. Exit Code Number Meaning Example Comments
.
. 1 catchall for general errors
. example: let "var1 = 1/0"
. miscellaneous errors, such as "divide by zero"
.
. 2 misuse of shell builtins, according to Bash documentation
. Seldom seen, usually defaults to exit code 1
.
. 126 command invoked cannot execute
. permission problem or command is not an executable
.
. 127 "command not found"
. possible problem with $PATH or a typo
.
. 128 invalid argument to exit
. example: exit 3.14159
. exit takes only integer args in the range 0 - 255
.
. 128+n fatal error signal "n"
. example: kill -9 $PPID of script
. $? returns 137 (128 + 9)
.
. 130 script terminated by Control-C
. Control-C is fatal error signal 2, (130 = 128 + 2, see above)
.
. 255* exit status out of range
. example: exit -1
. exit takes only integer args in the range 0 - 255
.
. According to the table, exit codes 1 - 2, 126 - 165, and 255 [1]
. have special meanings, and should therefore be avoided as user-
. specified exit parameters. Ending a script with exit 127 would
. certainly cause confusion when troubleshooting (is the error a
. "command not found" or a user-defined one?). However, many scripts
. use an exit 1 as a general bailout upon error. Since exit code 1
. signifies so many possible errors, this might not add any additional
. ambiguity, but, on the other hand, it probably would not be very
. informative either.
.
. 07252003