Why can't I run a package installed in "/usr/local/bin"?

Question

After compilation of a package, make install installed the package's files in /usr/local/bin but when I double click on the file inside /bin it doesn't work. I followed all the steps to compile the package and I see it is installed in this /usr/local/bin location, but how to I open it?

Can you say which package have you installed? Does it needs a terminal to run? Which steps have you took? What have you tried until now? — desgua, Apr 16 '12 at 22:44
First we should eliminate the obvious. Check the file has execution permission bit set. You can check by right-click and maybe properties then permissions (I'm not too familiar with Nautilus, which is the default file manager for Ubuntu, which I assume you are using). Then in the file manager preferences/settings you need to check any option, if it exists, to run executables when clicked upon. Does the file at least open up in some text editor? — Chan-Ho Suh, Apr 17 '12 at 00:35
I had to make sure mine was executable chmod +x /usr/local/bin/<binary> — JBaczuk, May 16 '18 at 16:54

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Run it by typing its name.

You run the installed program like any command--type its name into a Terminal, optionally add whatever arguments you wish to pass to it, and press Enter.

Check for it with `which`.

Another way to check if it will run is by running which program where program is the name of the program.

That is to say that program is what you'd type to run the program.

Verify its name in the documentation.

If you're not sure of its name, check the documentation accompanying the source code (for example, check the README file in the source code directory.

Did you really install it, or just build it?

Also make sure you remembered to install it. After running make to compile the source code (and optionally make check or make test to test it--usually but not always supported), run sudo make install to install it).

Keep the compiled source code around, and you can run sudo make uninstall later to uninstall it, in case you want to remove it or replace it with a later version.
For more information, see this question, this Ubuntu wiki page (one of the best sources), and this Ubuntu Forums thread.

Try a fresh login, and make sure it's in your PATH.

If the program is installed but which doesn't show it, try a new login. If it still won't run, make sure /usr/local/bin is in your PATH environment variable:

echo $PATH

If it's not, add it: How to add a directory to my path?

Manually make sure it exists.

If ensuring it's in your PATH doesn't fix the problem, make sure the program is actually there.

Check its executable bit.

If it's there but won't run, then as Chan-Ho Suh suggested in a comment, check that the file is marked executable.

You can see this in Nautilus by right-clicking the file and clicking Properties, then clicking the Permissions tab. You can see this in the terminal by running ls -l and seeing if the x bit appears. This wiki page explains how to interpret the permissions (see also this article).

Screenshot showing how to see a file's permissions--including executable permissions--with both Nautilus and ls.

If it's not executable, you can make it executable by running sudo chmod +x program (in the /usr/local/bin directory where it resides).

Or, if you wish to use Nautilus, you can run Nautilus (Alt+F2, run gksu nautilus), and in the root Nautilus window, its Permissions tab will let you make changes.

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As a root Nautilus window will let you do just about anything, you can break your Ubuntu system or lose data if you're not careful. Remember that any file opened or program run from a root Nautilus window gives you an application running as root. So you should close the root Nautilus window as soon as you're done with it.

Provide more information to get further help.

If none of this works, we need more information. You can edit your question to provide details about exactly what happened when you did all this stuff. (If you're not the author, you can post your own, new question.)