How to permanently set $PATH on Linux/Unix?
You need to add it to your ~/.profile
or ~/.bashrc
file.
export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/dir"
Depending on what you're doing, you also may want to symlink to binaries:
cd /usr/bin
sudo ln -s /path/to/binary binary-name
Note that this will not automatically update your path for the remainder of the session. To do this, you should run:
source ~/.profile
or
source ~/.bashrc
In Ubuntu, edit /etc/environment
. Its sole purpose is to store environment variables. Originally the $PATH variable is defined here.
This is a paste from my /etc/environment
file:
PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
So you can just open up this file as root and add whatever you want.
For immediate results,
Run (try as normal user and root):
source /etc/environment && export PATH
If you use Z shell (zsh
), add this line right after the comments in /etc/zsh/zshenv
file:
source /etc/environment
I encountered this little quirk on Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf), but if your zsh is not getting the correct PATH, this could be why.
There are multiple ways to do it. The actual solution depends on the purpose.
The variable values are usually stored in either a list of assignments or a shell script that is run at the start of the system or user session. In case of the shell script you must use a specific shell syntax and export
or set
commands.
System wide
/etc/environment
List of unique assignments. Allows references. Perfect for adding system-wide directories like/usr/local/something/bin
toPATH
variable or definingJAVA_HOME
. Used by PAM and systemd./etc/environment.d/*.conf
List of unique assignments. Allows references. Perfect for adding system-wide directories like/usr/local/something/bin
toPATH
variable or definingJAVA_HOME
. The configuration can be split into multiple files, usually one per each tool (Java, Go, and Node.js). Used by systemd that by design do not pass those values to user login shells./etc/xprofile
Shell script executed while starting X Window System session. This is run for every user that logs into X Window System. It is a good choice forPATH
entries that are valid for every user like/usr/local/something/bin
. The file is included by other script so use POSIX shell syntax not the syntax of your user shell./etc/profile
and/etc/profile.d/*
Shell script. This is a good choice for shell-only systems. Those files are read only by shells in login mode./etc/<shell>.<shell>rc
. Shell script. This is a poor choice because it is single shell specific. Used in non-login mode.
User session
~/.pam_environment
. List of unique assignments, no references allowed. Loaded by PAM at the start of every user session irrelevant if it is an X Window System session or shell. You cannot reference other variables includingHOME
orPATH
so it has limited use. Used by PAM.~/.xprofile
Shell script. This is executed when the user logs into X Window System system. The variables defined here are visible to every X application. Perfect choice for extendingPATH
with values such as~/bin
or~/go/bin
or defining user specificGOPATH
orNPM_HOME
. The file is included by other script so use POSIX shell syntax not the syntax of your user shell. Your graphical text editor or IDE started by shortcut will see those values.~/.profile
,~/.<shell>_profile
,~/.<shell>_login
Shell script. It will be visible only for programs started from terminal or terminal emulator. It is a good choice for shell-only systems. Used by shells in login mode.~/.<shell>rc
. Shell script. This is a poor choice because it is single shell specific. Used by shells in non-login mode.
Notes
GNOME on Wayland starts a user login shell to get the environment. It effectively uses the login shell configurations ~/.profile
, ~/.<shell>_profile
, ~/.<shell>_login
files.
Man pages
- environment
- environment.d https://linux.die.net/man/1/environment.d
- bash
- dash
Distribution-specific documentation
- Ubuntu
- Arch Linux
Related
Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell?