Does anybody know how to set the PATH variable, such that it remains there even if I close the console and open it again? Because now I do the following in SuSE (Bash):

PATH=$PATH:/{my_path*}
export PATH

during the console session the PATH is set correctly, but when I close it and then open (or after re-login or reboot), it's gone. I have to type it everytime I want to use something from the folder my_path..., which is daft. Any help or suggestions?

I have look in /etc/profile, but there it says I should not alter that file, but use profile.local, which does not exist...

Thanks

There are a few ways how you can accomplish this, depending on what you want exactly:
-if you want this PATH for your user only, put the commands:
PATH=/your/path:$PATH
export PATH
in your $HOME/.bashrc (is read each time you start an interactive bash shell)
or your $HOME/.profile (general)
-if you want to apply it to all users (you need to be root user to have access), then
put the commands in the /etc/bashrc (for Bash sessions) or /etc/profile (general).

That is, assuming you're using the Bash shell (Linux). For other shells,
the commands can be slightly different, and the files ".bashrc" and "/etc/bashrc" have
different names.

For more info, try looking at
man <your shell> (ie "man bash" "man ksh" "man csh", etc).

Note also that some programs and daemons use their own environment ($PATH is commonly referred
to as an environment variable). For instance, cron.
See the daemons' man page for details.

i'm too slow