path variable

ananthkadalur · 08-03-2011, 01:18 AM

Hi...I am using CentOS5.5 & everytime it is showing command not found.
if I export the path as below it will be working fine until a reboot. Again same error i.e command not found if I open new terminal. Everytime I am exporting as below
#export PATH=/sbin/:$PATH
#export PATH=/usr/sbin/:$PATH
#export PATH=/usr/bin/:$PATH
#export PATH=/bin/:$PATH
So can anybody please tell me how can I set these permanently as that the paths should automatically be exported for everyone user whenever the system boots. And command completion also should happen for eg. #fdi(press tab), then it should show available options such as fdisk, etc.

jschiwal · 08-03-2011, 01:23 AM

If you are using bash, then edit your PATH variable in your .profile (or .bash_login) file, which ever is present. Then it will be modified every time you log in.
See the bash info pages. They explain which files are sourced when you log in. If you are using another shell, consult its man pages to determine which shell to use.

On some distro's, /sbin and /usr/sbin/ aren't in a regular users path, and you are expected to include the full path when you use sudo.

ananthkadalur · 08-03-2011, 02:05 AM

Sir, can you please tell me which file I have to edit from these below with an example.
[linux@cent0primary ~]$ ls -l .bash*
-rw------- 1 linux linux 14858 Aug 3 12:26 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 linux linux 33 Jan 22 2009 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 linux linux 256 Aug 3 12:25 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 linux linux 124 Jan 22 2009 .bashrc

Because I edited .bash_profile as below & I checked it by just logout & login again. it is not working.

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
PATH1=/sbin/:$PATH /usr/sbin/:$PATH /bin/:$PATH /usr/bin/:$PATH
export PATH
export PATH1

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschiwal

If you are using bash, then edit your PATH variable in your .profile (or .bash_login) file, which ever is present. Then it will be modified every time you log in.
See the bash info pages. They explain which files are sourced when you log in. If you are using another shell, consult its man pages to determine which shell to use.

On some distro's, /sbin and /usr/sbin/ aren't in a regular users path, and you are expected to include the full path when you use sudo.

jschiwal · 08-03-2011, 02:27 AM

Edit your .bash_profile file.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bash info page

When Bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as a
non-interactive shell with the `--login' option, it first reads and
executes commands from the file `/etc/profile', if that file exists.
After reading that file, it looks for `~/.bash_profile',
`~/.bash_login', and `~/.profile', in that order, and reads and
executes commands from the first one that exists and is readable.

/etc/profile is a system wide file. Changes there will effect all users, not only yourself. On some systems, you leave it alone but edit /etc/profile.local instead. Read the /etc/profile file. It will tell you in the comments if this is advised.

catkin · 08-03-2011, 02:32 AM

What is the output from these commands:

Code:

cat ~/.bash_profile
source ~/.bash_profile
echo $PATH

BTW, this looks wrong

Code:

PATH1=/sbin/:$PATH /usr/sbin/:$PATH /bin/:$PATH /usr/bin/:$PATH

better

Code:

PATH1=/sbin/:/usr/sbin/:/bin/:/usr/bin/:$PATH

but it does not affect $PATH which is the real problem.

ananthkadalur · 08-03-2011, 03:36 AM

Hi..please see the below output
[linux@cent0primary ~]$ cat ~/.bash_profile
# .bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
. ~/.bashrc
fi

# User specific environment and startup programs

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
export PATH
[linux@cent0primary ~]$

There is no output for this below command
[linux@cent0primary ~]$ source ~/.bash_profile
[linux@cent0primary ~]$ echo $?
0
[linux@cent0primary ~]$

[linux@cent0primary ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/linux/bin:/home/linux/bin:/home/linux/bin
[linux@cent0primary ~]$

I added these below two lines before "export PATH" in .bash_profile file in root user's home(/root) directory as well as linux user's home directory.

PATH1=/sbin/:/usr/sbin/:/bin/:/usr/bin/:$PATH
export PATH1

The path variable has been set to only root user and it is working fine i.e we no need to give full path of command. But for linux user it is not working. everytime I have to export the path manually.
As you told I edited /etc/profile and & added path1 entry as below after HISTSIZE

HOSTNAME=`/bin/hostname`
HISTSIZE=1000
PATH1=/sbin/:/usr/sbin/:/bin/:/usr/bin/:$PATH

& also added an entry for path1 in export line as below
export PATH USER LOGNAME MAIL HOSTNAME HISTSIZE PATH1 INPUTRC

Although, The path variable is working fine for only root user and not for any other user.
I checked it after 2 reboot also but it is not working apart from root.

Quote:

Originally Posted by catkin

What is the output from these commands:

Code:

cat ~/.bash_profile
source ~/.bash_profile
echo $PATH

BTW, this looks wrong

Code:

PATH1=/sbin/:$PATH /usr/sbin/:$PATH /bin/:$PATH /usr/bin/:$PATH

better

Code:

PATH1=/sbin/:/usr/sbin/:/bin/:/usr/bin/:$PATH

but it does not affect $PATH which is the real problem.

jv2112 · 08-03-2011, 05:02 AM

I have always edited my ~.bashrc file for path and I am all set.

catkin · 08-03-2011, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ananthkadalur

[linux@cent0primary ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/linux/bin:/home/linux/bin:/home/linux/bin

Thanks for the reply with information. The part quoted above shows the ~/.bash_profile is exporting PATH as expected. What is the evidence for the "other user" pat of "Although, The path variable is working fine for only root user and not for any other user. I checked it after 2 reboot also but it is not working apart from root".

If $PATH is not set after the full bash login process then either the users do not have bash for their shell (check /etc/passwd) or one of the other bash initialisation files is unsetting PATH. Is BASH_ENV set?