bash function "command not found"

Question

I've created a function to check for the existence of a file on a remote server, but I'm getting the error "ssh: command not found" when I try to call the function. Here's the function:

remote_file_exists() {
    local SERVER="$1"
    local PATH="$2"
    local FILE="$3"
    FILE_EXISTS=`ssh "$SERVER" \'find "$PATH" -name \"$FILE\"\'`
    if [ -z $FILE_EXISTS ]; then
        return 1
    else
        return 0
    fi
}

I'm calling the function like this:

if ( remote_file_exists $REMOTE_SERVER "$REMOTE_PATH/" $REMOTE_FILE ); then
    echo "$REMOTE_PATH/$REMOTE_FILE exists on $REMOTE_SERVER"
...

The error I'm getting:

myscript.sh: line x: ssh: command not found

The value of 'x' in the error is the line number of the line in the function that starts with "FILE_EXISTS=".

I suspect this has something to do with not quoting correctly, but I can't figure it out. What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: Thanks to Cfreak for the good catch on the PATH variable name. Once I fixed that I got a different error:

bash: find <MYPATH> -name "<FILE>": No such file or directory

After some experimenting I found that removing the escaped single quotes fixed the 2nd issue. The working line looks like this:

FILE_EXISTS=$(ssh "$SERVER" find "$MYPATH" -name \""$FILE"\")

Unrelated to the question, but you should put $FILE_EXISTS in doublequotes, since it's likely to contain spaces. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 22:49
Unrelated too, but use $(ssh ...) instead of the backquotes. It is much safer and nestable... — clt60
– clt60, Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 22:55

Cfreak · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-28 22:47:09Z

1

PATH is the variable that controls where bash finds commands and you're resetting it. Change your PATH variable name.

remote_file_exists() {
    local SERVER="$1"
    local MYPATH="$2"
    local FILE="$3"
    FILE_EXISTS=`ssh "$SERVER" \'find "$MYPATH" -name \"$FILE\"\'`
    if [ -z $FILE_EXISTS ]; then
        return 1
    else
        return 0
    fi
}

answered Jun 28, 2013 at 22:47

Cfreak

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2 Comments

clarkcb Over a year ago

Agreed, that was a great catch. Now I get a different error: "bash: find <MYPATH> -name "<FILE>": No such file or directory". I think it's coming from the remote server.

clarkcb Over a year ago

BTW, I know that MYPATH exists on the remote server, so I'm fairly sure that's not the problem.

Alex North-Keys · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-28 23:25:09Z

0

Try this. (I've switched the _ to - for easier typing, and `` to $(), but that's not required)

remote-file-exists () 
{ 
    local SERVER="$1"
    local MYPATH="$2"
    local FILE="$3"
    local FILE_EXISTS="$(ssh "$SERVER" find "'$MYPATH'" -name "'$FILE'" -print)"
    if [ -z "$FILE_EXISTS" ]; then
        return 1
    else
        return 0
    fi
}

You could shorten this substantially. Also, local variables are usually lowercased to avoid implying that they're environment variables:

remote-file-exists () 
{ 
    local server="$1" mypath="$2" file="$3"
    [ ! -z "$(ssh "$server" find "'$mypath'" -name "'$file'" -print)" ]
}

answered Jun 28, 2013 at 23:25

Alex North-Keys

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1 Comment

clarkcb Over a year ago

Thanks! I really like the shortened version.

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