EC
128
BashERRORCommonExit CodeHIGH confidence

Invalid argument to exit

What this means

Exit code 128 is returned when the `exit` command is used with an invalid argument. The argument must be an integer between 0 and 255.

Why it happens
  1. 1Calling `exit` with a non-numeric string.
  2. 2Calling `exit` with a floating-point number.
  3. 3Calling `exit` with a value greater than 255 (the shell will use the value modulo 256).
How to reproduce

A script attempts to exit with a status code that is not a valid integer.

trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
#!/bin/bash
exit "not-a-number"
echo "This will not be printed"

expected output

bash: exit: not-a-number: numeric argument required
Exit: 128

Fix

Ensure exit argument is an integer

WHEN Using the `exit` command

Ensure exit argument is an integer
status=10
# some logic
exit $status

Why this works

Only pass integers to the `exit` command.

What not to do

✕ Use string messages as exit codes

Exit statuses must be integers for the shell to process them correctly.

Sources

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