Problem summary
I'm trying to launch a .sh script via Windows 10 Cygwin (i.e. mintty.exe > bash.exe) but neither .profile, .bash_profile, or .bashrc are loading, which I need to update PATH env variable with Cygwin's bin directory.
Background
I'm trying to launch a script finder.sh:
#!/bin/bash
find .
read
from C:\Users\Bo\Temp\. It has unix line endings and executable bit set.
I have Cygwin installed at C:\Users\Bo\AppData\Local\Programs\cygwin64\. I do not have this path in either System or User Windows' Environment Variables (and I don't want to!). My runcoms all live in this directory under /home/Bo. My .bash_profile (and ATM .bashrc) have an export PATH="/cygdrive/c/Users/Bo/AppData/Local/Programs/cygwin64/bin":${PATH} in them.
I want to launch the script from Windows Explorer. I tried using the bash.exe and mintty.exe in the cygwin64\bin\ folder via Open > Choose another app > More apps > Look for another app on this PC. In either case the mintty window displays:
FIND: Parameter format not correct
meaning the Windows' find command was used not Cygwin's. So I have my script echo $PATH and the Cygwin/bin directory is not in PATH. If I add the proper export PATH statement from above to my own script it works fine. So, now to debug the launcher and runcoms...
I've put echo ${0} statements in .profile, .bash_profile, and .bashrc, none of which trigger which I run the .sh script, they are never run. I've read SO and the mans. I've tried creating a Shortcut to both mintty.exe and bash.exe passing a variety of -l -i -e - commands to each using Properties > Shortcut > Target and they are never run. E.g. running simply [..]\mintty.exe -h always doesn't even leave the window open.
How do I get my script to run in Windows Explorer via Cygwin's mintty.exe/bash.exe, and to read from a runcom to update PATH (to find Cygwin Linux commands, vs. updating Windows Environment Variable)?
Two part fix:
A) set a Windows Environment Variable for BASH_ENV to a .bash_env under your Cygwin HOME, and export the PATH variable to include the Cygwin/bin directory from that file. I cannot find a decent reference for this in Cygwin documentation because it seems to be simply a bash thing, but this variable is what bash looks for when running non login/interactively. Best reference: Cygwin shell doesn't execute .bashrc.
And B) run the .sh with bash.exe from Cygwin/bin using Open With....
ALSO, annoying Windows bug: when you select a program to Open With... your .sh script, it will always run 1x with a CWD from your C:\Windows\System32 directory(?!) and all other times will run fine with the CWD as the directory from your .sh script.
I have got Cygwin installed in my machine and set its bin folder in my PATH.
I can use all the Cygwin commands in the Windows command prompt.
However, one problem I encountered is that both Cygwin an Windows have a command "find". Whenever I use find, the Windows version is picked up.
Is there anyway I can force using the Cygwin version of find rather than the Windows version?
Make sure the the cygwin executables folder /usr/bin is ahead of the cmd executables folder c:\Windows\system32 in the PATH variable for both the cmd and bash shells to be sure you run cygwin's find instead of windows's find command.
Use which -a find in the cygwin shell to list executable files found via the bash shell's PATH variable.
Use where $PATH:find in cmd shell to list executable files found via the cmd shell's PATH variable.
This is because find is a shell built-in in cmd, so it doesn't even try to go through the executable search path.
In general Cygwin symlinks will not be understood by Windows, but as explained https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#pathnames-symlinks it is possible in modern Windows versions to create native Windows symlinks on NTFS file systems, as long as the link doesn't cross file systems.
I would consider instead just wrapping it in, say, a batch script placed in your Cygwin /usr/local/bin with a name like cygfind.bat (or whatever you want to call it) that explicitly calls Cygwin's find by C:\path\to\find.exe.
The wrapper approach has the advantage that if you upgrade Cygwin and find is updated, the batch script wrapping it will still work transparently.
I've never tried it myself but according to this answer you can also use the special #doskey variable to override cmd builtins.
After installing win-bash from sourceforge.net and creating a command prompt label and setting the path, my bash recognizes some commands like "ls", "mkdir" but not "clear" or "clean"!
the label to command prompt has this in its properties:
the red arrows points to this setpath.bat, it has this:
#echo off
SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\win-bash
bash
exit
the folder win-bash has the content from win-bash downloaded file from sourceforge + setpath.bat file.
My bash recognizes ls, mkdir - creates folders, but can't "clean". What's the reason - some shell cmds recognized, and some don't?!
P.S. It does NOT recognize most commands - mkfile, lsblk, calendar(cal)
Not an expert on win-bash, but here are some clues:
other linux emulators on Windows like mingw32, GoW provide standalone executable .exe for each program, so it is easy to see which commands are implemented just by reviewing the emulator directory (the one it appends to path)
win-bash claims from documentation it is a single-file replacement for the shell, but rest of documentation is limited
if you want to clear screen 'cls' should work it is a native windows command. On internals of 'clear' see
https://superuser.com/questions/1161514/bash-on-ubuntu-on-windows-clearing-all-the-text-all-of-it
I want to use ls in windows command prompt and make it run the dir command.
How can I do that?
You can solve this question with one simple command:
echo #dir %* > %systemroot%\system32\ls.bat
Make sure you run cmd.exe as admin first if you are on vista and up
You could:
create a batch file called ls.bat and have it contain the dir command only
add the directory where the ls.bat file exists to your PATH environment variable
You could then execute ls from a command prompt.
Its an old question but for the record:
http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm
Gives you ls and a whole lot more!
Easiest way I have found is:
Install Git for Windows
Add the bin directory of Git to your Path variable. Mine was located in C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin.
Start a command prompt and enjoy ls in all its glory.
I have a solution but it's dirty:
Create a file named ls.bat containing only "dir".
Put it in C:\windows\system32 (or any directory in PATH env var).
That (should) works!
Edit: Something more consistent: https://superuser.com/questions/49170/create-an-alias-in-windows-xp
If you have Node.js installed on your system, you can install it from Cash, a library I wrote for Linux commands on Windows:
npm install cash-ls -g
Windows command prompt for Vista/7 will allow NTFS symbolic links, run cmd.exe as administrator then:
mklink ls %System%\dir.exe
Then set up your PATH environment variable to include the location of the link you just created.
If you want more than just the 'ls' command, you should look into cygwin.
EDIT- Just realized dir.exe is not a separate program, so this doesn't really work. But mklink and cygwin are good things to know about.
If you just want to have cmd recognize ls as an alias for dir, you can use the doskey command (from this answer on superuser).
This does not change the original command line parameter handling of the dir command.
+1 on the post above suggesting to install git for windows and add the directory bin to your path variables.
Another way I got touch, ls, and a lot of other UNIX commands working in cmd.exe on my Windows 8 and Windows 7 machines.
Go to the following site to install Cygwin
https://www.cygwin.com/install.html
Install the 32 or 64 bit version for your system. The default settings and packages should include what you need so you don't have to change anything once you get to the packages screen.
After installation, copy the Cygwin folder path to your environment path variables. For example; if you installed cygwin to C:\Cygwin, you will add the following to your environment system path variables:
;C:\Cygwin\bin
On my system I installed the 64bit version and the default folder name and path was C:\cygwin64. So i added the following to my system environment path variables:
;C:\cygwin64\bin
Restart your terminal if it's open. Then type ls and you'll see a directory listing.
See the following if you are not familiar with setting PATH environment variables:
Superuser Link 1
Superuser Link 2
my ls.bat was below
#dir %*
that can transfer cli args
ls /b
ls /w
put it in %windir% or any directory in your %PATH% variable.
Just make sure you save the file with ANSI encoding :)
you could also use cygwin and just use the ls command directly along with all the other unix command line tools you might be used to.
I recommend the following recipe.
Use DOSKEY and $* to create your ls command.
Make the command persistent by recording it in a .bat/.cmd file and add the path of the file to registry.
For example, your command may look like
DOSKEY ls=dir
DOSKEY sublime="C:\Program Files\Sublime Text 2\sublime_text" $*
$* is useful for commands that take on arguments. For example, here I like to be able to do sublime my_code.c.
The registry for cmd is at HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Command Processor. Create a string valued entry called AutoRun with the full path of the file (not the containing folder) such as %USERPROFILE%\custom_command.cmd. Then each time cmd is run, your command will be loaded!
You can add more useful stuffs to the batch file too. See here for an example template.
Another solution that worked for me is to use UnxUtils, which adds multiple utilities from executable files (including ls, sed, and grep).
To use: download source code. Unzip. Add the UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin path to the Windows PATH variable. Start a new CMD instance.
The most easiest way is
install git
add C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin to your path variable
now you can use ls
Someone who uses Linux Subsystem for Windows could call ls from the Linux bash. The following Command creates the ls Command in System32:
echo #bash -c "ls %*" > %systemroot%\system32\ls.bat
(The Linux Subsystem feature must be enabled/installed first)
You could follow this guide:
https://gist.github.com/vladikoff/38307908088d58af206b
TL;DR: pass /K path/to/custom/init_cmd.bat to your "shell startup" command.
I'm using ConsoleZ as my shell wrapper, so in my case I can find the setup option in "tabs", then I set the shell path to "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe "/K C:\cmd_init.bat""
like this.
Where C:\cmd_init.bat is the batch script containing my macros, here's what I would go for:
#echo off
doskey ls=dir /b
rem other macro stuff..
Sorry for formatting and other mistakes, this is my first time answering here.
I hope it helps!
Create an alias in .bat or .cmd file using doskey key:
#echo off
title "ls command cmd bar"
doskey ls=echo off $T dir $* $T echo on
Enjoy =)
Surely ls would not work as a unix command for the batches. If you check %1 for -l or -a etc. and all combinations of them, it would work...
Here is my C# source code and binary.
Just add ls.exe somewhere and add the path to the path environment variable.
I'm fed up with using Windows Explorer as my file browser as I use
Cygwin bash as my primary command line environment.
Windows Explorer shows the full path in the address bar.
Usually, I copy that, pasting it to the cygwin command prompt as in
cygpath ""
I then copy paste the output of cygpath so I can
cd to it. I've also set up cpath "Bash Shell Here"
but this only works on right clicking directories.
I've used WinSCP via SSH.
ie. Start an SSH daemon in cygwin and connect to it via WinSCP.
What file explorer can I use in Cygwin with UNIX like paths?
Is there a cygwin X Windows file explorer?
Have you tried Midnight Commander (mc)? It's in the Cygwin package repository.
If you surround the path from Windows Explorer with single or double quotes, there is no need to use the cygpath command.
In regard to your quest for a compatible file manager, I've heard that KDE's Konqueror runs on Windows.