1

When I start my Terminal I get this error. I have no clue how to fix that and where it comes from.

Last login: Fri Nov 30 21:46:06 on ttys000
-bash: export: `/usr/local/bin': not a valid identifier
nohayeye
  • 111

2 Answers2

2

Most likely one of the 'export' command in your .bashrc or .bash_profile is mis-configured.

Open up your favorite text editor and view the file(s) in your home directory called .bashrc and .bash_profile.

Look for any lines that begin with

export

one of the lines should be

export PATH='/usr/local/bin'

there might be spaces between PATH and the first '

export PATH = '/usr/local/bin'  #<----WRONG remove spaces

if not, copy the contents here and let's have a look.

An alternative if you can't find it is to grep through your home dir or /etc:

grep -l -E '/usr/local/bin' .*

make sure you use single quotes to escape the forward slash. then look at the files it lists for the mis-typed export.

Johnnie
  • 256
  • Thank you for your answer! I already checked both files and they were empty (not existed). If I create a ~./bash_profile file with "export PATH='/usr/local/bin'" as content, the error is still there. weird :/ – nohayeye Nov 30 '12 at 21:03
  • @nohayeye Those tend to require a reboot, or at least a logout/in to take effect. Did you try that? – nerdwaller Nov 30 '12 at 21:06
  • It also might be export $PATH somewhere - the dollar sign does not belong there. – choroba Nov 30 '12 at 21:08
  • how about ~/.bash_login, ~/.profile. also how about /etc/profile. – Johnnie Nov 30 '12 at 21:08
  • just modified the answer to use grep to find the file. – Johnnie Nov 30 '12 at 21:20
  • 1
    You cannot just export the whole path to just usr/local/bin – append the existing path as well: export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH – slhck Nov 30 '12 at 21:38
1

OSX has used the path locations in a few files over the 10.6/7/8:

~/.profile     #local user
/etc/profile   #system wide defaults for ^
/etc/paths     #<---This is probably the one you want to check in.

Check all of those for the path's, as @choroba said above the $ is only for the end of the line, so similar to: export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/usr/sbin:$PATH

nerdwaller
  • 17,384
  • That's how they look like: http://cl.ly/LGdu No $PATH

    //EDIT: Sorry wrong screenshot.

     – nohayeye Nov 30 '12 at 21:50
  • @nohayeye Odd. Do command line tools work (outside of vi/m as it appears above)? I like where John was going, but I would take it further. Something like for i in \find / -maxdepth 3 -iname "profile"`; do grep -i "path" ${i}; done` I know that is how it works on linux, so it should work. Though, it may be a long search... – nerdwaller Nov 30 '12 at 21:59
  • I found another topic where someone posted his /etc/paths and /etc/profile. (http://superuser.com/questions/374204/all-commands-are-not-working-on-mac-os-x-lion) I edited my /etc/paths but the "-bash: export: `/usr/local/bin': not a valid identifier" is still there. All command line tools are working. Weeeeird! – nohayeye Nov 30 '12 at 22:03
  • Did you reboot after update? – nerdwaller Nov 30 '12 at 22:03
  • 2
    I found it! There was a strange $PATH line in "/etc/bashrc". I deleted it, now everything is working fine. Thanks you all for your help! :) – nohayeye Nov 30 '12 at 22:05