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bash
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🔍 See Original Answer on Ask Ubuntu ⧉ 🔗
URL:
https://askubuntu.com/q/1099855
Title:
Output the current PATH to text file using BASH script
ID:
/2018/12/10/Output-the-current-PATH-to-text-file-using-BASH-script
Created:
December 10, 2018
Edited: December 10, 2018
Upload:
September 15, 2024
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You change your PATH with command:
PATH=/new-path:$PATH
For example here is how to correctly expand the PATH:
$ PATH=/newpath:$PATH
$ echo $PATH
/newpath:/home/rick/bin:/home/rick/.local/bin:/mnt/e/bin:/mnt/e/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/db/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/bin
Here is just one way to break your PATH (by omitting $ prefix):
$ PATH=/brokenpath:PATH
$ echo $PATH
/brokenpath:PATH
If you mess up your PATH usually you can simply close your terminal and reopen it.
Omitting the $ is the mistake made in your question as well. The method to capture PATH to text file is:
echo $PATH > PATH.TXT
To keep a running log of PATH changes you can use:
echo $PATH >> PATH.TXT
PATH is an environmental variable. To set the variable we use “PATH=” but to reference it’s contents we need to use “$PATH”.
The PATH variable can be set in many places as outlined in this Q&A: Where is my PATH variable being set?. To discover which files are setting the PATH one of the answers recommends using:
grep --color -H 'PATH=' ~/.bashrc ~/.profile ~/.bash_profile ~/bash.login \
~/.bash_aliases /etc/bash.bashrc /etc/profile \
/etc/profile.d/* /etc/environment 2> /dev/null
On my machine the command returns:
/home/rick/.profile:PATH="$HOME/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
/etc/profile.d/apps-bin-path.sh: export PATH=$PATH:${snap_bin_path}
/etc/profile.d/jdk.sh:export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/db/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/bin
/etc/environment:PATH="/mnt/e/bin:/mnt/e/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"