Bash syntax error: unexpected end of file

Question

Forgive me for this is a very simple script in Bash. Here's the code:

#!/bin/bash
# june 2011

if [ $# -lt 3 -o $# -gt 3 ]; then
   echo "Error... Usage: $0 host database username"
   exit 0
fi

after running sh file.sh:

syntax error: unexpected end of file

Answer 1

I think file.sh is with CRLF line terminators.

run

dos2unix file.sh

then the problem will be fixed.

You can install dos2unix in ubuntu with this:

sudo apt-get install dos2unix

Answer 2

Another thing to check (just occured to me):

• terminate bodies of single-line functions with semicolon

I.e. this innocent-looking snippet will cause the same error:

die () { test -n "$@" && echo "$@"; exit 1 }

To make the dumb parser happy:

die () { test -n "$@" && echo "$@"; exit 1; }

Answer 3

i also just got this error message by using the wrong syntax in an if clause

• else if (syntax error: unexpected end of file)
• elif (correct syntax)

i debugged it by commenting bits out until it worked

Answer 4

an un-closed if => fi clause will raise this as well

tip: use trap to debug, if your script is huge...

e.g.

set -x
trap read debug

Answer 5

I got this answer from this similar problem on StackOverflow

Open the file in Vim and try

:set fileformat=unix

Convert eh line endings to unix endings and see if that solves the issue. If editing in Vim, enter the command :set fileformat=unix and save the file. Several other editors have the ability to convert line endings, such as Notepad++ or Atom

Thanks @lemongrassnginger

Answer 6

I had the problem when I wrote "if - fi" statement in one line:

if [ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ]; then . ~/.git-completion.bash fi

Write multiline solved my problem:

if [ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ]; then 
    . ~/.git-completion.bash
 fi

Answer 7

This was happening for me when I was trying to call a function using parens, e.g.

run() {
  echo hello
}

run()

should be:

run() {
  echo hello
}

run

Answer 8

So I found this post and the answers did not help me but i was able to figure out why it gave me the error. I had a

cat > temp.txt < EOF
some content
EOF

The issue was that i copied the above code to be in a function and inadvertently tabbed the code. Need to make sure the last EOF is not tabbed.

Answer 9

on cygwin I needed:-

 export SHELLOPTS
 set -o igncr

in .bash_profile . This way I didn't need to run unix2dos

Answer 10

FOR WINDOWS:

In my case, I was working on Windows OS and I got the same error while running autoconf.

• I simply open configure.ac file with my NOTEPAD++ IDE.

• Then I converted the File with EOL conversion into Windows (CR LF) as follows:

  EDIT -> EOL CONVERSION -> WINDOWS (CR LF)

Answer 11

Missing a closing brace on a function definition will cause this error as I just discovered.

function whoIsAnIidiot() {
    echo "you are for forgetting the closing brace just below this line !"

Which of course should be like this...

function whoIsAnIidiot() {
    echo "not you for sure"
}

Answer 12

In my case, there is a redundant \ in the like following:

function foo() {
    python tools/run_net.py \
                           --cfg configs/Kinetics/X3D_8x8_R50.yaml \
                           NUM_GPUS 1 \
                           TRAIN.BATCH_SIZE 8 \
                           SOLVER.BASE_LR 0.0125 \
                           DATA.PATH_TO_DATA_DIR ./afs/kinetics400 \
                           DATA.PATH_PREFIX  ./afs/kinetics400  \  # Error
}

There is NOT a \ at the end of DATA.PATH_PREFIX ./afs/kinetics400

Answer 13

I was able to cut and paste your code into a file and it ran correctly. If you execute it like this it should work:

Your "file.sh":

#!/bin/bash
# june 2011

if [ $# -lt 3 -o $# -gt 3 ]; then
   echo "Error... Usage: $0 host database username"
   exit 0
fi

The command:

$ ./file.sh arg1 arg2 arg3

Note that "file.sh" must be executable:

$ chmod +x file.sh

You may be getting that error b/c of how you're doing input (w/ a pipe, carrot, etc.). You could also try splitting the condition into two:

if [ $# -lt 3 ] || [ $# -gt 3 ]; then
   echo "Error... Usage: $0 host database username"
   exit 0
fi

Or, since you're using bash, you could use built-in syntax:

if [[ $# -lt 3 || $# -gt 3 ]]; then
   echo "Error... Usage: $0 host database username"
   exit 0
fi

And, finally, you could of course just check if 3 arguments were given (clean, maintains POSIX shell compatibility):

if [ $# -ne 3 ]; then
   echo "Error... Usage: $0 host database username"
   exit 0
fi

Answer 14

Apparently, some versions of the shell can also emit this message when the final line of your script lacks a newline.

Answer 15

For those who don't have dos2unix installed (and don't want to install it):

Remove trailing \r character that causes this error:

sed -i 's/\r$//' filename

Details from this StackOverflow answer. This was really helpful. https://stackoverflow.com/a/32912867/7286223

Answer 16

Make sure the name of the directory in which the .sh file is present does not have a space character. e.g: Say if it is in a folder called 'New Folder', you're bound to come across the error that you've cited. Instead just name it as 'New_Folder'. I hope this helps.

Answer 17

In Ubuntu:

$ gedit ~/.profile

Then, File -> Save as and set end line to Unix/Linux

Answer 18

I know I am too late to the party. Hope this may help someone.

Check your .bashrc file. Perhaps rename or move it.

Discussion here: Unable to source a simple bash script

Answer 19

For people using MacOS:

If you received a file with Windows format and wanted to run on MacOS and seeing this error, run these commands.

brew install dos2unix
sh <file.sh>

Answer 20

I just cut-and-pasted your example into a file; it ran fine under bash. I don't see any problems with it.

For good measure you may want to ensure it ends with a newline, though bash shouldn't care. (It runs for me both with and without the final newline.)

You'll sometimes see strange errors if you've accidentally embedded a control character in the file. Since it's a short script, try creating a new script by pasting it from your question here on StackOverflow, or by simply re-typing it.

What version of bash are you using? (bash --version)

Good luck!

Answer 21

If the the script itself is valid and there are no syntax errors, then some possible causes could be:

• Invalid end-of-lines (for example, \r\n instead of \n)
• Presence of the byte order mark (BOM) at the beginning of the file

Both can be fixed using vim or vi.

To fix line endings open the file in vim and from the command mode type:

:set ff=unix

To remove the BOM use:

:set nobomb

Answer 22

If you're using vscode you can create a .editorconfig file and put this in it:

[*.sh]
end_of_line = cr

then save your bash files again, as far as I understood when you save a file vscode by default uses crlf as end of line to present line breaks.

Answer 23

I found @Juniar 's answer very helpful https://stackoverflow.com/a/56693268/5838310

Mine was originally set as Windows(CR LF) and reported error; when I changed it to Unix (LF), it worked!