change PATH variable in Suse 9.0

jesus_edu · 03-28-2004, 02:16 PM

hello!
I'm relatively new to Linux, I bought Suse 9.0, and I am trying to learn as much as possible.
I would like to modify my PATH variable, i tried to write on the console PATH=$PATH:/:.
it was okay, but then I closed the console, then opened another one, and the PATH variable was still the old one. How can I change the default PATH variable?
Thanks

Andrew Benton · 03-28-2004, 02:43 PM

There are several places that variables can be set. Globally (for all users) you could put the line
export PATH=/whatever/
in the file /etc/profile or for each user you can put it in the file .bash_profile or .bashrc in the users home folder. The dot in front of the name makes the file a hidden file.

jesus_edu · 03-28-2004, 04:29 PM

i went to this file you told, and I found the following commentary at the beginning:
# PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE /etc/profile. There are chances that your changes
# will be lost during system upgrades. Instead use /etc/profile.local for
# your local settings, favourite global aliases, VISUAL and EDITOR
# variables, etc ...
I then tried to look for /etc/profile.local, but that file doesn't exist. What must I do?

mikshaw · 03-28-2004, 06:56 PM

type, as root, "$EDITOR /etc/profile.local" (creating a new file), and add your commands.

Truthfully, though, this warning isn't a serious one. You can still edit the original files. They're just mentioning this because if you do any major upgrade your global files may be overwritten.
They say the same thing for other configuration files as well, but I think they assume most people are using their GUI tools and don't know how to edit a text file.

jesus_edu · 03-28-2004, 07:00 PM

and what commands should I write on the profile.local?
thanks for your help..

Mr.Radar · 03-29-2004, 09:33 AM

profile.local is probably just interpreted as a shell script (list of commands) when Bash is starting up. I'd imagine that it's be something like

Quote:

#profile.local
#local system settings

#add / to the PATH variable
PATH=$PATH:/
export PATH

The lines with # in the front are comments that Bash ignores while processing this file.