history command not working

Question

I am a beginner with Ubuntu 22.04.2 Desktop. Some of the commands I used before do not work right now, and history is one of them. Previously, I used MobaXterm to only download and upload files. When I used my account on Ubuntu, this is the same message I got from both of them.

You've not said what Ubuntu product/release you're using. Have you changed from the default shell? (if you use different shells you may find you have different commands available, but have lost some of the BASH default commands) — guiverc, Mar 03 '23 at 22:09
Your screenshot suggests you are using sh - history is a feature of more full-featured shells like bash, zsh etc. - see Arrow keys, Home, End, tab-complete keys not working in shell — steeldriver, Mar 03 '23 at 22:12
I edited my question for more information. and the version of Ubuntu is 22.04.2 LTS — Fateme Nazari, Mar 03 '23 at 22:12
echo "$SHELL" to see which shell you're using. Read the man page for that shell. — waltinator, Mar 03 '23 at 22:38
when I used echo "$SHELL" command I got /bin/sh. I googled it and it seems that I should change the sh to bash and there is a command like chsh and when I use that I got permission error. — Fateme Nazari, Mar 04 '23 at 07:48

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 04 '23 at 15:59

Based on your screenshot, you are using the sh shell. On Ubuntu systems, /bin/sh is dash, the Debian Almquist shell, which is a lightweight shell that does not provide shell history features.

To switch to Ubuntu's default interactive shell, bash, you can do any one of

type bash to open a new interactive shell within your sh shell
type exec bash to replace the current sh shell with bash
type chsh -s /bin/bash to set your default login shell to bash - you will be prompted to enter your password to confirm the change.

See also Arrow keys, Home, End, tab-complete keys not working in shell

thank you so much. The first one worked. but for chsh -s /bin/bash it says I cannot change it. so it seems I have to use bash command every time. — Fateme Nazari, Mar 05 '23 at 18:04

history command not working

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