source ~/.bash_profile error - bash

I am trying to fix the bash profile but it constantly says:
source ~/.bash_profile
/Users/KirSo/.bash_profile:160: command not found: bind
\[\e]2;\u#\h\a[\[\e[37;44;1m\]\t\[\e[0m\]]\[\033[0;31m\] (master) \[\e[32m\]\W\[\e[0m\]\n\[\e[0;31m\]\[\e[0;49;34m\]//\[\033[0;31m\] ♥ \[\e[0m\]
checked the line 160 which says:
bind "set completion-ignore-case on"
Although with adjust the line, restarting the terminal it still drops the same error.

Considering the path inside the question, You are probably running CygWin or something similar. Check the $PATH variable and Your env variables. You might have accidently changed the paths in which bash is looking for binaries (such as /bin). Also, on some versions of Linux (dont know about CygWin, sorry :<), there are other bash config files, namely ~/.bashrc /etc/bash.bashrc /etc/profile. The names may vary, depending on the distribution and implementation. Check If those contain code that overrides Your $PATH variable.

Related

zsh: command not found: symfony on ubuntu 20 [duplicate]

I'm using zsh terminal, and I'm trying to add a new entry (/home/david/pear/bin) to the PATH variable. I don't see a reference to the PATH variable in my ~/.zshrc file, but doing echo $PATH returns:
/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
So I know that the path variable is being set somewhere. Where is the PATH variable set / modified for the zsh terminal?
Actually, using ZSH allows you to use special mapping of environment variables. So you can simply do:
# append
path+=('/home/david/pear/bin')
# or prepend
path=('/home/david/pear/bin' $path)
# export to sub-processes (make it inherited by child processes)
export PATH
For me that's a very neat feature which can be propagated to other variables.
Example:
typeset -T LD_LIBRARY_PATH ld_library_path :
Here, add this line to .zshrc:
export PATH=/home/david/pear/bin:$PATH
EDIT: This does work, but ony's answer above is better, as it takes advantage of the structured interface ZSH provides for variables like $PATH. This approach is standard for bash, but as far as I know, there is no reason to use it when ZSH provides better alternatives.
You can append to your PATH in a minimal fashion. No need for
parentheses unless you're appending more than one element. It also
usually doesn't need quotes. So the simple, short way to append is:
path+=/some/new/bin/dir
This lower-case syntax is using path as an array, yet also
affects its upper-case partner equivalent, PATH (to which it is
"bound" via typeset).
(Notice that no : is needed/wanted as a separator.)
Common interactive usage
Then the common pattern for testing a new script/executable becomes:
path+=$PWD/.
# or
path+=$PWD/bin
Common config usage
You can sprinkle path settings around your .zshrc (as above) and it will naturally lead to the earlier listed settings taking precedence (though you may occasionally still want to use the "prepend" form path=(/some/new/bin/dir $path)).
Related tidbits
Treating path this way (as an array) also means: no need to do a
rehash to get the newly pathed commands to be found.
Also take a look at vared path as a dynamic way to edit path
(and other things).
You may only be interested in path for this question, but since
we're talking about exports and arrays, note that
arrays generally cannot be exported.
You can even prevent PATH from taking on duplicate entries
(refer to
this
and this):
typeset -U path
PATH pre-populated
The reason your path already has some entries in it is due to your system shell files setting path for you. This is covered in a couple other posts:
Why and where the $PATH env variable is set?
Where is the source of $PATH? I cannot find it in .zshrc
one liner, without opening ~/.zshrc file
echo -n 'export PATH=~/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
or
echo -n 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
To see the effect, do source ~/.zshrc in the same tab or open a new tab
Added path to ~/.zshrc
sudo vi ~/.zshrc
add new path
export PATH="$PATH:[NEW_DIRECTORY]/bin"
Update ~/.zshrc
Save ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
Check PATH
echo $PATH
OPTION 1: Add this line to ~/.zshrc:
export "PATH=$HOME/pear/bin:$PATH"
After that you need to run source ~/.zshrc in order your changes to take affect OR close this window and open a new one
OPTION 2: execute it inside the terminal console to add this path only to the current terminal window session. When you close the window/session, it will be lost.
If you are on macOS (I'm on Monterey 12.3.1), you may have been pulling your hair like I did metaphorically. These instructions above all worked for me within the terminal session, but I could never get it to persist no matter what I did with export. Moreover, I couldn't find the .zshrc anywhere.
Turns out Apple does it differently. The file you need to edit is etc/paths. You can simply sudo nano /etc/paths and add your path in a new line. Then simply restart terminal and voila.
for me PATH=$PATH:/path/to/file/bin
then export PATH worked.
to check echo $PATH . other solutions are adding the path temporarily.
I'm on Monterey 12.4 and the only way I could change the path was using the helper function. Editing text files in nano did diddly squat
# append
path+=('/foo/bar/yourpath')
# export to sub-processes
export PATH
to verify your new directory has been added correctly, you can use
print -l $path
thanks to the fact that its type is known to be an array
how to append new plugin to zshrc file. I tried the below syntax but it replaced with new one.
sed -i -e 's/plugins=(.*)/plugins=(zsh-syntax-highlighting)/' ~/.zshrc
I want to add git, file, docker etc.
pl give me the corrected syntax.
KSK

Reset export PATH back to its default value in Git Bash

I am new to bash/shell scripting and need to undo the effects created when I ran the command
export PATH=~/.local/bin:$PATH
and
export PATH=~/C:\Users\I860605\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python39\Scripts:$PATH
I was attempting to troubleshoot a Reuse tool and entered the command thinking it would fix the issue, however as a result none of my commands in Git Bash seem to work any longer, and normal commands for Python and other dependencies now result in command not found errors.
I also noticed that now my Git Bash CLI no longer picks up whether I'm cd'd into any of my repositories, with no display of (main) branch etc.
I found some other articles that were somewhat related to this, but they were for Ubuntu and Mac users, not for Git Bash on Windows, which is my scenario.
When I ran the command echo $Path, this is what was returned:
echo $Path
/c/Users/I860605/C:UsersI860605AppDataRoamingPythonPython39Scripts:/c/Users/I860605/.local/bin:/c/Users/I860605/.local/bin:C:UsersI860605AppDataRoamingPythonPython39Scripts
I saw that I could perhaps run source ~/.bash_profile or source ~/.bashrc and edit the file contents from there, but both commands return No such file or directory
How would I go about setting my Path back to how it was before this blunder?
If you don't want to open a new session, the simplest approach is:
to have a ~/.bashrc (with ~ or $HOME set by default to %USERPROFILE%)
set your PATH in it (like your export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin)
type "source ~/.bashrc": that will reset the PATH of the current session.
Type echo $PATH to then check the path is indeed at the expected value.

WSL hide /mnt/c/Users/

It is possible to view shorter path in my terminal (VS Code & Hyper) with WSL (Ubuntu). On top of the Ubuntu, I have installed zsh. Currently, I am using a git bash and path looks Lukas#Y50-70 ~/Coding but with the Ubuntu, I have something like this lukas#Y50-70 /mnt/c/Users/Lukas/Coding. When I have a project in another 2 folders or so and I have a long branch name it is annoying to have a full row unnecessary info (for me).
Here is a comparison of Ubuntu and git bash:
Thanks
I was able to solve this using Named Directories - by adding this line to your ~/.zshrc file
hash -d c=/mnt/c
you will see '~c/' in your prompt rather than '/mnt/c/' which I think is a lot nicer.
This has a similar effect to setting an alias for the directory but the name is reflected in how your path is displayed.
As an added bonus you can then switch to that directory at any time by typing ~c
Check if the zsh installation guide under WSL can help (from neurogenesis):
Install zsh with sudo apt-get install zsh
bash.exe is the entrypoint to the WSL / linux subsystem. You'll have to modify the windows shortcut to specify bash -c --login or modify ~/.bashrc with exec /bin/zsh to properly load a different shell.
/etc/passwd isn't consulted because it's not a full login process. Be sure to set your SHELL env var as well. See #846 for details.
Fix your umask before you start installing things, otherwise tools like zsh will complain.
Specifically, "group" and "other" permissions will have the same privileges that owner do. This causes zsh's compaudit and compinit to fail (both are related to command completion).
See #352 for details. umask 022 can be added to your ~/.bashrc.
NOTE: This should be done before trying to install zsh plugin managers like antigen (otherwise the directory/file permissions issues from git clones).
You should also do this before installing RVM or rbenv.
I ended up inserting a few lines to the top of my ~/.bashrc, something like the following:
# ~/.bashrc: executed by bash(1) for non-login shells.
# see /usr/share/doc/bash/examples/startup-files (in the package bash-doc)
# for examples
## Fix missing umask value
umask 022
## Launch Zsh
if [ -t 1 ]; then
cd $HOME
export SHELL=/bin/zsh
exec -cl $SHELL
fi
Issue 846 (mentioned in point 2) includes the comment:
A normal -c zsh symlink opened up in the wrong directory to me, but I managed using this (note the tilde):
C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe ~ -c /bin/zsh
See also "How to Use Zsh (or Another Shell) in Windows 10".
I know this isn't exactly the fix you were hoping for. I was looking to solve the same issue. The prompt was just too long and it was causing some of my commands to wrap to the next line. After seeing the comments on VonC's answer, I'm deciding to keep my next-best solution.
What I did in my ~/.bashrc file is this:
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u#\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\n\$ '
else
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u#\h:\w\n\$ '
fi
I added a \n right before the \$
So when I'm at my Windows home folder, it looks like this
ryan#DESKTOP-RSKAA4F:/mnt/c/Users/ryank
$
And I start typing my commands after the $. It takes up more vertical space, but at least I don't have to maximize my terminal window just to avoid text wrap.
It appears to me that just running 'cd' after starting the terminal session, re-bases the prompt to the normal '/home/(user)'
there should be no need for installing zsh or anything else. It works for me anyway.
also when starting the session at the root folder from windows, seems to do the trick.
I keep my sessions under
C:\vms
sample:
cd -d C:\vms\minikube\ubu_jenkinsX\rootfs
C:\vms\minikube\ubu_jenkinsX\rootfs>wsl -d ubu_jenkinsX
Yours may be under your userprofile in local data. Search for the rootfs folder
The reason your WSL prompt shows such a long path is because you're not actually in your home directory. You see, WSL has its own virtual filesystem separate from Windows, and Windows paths (like your C:\Users\Lukas\...) are stored under /mnt/c/Users/Lukas/.... Your WSL home directory would be /home/Lukas (since your WSL username is capitalized), but of course, that's not where your project is.
The fish shell has a prompt_pwd function that shortens a path to something like this:
0 ---- /m/c/U/L/Documents cd Something
0 ---- /m/c/U/L/D/Something prompt_pwd
/m/c/U/L/D/Something
Is that something you're interested in? You could port the function to Bash, or just switch to Fish, or just display the current directory name instead of path.

How to update PATH to find nvcc for CUDA 8.0? [duplicate]

Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
This question does not appear to be about a specific programming problem, a software algorithm, or software tools primarily used by programmers. If you believe the question would be on-topic on another Stack Exchange site, you can leave a comment to explain where the question may be able to be answered.
Closed 2 years ago.
Improve this question
On Linux, how can I add a directory to the $PATH so it remains persistent across different sessions?
Background
I'm trying to add a directory to my path so it will always be in my Linux path. I've tried:
export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir
This works, however each time I exit the terminal and start a new terminal instance, this path is lost, and I need to run the export command again.
How can I do it so this will be set permanently?
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
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 to PATH variable or defining JAVA_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 to PATH variable or defining JAVA_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 for PATH 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 including HOME or PATH 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 extending PATH with values such as ~/bin or ~/go/bin or defining user specific GOPATH or NPM_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?
In Ubuntu, edit /etc/environment. Its sole purpose is to store environment variables. Originally the $PATH variable is defined here.
This is a paste from my /etc/environment file:
PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
So you can just open up this file as root and add whatever you want.
For immediate results,
Run (try as normal user and root):
source /etc/environment && export PATH
If you use Z shell (zsh), add this line right after the comments in /etc/zsh/zshenv file:
source /etc/environment
I encountered this little quirk on Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf), but if your zsh is not getting the correct PATH, this could be why.
For Bash, you can put the export declaration in ~/.bashrc. For example, my .bashrc contains this line:
export PATH=/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin:/home/ash/.bin:$PATH
You may set $PATH permanently in two ways.
To set the path for a particular user:
You may need to make the entry in file .bash_profile in the home directory for the user.
E.g, in my case I will set the java path in the Tomcat user profile*
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir" >> /home/tomcat/.bash_profile
To set a common path for all system users, you may need to set the path like this:
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir" >> /etc/profile
You can use on CentOS or Red Hat Linux (RHEL) for the local user:
echo $"export PATH=\$PATH:$(pwd)" >> ~/.bash_profile
This adds the current directory (or you can use another directory) to the PATH. This makes it permanent, but it takes effect at the next user logon.
If you don't want do a re-logon, then you can use:
source ~/.bash_profile
That reloads the # User specific environment and startup programs. This comment is present in file .bash_profile.
You can also set it permanently, editing one of these files:
/etc/profile (for all users)
~/.bash_profile (for current user)
~/.bash_login (for current user)
~/.profile (for current user)
You can also use /etc/environment to set a permanent PATH environment variable, but it does not support variable expansion.
Extracted from: Linux: Añadir ruta al PATH
I think the most elegant way is:
Add this in the ~/.bashrc file.
Run this command:
gedit ~/.bashrc
Add your path inside it:
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/node/bin
source ~/.bashrc
(Ubuntu)
Modify the "/etc/profile" file:
vi /etc/profile
Press the I key to enter editing mode and move the cursor to the end of the file. Additional entries:
export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir;
Press the Esc key to exit edit mode, and :wq to save the file.
Make the configuration effective
source /etc/profile
Explanation:
The profile file works for all users. If you want it to be valid only for the active user, change the ".bashrc" file.
I stumbled across this question yesterday when searching for a way to add a folder containing my own scripts to the PATH - and was surprised to find out that my own ~/.profile file (on Linux Mint 18.1) already contained this:
# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
fi
Thus, all I had to do was create the folder ~/bin and put my scripts there.
You can add that line to your console configuration files (e.g., .bashrc, or to .profile).
After so much research, I found a simple solution for this (I am using Elementary OS), inspired by Flutter – Step by Step Installation on Linux – Ubuntu.
Run the following command to open the .bashrc file in edit mode. (You
may also use vi or any other editor).
~$ sudo nano ~/.bashrc
Add the following line at the end of the file and save.
export PATH="[FLUTTER_SDK_PATH]/flutter/bin:$PATH"
For example:
export PATH="/home/rageshl/dev/flutter/bin:$PATH"
I believe this is the permanent solution for setting the path in Flutter in a Ubuntu distribution.
It can be directly added by using the following command:
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/new/directory' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
One way to add a permanent path, which worked for me, is:
cd /etc/profile.d
touch custom.sh
vi custom.sh
export PATH=$PATH:/path according to your setting/
Restart your computer and here we go; the path will be there permanently.
Add script file [name_of_script].sh to the /etc/profile.d folder with the line:
export PATH=$PATH:/dir
Every script within the /etc/profile.d folder is automatically executed by /etc/profile on login.
My answer is in reference to the setting up of a Go environment on Ubuntu Linux (amd64). I have faced the same trouble of setting the path of environment variables (GOPATH and GOBIN), losing it on terminal exit and rebuilding it using the source <file_name> every time.
The mistake was to put the path (GOPATH and GOBIN) in ~/.bash_profile file. After wasting a few good hours, I found that the solution was to put GOPATH and GOBIN in the ~/.bash_rc file in the manner:
export GOPATH=$HOME/go
export GOBIN=$GOPATH/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH:$GOBIN
And in doing so, the Go installation worked fine and there were no path losses.
The reason with which this issue can be related is that settings for non-login shells, like your Ubuntu terminal or GNOME terminal where we run the Go code, are taken from the ~./bash_rc file and the settings for login shells are taken from ~/.bash_profile file. And from the ~/.profile file if the ~/.bash_profile file is unreachable.
The files where you add the export command depends on if you are in login-mode or non-login-mode.
If you are in login-mode, the files you are looking for are either /etc/bash or /etc/bash.bashrc.
If you are in non-login-mode, you are looking for the file /.profile or for the files within the directory /.profiles.d
The files mentioned above is where the system variables are.
Permanently add to the PATH variable
Global:
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/new/path/variable" >> /etc/profile
Local (for the current user only):
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/new/path/variable" >> ~/.profile
For global, restart. For local, relogin.
Example
Before:
$ cat /etc/profile
#!/bin/sh
export PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin
After:
$ cat /etc/profile
#!/bin/sh
export PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin
export PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/new/path/variable
Alternatively you can just edit file "profile":
$ cat /etc/profile
#!/bin/sh
export PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/new/path/variable
Another way (thanks gniourf_gniourf):
echo 'PATH=$PATH:/new/path/variable' >> /etc/profile
You shouldn't use double quotes here! echo 'export
PATH=$PATH:/new/path/variable'... And by the way, the export keyword
is very likely useless as the PATH variable is very likely already
marked as exported. – gniourf_gniourf
Zues77 has the right idea. The OP didn't say "How can I hack my way through this?". The OP wanted to know how to permanently append to $PATH:
sudo nano /etc/profile
This is where it is set for everything and is the best place to change it for all things needing $PATH.
Let's say you're running macOS. You have a binary you trust and would like to make available across your system, but don't necessarily want the directory in which the binary is to be added to your PATH.
You can opt to copy/move the binary to /usr/local/bin, which should already be in your PATH. This will make the binary executable like any other binary you may already have access to in your terminal.
The simplest way is the following line,
PATH="<directory you want to include>:$PATH"
in your .bashrc file in the home directory.
It will not get reset even if you close the terminal or reboot your PC. It's permanent.
This is a one-liner. It adds a line to the .bashrc. That line is going to check if the directory has already been added to the path and append if not. This will prevent duplicating your directory in the path every time you source .bashrc.
echo "[[ \":\$PATH:\" != *\":$(pwd)/path/to/add:\"* ]] && export PATH=\"\${PATH:+\${PATH}}:$(pwd)/path/to/add\"" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
I think the most elegant way is:
Add this in the ~./bashrc file:
if [ -d "new-path" ]; then
PATH=$PATH:new-path
fi
source *~/.bashrc*
(Ubuntu)
For a Debian distribution, you have to:
edit file ~/.bashrc. E.g: vim ~/.bashrc
add export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir
then restart your computer. Be aware that if you edit file ~/.bashrc as root, your environment variable you added will work only for root

Messed up PATH environment variable in Ubuntu 16.04 [duplicate]

This question already has an answer here:
How to restore .bash_profile on a mac? None of my unix terminal are working [closed]
(1 answer)
Closed 5 years ago.
I tried installing Anaconda to get many python packages at once but had some issues with python IDLE where it said No package found so had to manually set the path in ~/.bashrc.
Once I set the path in ~/.bashrc the IMPORT ERROR in python IDLE was solved but I'm unable to use commands on terminal now.
I'm getting this error all the time.
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ ls
Command 'ls' is available in '/bin/ls'
The command could not be located because '/bin' is not included in the PATH environment variable.
ls: command not found
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ sudo
Command 'sudo' is available in '/usr/bin/sudo'
The command could not be located because '/usr/bin' is not included in the PATH environment variable.
sudo: command not found
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ mkdir aa
Command 'mkdir' is available in '/bin/mkdir'
The command could not be located because '/bin' is not included in the PATH environment variable.
mkdir: command not found
I did export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin to find out my $PATH and content of /etc/environment. It seems both are different.
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ echo $PATH
/usr/bin:/bin
sid#sids-ubuntu:~$ cat /etc/environment
PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
Doesn't Ubuntu look for $PATH in /etc/environment?
If yes, what could be the reason my $PATH is different from /etc/environment? and please help me fix it!
If not, where does Ubuntu look for $PATH? please help me fix it!
Be aware that your /etc/environment is only re-read at reboot.
When you want to change your path, be sure to include the existing part as well. To do that, add $PATH in the new path definition.
export PATH="$PATH:/usr/bin"
Looking at your problems, adding the $PATH in your ~/.bashrc should do the trick. If not, open a new terminal and show us the output of
echo $PATH
When adding some directory to PATH it's good idea not to overwrite previous value, just append desired directory (e.g. $HOME/bin), in your ~/.bashrc add at the end line (and remove any previous tampering with PATH)
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"
and run:
source ~/.bashrc
(or just open new session of terminal).
PATH is an environment variable, and therefore it is not looked up in any file.
There are several files which are sourced when bash is invoked (see the section named INVOCATION in the bash man page), and while sourcing these files, the environment variable PATH can be set, respectively manipulated. Note that .bashrc is not always processed; please read the bash man-page carefully to understand, which files are included under which condition.

Resources