Learn how to resolve Debian Certbot command not found error. Our Server Management Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

Debian Certbot command not found | Fixed

If you have been running into the  “command not found” error when trying to run the certbot command on Debian, you have come to the right place.

This error lets us know that the Certbot tool is not installed or not properly configured in our system. In other words, the shell cannot locate the certbot executable in the system’s PATH.

How to resolve the error

Let’s take a look at how to troubleshoot and fix the “command not found” error:

• First, we have to make sure that Certbot is installed on your system with this command:

  which certbot

  If Certbot is installed, this command displays the path to the certbot executable. If nothing is displayed, Certbot is not installed.
• In case Certbot is not installed, we can install it using the package manager. For Debian, you can run:

  sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-apache_or_nginx

  Here, we have to replace apache_or_nginx with the correct plugin for our web server. For example, if we are using Apache we have to use python3-certbot-apache.
• Once we install Certbot, we have to refresh our shell environment to recognize the new command. We can do by running this command:

  source ~/.bashrc

  In case we are using a different shell, we have to replace .bashrc with the correct file.
• Our experts recommend making sure the directory with the Certbot executable is included in our system’s PATH. In fact, it is usually found at  /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin.

  Furthermore, we can check our PATH by running:

  echo $PATH

  In case the directory with Certbot is not listed, we have to add it to our PATH. This is done by modifying our shell’s profile configuration file and adding a line as seen here:

  export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/certbot/directory
  Here, we have to replace /path/to/certbot/directory with the actual path to the directory.
• Additionally, we have to ensure the command is typed correctly.
• In some scenarios, we may have to reinstall Certbot to resolve the error.

With the above troubleshooting tips, we will be able to resolve the “command not found” error in Debian Certbot in no time.

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Conclusion

Today, our Support Techs demonstrated how to fix the Debian Certbot command not found error.