source: not found in shell script?

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, Sep 21 '15 at 02:34
I have `#!/bin/bash` in my script, and `. ~/env/lib/bin/activate` is ok, but why `source` is not ok? — roger, Sep 21 '15 at 02:37
Rather, *don't* use `sh start.sh`. Run the script with `./start.sh`. Don't explicitly invoke the shell. — John Kugelman, Sep 21 '15 at 02:43

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 21 '15 at 02:42

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

1 Answers1