The best way to extend $PATH

MaxPod · January 22, 2021, 3:14pm

Hy, gays!

I want to extend $PATH variable
for exsample: PATH=$PATH:/home/user/myfolder

In which file is the best way to add this line?

TheTechRobo · January 22, 2021, 3:18pm

Hi and welcome to the forum! We hope you enjoy your stay here

If you use zsh, add this to the bottom of ~/.zshrc :

export PATH="$PATH:/home/user/myfolder

MaxPod · January 22, 2021, 3:46pm

Tnx, @TheTechRobo!
This is exactly what I was looking for

TheTechRobo · January 22, 2021, 4:42pm

Any time! Do remember that you're always welcome here, for questions, concerns, and suggestions.

Thanatermesis · February 7, 2021, 10:17pm

BTW there's a powerful way to extend the PATH in a dynamic way thanks to zsh and the configurations of Elive, check these next lines as an example

github.com

Elive/zsh-elive/blob/master/etc/zsh/zshrc.elive.zsh#L160


#k# prepend the current command with "sudo"
bindkey "^os" sudo-command-line
#bindkey "^[s" sudo-command-line # I like "alt + s", but urxvt don't allow it
if zle -N edit-command-line ; then
    #k# Edit the current line in \kbd{\$EDITOR}
    bindkey '\ee' edit-command-line
fi
# Prepend special needed path's:
# ccache bins
path=(/usr/lib/ccache(N) $path)
# add or remove games entry if we are in the group
#if id -Gn | grep -qsw "games" ; then
if (( ${(kM)#usergroups:#games} )) ; then
    path=(/usr/games(N) $path)
else
    path[(R)/usr/games]=() 2>/dev/null

TheTechRobo · February 7, 2021, 11:29pm

is that not the same as putting it in ~/.zshrc???

triantares · February 8, 2021, 7:28am

well that would make it available system wide whereas ~/zsh.rc or bash.rc would only be the user in who's $HOME it is.

TheTechRobo · February 8, 2021, 1:42pm

ah, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Thanatermesis · February 11, 2021, 1:12am

Well, I put that code just as an example, in fact this code is meant to support PATH in a dynamic way (if you are in the group of games, you will have games in your path, etc...) the idea is to support the main things automatically

about the user's home zshrc, yes you should put it in your users home, not in the system one... the system one is the one used and then the user's one is get after it (so you can add more things, or overwrite / delete others)