iandsu -should set the correct path, as well as a direct login.su(or worsesudo su) will not reset the path.su root, I thought my path would change, but its the same as normal user.