What's the root cause of error "Failed dependencies: /bin/sh is needed by xxx" on RHEL?

Question

When I install a rpm package on RHEL using rpm, I got a error message just like "Failed dependencies: /bin/sh is needed by xxx".

I checked that /bin/sh is there and it links to /bin/bash and bash works well.

I found a solution that to add --nodeps to the rpm command to solve this problem. But I really want to know what is the root cause?

You should make your comment an answer then mark that answer as correct. — Forrest, Mar 09 '13 at 04:56
Could you please tell me how to make my comment as an correct answer? — Jeff7566, Apr 01 '13 at 03:04
There should be a button below my answer that allows you to add an answer. Once you've added an answer, then just click the check mark to the left of the answer you created. — Forrest, Apr 01 '13 at 05:33

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 07 '14 at 00:57

How to reproduce this error on a fresh install of Ubuntu 14.04.

Fresh install of Ubuntu 14.04
Do a sudo apt-get install rpm
download the nomachine rpm 64 bit linux from https://www.nomachine.com/download/download&id=4
Do a chmod +x nomachine_4.2.25_1_x86_64.rpm on it

extract it like this:

el@apollo:~Desktop$ sudo rpm -i nomachine_4.2.25_1_x86_64.rpm
rpm:  RPM should not be used directly install RPM packages, use Alien instead!
rpm: However assuming you know what you are doing...
error: Failed dependencies:
/bin/sh is needed by nomachine-4.2.25-1.x86_64

So that is the error. To fix it I followed its advice to use alien.
```
sudo alien -i nomachine_4.2.25_1_x86_64.rpm --scripts
```

And no machine installed correctly.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 03 '13 at 05:10

I have find root cause for this problem. The rpm-libs is missing on my machine. I reinstall rpm-libs then everything is ok. Note: After installing rpm-libs, if the problem still exists, please try "rpm -v --rebuilddb --define="_rpmlock_path /var/lock/rpm"".

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 06 '13 at 03:41

0

seems to me as though there is most likely a problem with your RPM database. Have you removed or modified it in any way lately? I'd start with the Fedora documentation that explains how to rebuild the database.

answered Mar 06 '13 at 03:41

Forrest

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Before I used the "--nodeps" to solve this problem, I have tried using "rpm --rebuilddb", but it does not work. – Jeff7566 Mar 06 '13 at 04:30

What's the root cause of error "Failed dependencies: /bin/sh is needed by xxx" on RHEL?

3 Answers3