Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory

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When ssh into a production server, Debian, and noticed there is a warning or error as follows:

Terminal

manpath: can't set the locale; make sure $LC_* and $LANG are correct

mkyong@test-server:~$

Check the server’s locale; there are warning about the LC_CTYPE and LC_ALL variables.

Terminal

$ locale
locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_ALL to default locale: No such file or directory
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=
LC_CTYPE=UTF-8
LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_NAME="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

1. Solution (Linux): Reconfigure locales.

On Linux, try to reconfigure the locale to en_US.UTF-8.

Terminal

$ sudo locale-gen "en_US.UTF-8"
Generating locales...
en_US.UTF-8... done
Generation complete.

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales
Generating locales...
en_US.UTF-8... up-to-date
Generation complete.

2. Solution (macOS) : Terminal sets environment variables.

When we login over ssh from macOS to Linux, the terminal default automatically sets environment variables.

In Terminal, clicks Terminal -> Settings... -> Profiles -> Advanced tab. There’s a checkbox for sets environment variables on startup, Uncheck it. Open a new terminal and log in via ssh again; the locale should be correct now.

terminal set environment variable

References

mkyong

Founder of Mkyong.com, passionate Java and open-source technologies. If you enjoy my tutorials, consider making a donation to these charities.

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Toto
2 years ago

Does not work

sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
   LANGUAGE = “en_US.UTF-8”,
   LC_ALL = “en_US.UTF-8”,
   LC_MEASUREMENT = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_PAPER = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_MONETARY = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_NAME = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_CTYPE = “en_US.UTF-8”,
   LC_ADDRESS = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_NUMERIC = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_MESSAGES = “en_US.UTF-8”,
   LC_TELEPHONE = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_IDENTIFICATION = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LC_TIME = “fr_FR.UTF-8”,
   LANG = “en_US.UTF-8”
   are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale (“C”).
locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_MESSAGES to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_ALL to default locale: No such file or directory
/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure: locales is broken or not fully installed

It has been a week I am on it… I go around circles….

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