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In Ubuntu, /bin/sh points to /bin/dash by default.

I want to use /bin/bash as my system-wide shell for /bin/sh. What is the best way to do this?

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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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As shown on this Ubuntu wiki page, you should run

sudo dpkg-reconfigure dash

and select the option not to use /bin/dash as the default shell. Making the change this way will not only fix the symlink /bin/sh, but will also configure other parts of your system to behave correctly, such as making sure that man sh points to the bash manpage instead of the dash one.

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  • Good to know. At the risk of hitting some mined terrain here: What would be a use-case for this?
    – Sebastian Stark
    Aug 12, 2018 at 22:36
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    It isn't terribly uncommon for certain software to require this. For example, building Linux From Scratch requires /bin/sh to point to /bin/bash.
    – mkasberg
    Aug 13, 2018 at 15:05

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