Edit the $PATH

Mark Hensler's picture

He has: 4,048 posts

Joined: Aug 2000

How do I edit the $PATH?
And what is ld.so.conf?

I've read some docs online for various stuff. Some say add this or that to your path, and others say to add it to ld.so.conf.

Mark Hensler
If there is no answer on Google, then there is no question.

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

To put it simply, the path is where your system looks for programs to load. Here are some rules:

To find out your path:
echo $PATH

To change your path for all users:
edit /etc/profile
change PATH= line

To change your path for individual users:
edit /home/user_login_name/.bash_profile

To add a program to your path:
cp programname into /usr/bin/

Hope that this helps.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

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