When the bash shell environment doesn't find php-cli it might be due to environmental paths of the user.
As the user in a bash shell, type 'env' and look for the $PATH.
Once one finds the path the the php-cli (which might show as 'php'), one can change the bash shell environment with an alias for php that points to the php-cli
nano .bashrc
Just below the #User specfic aliases and functions comment
alias php=/path/to/bin/php
Save the .bashrc file
Log out. Log back in. Or reload the environment ... source .bashrc
which php should show your alias
and then the scripts in moodlecode/admin/cli/ can be run without the full path to the php-cli.
from within moodlecode/admin/cli/
php nameofscript.php
Help on the scripts will still suggest /usr/bin/php.
Note: I've had to do this with 2 different providers ... both using cPanel and ea-php#.# for multiple versions of PHP. If one updates the ea-php to a higher version of PHP then the alias path might need to change.
'spirit of sharing', Ken