Starting service on Linux throws a No such file or directory error

Problem

After creating an init script for an application, running the service results in the following error:

env: /etc/init.d/your_init_script: No such file or directory

However, despite this error the init script can be seen in the correct location

 

Diagnosis

Environment

• This issue may occurs on *nix systems

Diagnostic Steps

• Run the following command: cat -v /etc/init.d/your_init_script  
• Examine the output, looking for ^M at the end of each line. These are carriage return characters.

Cause

Carriage return characters have been inserted into your init script. Shell scripts may not be read correctly when unexpected carriage returns are encountered. Typically this might occur when the file was created via a Windows system, text editor, or terminal, as Windows uses carriage return + line feed characters for line endings, whereas *nix systems only use line feed characters

Resolution

Remove the carriage return characters from the init script. This can be done with a sed one-liner:

sed -i -e 's/\r//g' /etc/init.d/your_init_script

This will remove the carriage return characters, after which you can start the service successfully