-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'

To reset the admin password of SolusVM I am executing the following command:

php /usr/local/solusvm/scripts/pass.php --type=admin --comm=change --username=<ADMINUSERNAME>

When doing so, the following error message is printed:

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'

What is the reason for this problem? I am running the command as root.

Solution 1:

The characters '<', and '>', are to indicate a place-holder, you should remove them to read:

php /usr/local/solusvm/scripts/pass.php --type=admin --comm=change --username=ADMINUSERNAME