How do I modify my PATH so that the changes are available in every Terminal session

Question

I want to add a directory to search my search path. I know I have to modify the PATH environment variable. However, I want the change to be permanent, so that it is always in effect, for every Terminal (bash) window I open.

There is an overload of confusing and possibly conflicting information in https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnvironmentVariables

I am using Ubuntu 10.04. Suppose I want to add /usr/local/foo to my PATH. Which file (.bashrc, .profile, .bash_login, etc...) should I modify and what should the new line(s) look like?

score 106 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 03 '17 at 15:40

106

The following command adds a path to your current path:

export PATH=$PATH:/my/custom/path

If you want your setup to execute this command every time, there are a number of places where you can put it. When you login, the following scripts will be executed in this order:

/etc/profile      (which starts by loading everything in /etc/profile.d)
~/.profile        (which starts by loading ~/.bashrc if you are running bash)

Notes

~/.profile is only loaded if ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bash_login DO NOT EXIST. Otherwise, at least bash, will load them instead. It is advisable to use .profile and not the bash specific scripts. So, if in these attempts you created .bash_login, please delete it now.
~/.bashrc is only loaded if you are running an interactive session. (something with a prompt where you can actually type something).
~/.bashrc is loaded again and again, every time you open up a new terminal. So a new tab in gnome-terminal, a new virtual terminal, etc. So even if you don't login again, .bashrc is loaded (and thereby resets its environment) every time you open a new shell.
Things like byobu should really go into .profile, (otherwise it won't work ;-)
Things like paths should go into .profile if you want them to work outside of the interactive sessions. (say when you press Alt+F2 in GNOME)

edited Jun 03 '17 at 15:40

Zanna

70,465

answered Sep 06 '10 at 18:25

Ralf

2,156

1

I'll mark this as the answer if you update it to include the requested export line that should be added to .profile. – Joshua Flanagan Sep 08 '10 at 00:13
This used to be valid only for console logins (e.g. ssh, or the virtual terminals accessible for Ctrl+Alt+Fx). I didn't know that /etc/gdm/Xsession sources ~/.profile these days. Neat! – Marius Gedminas Sep 09 '10 at 14:31
Yeah, i didn't mention /etc/gdm/Xsession specifically or ~/.Xprofile because there are better ways to make graphical programs launch at start up, which does garantuee that the rest of the environment is already loaded. – Ralf Sep 10 '10 at 15:14
1

to make this answer more comprehensive please add MattH's comment about sourcing ~/.profile to activate changes without a logoff/on cycle. – matt wilkie Nov 17 '10 at 21:36
I am running 10.10 and I made sure ~/.bash_profile and ~/bash_login don't exist but my ~/.profile still doesn't seem to be executed when I open the terminal I tested by adding echo hello to the bottom of it and its not showing up. – Nathan Schwermann Feb 20 '11 at 07:47
2

@JoshuaFlanagan: export is not necessary for PATH. PATH is already an environment variable (as opposed to a shell variable) – MestreLion Apr 11 '13 at 08:26
1

@schwiz: ~/.profile is not executed on each terminal, it is executed before, when your desktop session starts. The one executed on every terminal is ~/.bashrc – MestreLion Apr 11 '13 at 08:28

Joshua Flanagan · Answer 2 · 2010-09-08T00:12:46.130

23

I got it to work by modifying ~/.profile

It looks like adding ~/bin to my path was a bad example, as there is already code in ~/.profile to do that automatically, if the directory exists.

To add the usr/local/foo directory to my path for every session going forward, I add/edit the following line at the end of my .profile:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/foo

However, to make this take effect, I needed to log out and log back in (simply closing the Terminal window and opening a new one did NOT work).

edited Sep 08 '10 at 00:12

answered Sep 06 '10 at 17:07

Joshua Flanagan

1,153

4

Make that export PATH="$PATH:/usr/foo", in case you ever have spaces or other special characters in $PATH. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Sep 06 '10 at 19:52
3

You can reload the current environment without logging out by typing ". ~/.profile" – hookenz Sep 07 '10 at 02:30
1

@MattH: no you can't. if you source ~/.profile in a given terminal, it will be effective for that terminal only – MestreLion Apr 11 '13 at 08:32
@MestreLion - you are right. I was mentioning it for convenience for the current terminal. Forgot to add that. – hookenz Apr 18 '13 at 01:18
What if I already have something in PATH? Could I append to it like PATHS work in Windows? For example I have PATH="$HOME/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" already. – Gabriel Fair Oct 27 '17 at 22:29

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 08 '15 at 10:43

8

To reload .profile and take changes effects without logout/login, run:

source ~/.profile

answered Dec 08 '15 at 10:43

Bruno Freitas

189

3

this one should be a comment to previous answer – Pavlo Zhukov Apr 11 '19 at 11:43
@Pavlo, or maybe editing that answer and adding it would be more appropriate. Thank You for the comment. And, Bruno, for the answer anyway - it was useful to me. – kcpr Feb 15 '24 at 21:38

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 21 '21 at 09:09

Before setting a PATH variable, you need to understand why you are setting the PATH variable. The Path variable is where the system tries to search when you issue some command in your terminal.

Example: whereis ls command shows ls is there inside /bin. The ls command only works if /bin is registered in the path variable.

echo $PATH gives the currently registered locations. If you want to add another custom location to your path variable there are several ways you can try.

```
PATH="$PATH:/someLocation"
```
New Path variable is only valid till your terminal closes. No other terminal will be affected. No subprocess can use the new variable.
```
export PATH="$PATH:/someLocation"
```
New Path variable is valid till your terminal close also all subprocesses will get the new Path variable. No other terminal will get a new variable.
```
export PATH="$PATH:/someLocation"
```

Add this line into the .bashrc file present in your home folder. Which is called every time a new bash shell is created. This means you get a new Path variable exported every time a new terminal is opened. But this variable is created for only bash shells. You can use the old Path variable in other shells(ksh, sh, ssh ..).

```
export PATH="$PATH:/someLocation"
```

Add this line into the .profile file present in your home folder. Which is called every time you log in. This means you get a new Path variable exported every time your session is created. Which is available everywhere.

If you can't find the .profile or .bashrc file in your home folder, try to create a new one. Sometimes these files won't be created by the system.

ps: Works in ubuntu. Open to any corrections.

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 03 '17 at 15:42

4

You can add the path to /etc/environment, but be aware that no shell expansions will work; the variable will be set to literally the characters you enter.

edited Jun 03 '17 at 15:42

Zanna

70,465

answered Sep 08 '10 at 12:28

sagarchalise

23,988

Out of the two methods(adding export command in .profile and adding full path name to PATH in etc/environment), which should be preferred? – Rohan Bhatia Jan 03 '18 at 13:14

Denner Vieira · Answer 6 · 2019-11-11T13:43:56.990

3

You can modify the .bashrc file in your $HOME directory.

At the very end of this file, add the line:

export PATH="$HOME/directory_to_include_in_path/:$PATH"

You can also modify the .profile file, also in your $HOME directory, including the following line:

PATH="$HOME/directory_to_include_in_path/:$PATH"

This worked for me.

edited Nov 11 '19 at 13:43

answered Jun 03 '17 at 14:23

Denner Vieira

31
3

2

I don't see what this adds to the other answers which explain more thoroughly. – Zanna Jun 03 '17 at 15:47
This is correct answer if you want change to affect terminal windows. Changing .profile has no effect in terminal windows. – Markus Laire Nov 01 '19 at 12:36

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 26 '19 at 06:31

0

If you have ohmyzsh goto your home directory via the terminal and type

nano .zshrc

At the end of the file enter

export PATH="$HOME/directory_to_include_in_path/:$PATH"

Finally restart your terminal. Worked for me. Hope this was helpful.

answered May 26 '19 at 06:31

Vallie

101
3

Vickie · Answer 8 · 2020-04-05T21:45:48.600

This is what worked for me

While setting JAVA_HOME variable

In the Terminal, run to create the variable

echo 'export JAVA_HOME=“/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_181.jdk/Contents/Home' | sudo tee -a ~/.profile

run to add the variable to the Path

echo 'export PATH="${JAVA_HOME}/bin:$PATH"' | sudo tee -a ~/.profile

then

source ~/.profile

To see if the variable is set correctly run

vi .profile

then :q to quit

To modify the .profile file (In case of a correction) run

sudo vi .profile

Press I to insert.

After modifications press Esc and :wq to save and quit.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 18 '20 at 13:59

First add a shell script to the /etc/profile.d directory.

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/app' | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/custom-apps-path.sh > /dev/null

The app will then be available via direct invocation the next time you login to the shell.

To make the app instantly available in the current shell, run the following command:

source /etc/profile.d/custom-apps-path.sh

score -3 · Answer 10 · edited Apr 03 '20 at 06:29

Going through the basics, I will suggest the following steps:

It's recommended to set environment variables in /etc/environment
Open the file as superuser in an editor as it's a read only file e.g. gedit:
```
gksu gedit /etc/environment
```
System will need password to open it in editable mode. Enter your superuser password and get file opened in a new gedit window.
Add new line at the end of file with export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/foo
Save and close the window. It will get command back to terminal.
Refresh the environment by running the following command:
```
. /etc/environment
```
You may check by executing the following command:
```
echo $PATH
```

This is incorrect and will not work. Parameter expansion is not performed in /etc/environment — Zanna, Jun 03 '17 at 15:16

How do I modify my PATH so that the changes are available in every Terminal session

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