Windows 10, MobaXterm, "bash: /bin/chmod: cannot execute binary file"

bash: /bin/chmod: cannot execute binary file.

Similar to another question here on the boards.

I tried answer suggestion, but to no avail:

1. uninstalled MobaXterm

2. re-installed MobaXterm

Still get:

bash: /bin/chmod: cannot execute binary file

The same response when I try other commands, like ls, mv, etc.

3 Answers

In order to restart from a clean install please try this procedure:

• Open MobaXterm.
• Run open / command from a local terminal => the Windows Explorer should open in your slash folder.
• Close MobaXterm.
• Rename your slash folder at Windows Explorer from slash to slash-old
• Open MobaXterm
• Verify if it now works as expected.

I just had the same issue, and spent good couple hours trying to solve this.

The solution was to delete the profile, and then Run as Administrator - apparently when you don't, Cygwin is unable to create proper symlinks to its utilities.

I found an easy, quick solution is to either delete, or rename, the MobaXterm/slash folder. Then restart MobaXterm. Upon restart, MobaXterm will rebuild the slash folder, and all is well. I am guessing that a contributing cause, at least in my case, is that I have set NotePad++ as the "favorite" editor, and tend I toggle back and forth between opening the files from MobaXterm and opening them directly from the MS Windoze context. This is probably confusing MobaXterm.