/etc/shells missing /bin/bash entry

[StephenH]

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=753780

I just entered this bug entry. It cropped up when I went to install the VirtualBox extension for USB support. It kept complaining about lacking the proper entry in /etc/shells, so I took a look and found that there were two entries for /bin/dash and none for /bin/bash. Once I changed one of those entries to /bin/bash, things started working properly again.

It is interesting that I can log on with that entry missing, but it definitely shows up when I use a command that requires /bin/bash.

This is the /etc/shells file from my desktop machine. as it was before I
modified it.

/sbin/nologin
/bin/dash
/bin/zsh
/bin/ksh
/bin/dash

This is the file after I modified it.

/sbin/nologin
/bin/bash
/bin/zsh
/bin/ksh
/bin/dash

How many others have this? Is it a problem with preupgrade or does a fresh install also have this problem?

[RupertPupkin]

Good catch. I did an upgrade via DVD and got that same typo in /etc/shells, though it didn't affect any of my scripts that use #!/bin/bash or any bash command in a terminal.

[openback]

Awesome! Fixing this fixed an issue on my ThinkPad W510 where my brightness keys weren't working.

[stevea]

bash.x86_64 0:4.2.10-5.fc16 seems the source of the problem, but you should ADD these lines to /etc/shells

su -
<passwd>
echo <<EOF >>/etc/shells
/bin/sh
/bin/bash
EOF
exit

[skorzen]

I had the same problem.

Noticed it when trying to install VirtualBox Extensions Pack and it failed. Fortunately, the error message is good enough to understand what's wrong. ;-)

[DHR]

Originally Posted by StephenH

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=753780

I experienced this problem too. Thanks for the heads-up.

From 753780's comment 16, you find that the simplest fix is simply to issue the following command as superuser:

yum reinstall bash

This only works if you have previously applied the bash update, something that you would have done if you keep your system up to date.

[drchrishobson]

I had exactly the same problem.
"yum reinstall bash" worked perfectly for me
Thanks