bash2026-08-14

Error When Running clear in Bash

I encoutered the following error when I ssh into a really dated ubuntu server(1804 for crying out loud) and run the clear command:

~$ clear
terminals database is inaccessible

clear relies on the ncurses "terminfo" database. This error means Ubuntu can't locate or read that database—often because TERMINFO is misconfigured or ncurses-term is missing.

The following commands works so I put them at the end of ~/.bashrc.

unset TERMINFO TERMINFO_DIRS
export TERM=xterm-256color
clear

Note

If the above works, remove any TERMINFO or TERMINFO_DIRS assignments from ~/.bashrc, ~/.profile, or ~/.zshrc.