How To Fix "/Usr/Bin/Env: Php: No Such File Or Directory" Error When Using Composer?

Checking PHP installation and version

To verify if PHP is installed on your system, open a terminal and type:

php -v

This command shows the PHP version if it's installed. If you see an error message, PHP might not be installed or not in your system's PATH.

For CentOS 7 with PHP 7.1, you can also try:

php71 -v

If this command works, it confirms that PHP 7.1 is installed on your system.

php -m

Verifying Composer installation

To confirm if Composer is correctly installed, run:

composer --version

This command should show the Composer version. If you get a "command not found" error, Composer might not be installed or not in your system's PATH.

Common Composer installation problems include:

• Incorrect installation directory: Make sure Composer is installed in a directory included in your system's PATH.

• Incorrect file permissions: Check if the Composer file has the correct executable permissions.

• PHP not in PATH: Composer requires PHP to run. If PHP is not in your system's PATH, Composer will fail to execute.

• Incompatible PHP version: Make sure your PHP version meets Composer's requirements.

To fix these issues, you may need to reinstall Composer or change your system's PATH settings.

Creating a symbolic link to PHP

A symbolic link, or symlink, is a file that points to another file or directory. It works as a shortcut, letting you access the target file or directory from multiple locations without making copies.

To create a symbolic link for PHP, use this command:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/php71 /usr/bin/php

This command creates a symlink named "php" in the "/usr/bin" directory, pointing to the "php71" executable. This helps the system find PHP when running Composer.

ls -l /usr/bin/php

Updating system PATH for PHP

The system PATH is a list of directories your operating system searches for executable files. To change the system PATH:

1. Open the ".bash_profile" file in your home directory:

nano ~/.bash_profile

2. Add this line at the end of the file:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin

3. Save the file and exit the editor.

4. Apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

To add PHP to the PATH:

1. Find your PHP installation directory. For PHP 7.1 on CentOS, it's usually "/usr/bin/php71".

2. Open the ".bash_profile" file again:

nano ~/.bash_profile

3. Add the PHP directory to your PATH:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/php71

4. Save the file and apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

After making these changes, Composer should be able to find and use PHP correctly.