oh my god...i faced a big problem...i was created a .bash_profile in ~ folder and then set paths there...bust the big problem is after restarting my bash i see that none of my commands work like LS and RM and etc...
now i dont know how to fix it...some one help me...i need my terminal as soon as possible...
Make sure you are appending to the existing $PATH.
PATH=$PATH:/Users/mthalman/bin
To prevent this happening in the future:
When I edit my environment files (including bashrc, profile, login, and others), I always try starting another shell before quitting my editing environment. This protects me from the possibility of breaking my environment so that I can't log in.
Make sure your PATH includes the usual bin directories: /bin and /usr/bin.
First I would rename ~/.bash_profile to ~/old.bash_profile.
Then open that up in TextEdit (as a plain text document) and verify how you have set your path.
If you would prefer to use vim/emacs/nano/whatever, the act of renaming the file will allow new terminal sessions to use default paths, so from the command line you should be mostly fine.
Then verify you haven't clobbered $PATH as suggested by #Mark Thalman, above.
If you are in a Terminal Window, simply add in the /bin and /usr/bin back in your PATH.
$ PATH="/bin:/usr/bin:$PATH"
That should allow all the basic Unix command to work once more. Or, you can use the full path name for commands:
$ PATH="" #Can't find nothin'
$ ls
bash: ls: command not found.
$ /bin/ls -a #This will work!
. .. .bash_profile foo bar
Don't Reset PATH in your .profile!
As you discovered, you should never reset PATH in your `.bash_profile. Instead, you should always append and prepend to it:
PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"
The first line will prepend /usr/local/bin to PATH which means if a command is in /usr/local/bin and /usr/bin, the /usr/local/bin version will be executed. Many system admins will put alternative base system commands in /usr/local/bin. For example, on Solaris, they might put VIM in /usr/local/bin/vi, so when you edit a file, you're using the improved VIM and not the base VI.
The second line appends your $HOME/bin to the end of $PATH. That means if there's a /bin/ls and you have ~/bin/ls, the /bin/ls will be executed first.
Never set PATH from scratch because each Unix system might have commands that you to access elsewhere in the system. For example, your site might require you to use X11, so you want /usr/X11/bin in your PATH, or you have GIT installed under the /opt/git directory, and you'll need /opt/git/bin in your path.
Sometimes, base utilities like ls might be replaced with upgraded versions of these utilities. On Solaris, you have the base vi and ls command, Most users like the GNU ls command because it uses color and prefer VIM to plain VI. I would included these utilities in /usr/local/bin and prepend that to my PATH.
And now a Word from a Sponsor
As you probably discovered, Finder doesn't list hidden files. That's why you can't see .bash_profile in Finder. You can use some hacks to change this, but it requires you to type them into the terminal window.
I use a Finder replacement called Path Finder. It contains a lot of neat Power User things such as allowing you to see hidden files, treat Packages such as apps as directories, and be able to view protected directories if you have Administrator access. There's a built in terminal and GUI Subversion client.
It's not cheap ($40), but you can download for free and try it out for 30 days.
BTW, I have absolutely no relationship to Cocoatech except as a customer, and I make no money from people buying Path Finder. It's just a tool I use.
Related
-bash: export: /Users/deboadebayo/Desktop/Coding/:/opt/anaconda3/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin':
not a valid identifier
The above message is the error message I receive every time I open my terminal. I did create a backup of my bash profile. But essentially now I can no longer navigate anywhere I want to go using command line requests.
Any help would be much appreciated
If you have a backup, use an absolute path to the mv and cp commands to rename your broken file and restore the backup, both without depending on path lookup.
/bin/mv .bash_profile .bash_profile.broken
/bin/cp .bash_profile.backup .bash_profile
Close the current terminal window and open a new one, which should use your working, original .bash_profile to initialize PATH. Now you try to make the correct modification to your PATH.
oops. The easiest way to fix it would be to launch an editor with an absolute path. $PATH only specifies the locations in which the shell will search if told to execute a program relative (or no) path specified. The which program can search the path and shows the first executable found:
$ which vim
/usr/bin/vim
So if you're a vim user, you should be able to run /usr/bin/vim at the command line, and the path won't be relevant. Then you can fix your file in the editor. Looks like my osx machine also has nano if you'd prefer that editor. I don't think I installed it so it probably came shipped with osx I'm guessing:
$ which nano
/usr/bin/nano
If you want to revert to your backup, use cp, but specify it from its absolute position, /bin/cp:
$ /bin/cp first.txt second.txt
Obviously you'll want to change the file names on that one for it to work for you.
I just started reading the Well-Grounded Rubyist, and I am just beginning to use Ruby in my terminal on my Mac.
I'm on the very first lesson, creating a Celsius to Farenheit converter in a text editor. I've saved the code as an .rb file by using Textmate (my text editor). The file name is c2f.rb. The file is saved in a folder on my desktop titled "Rubycode".
I am having difficulty running the .rb file in the terminal however. I've tried many different methods of trying to call the file, including using:
cd /Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode/c2f
and many others.
Any thoughts on what exactly, I'm supposed to type into terminal in order to call the c2f file?
Thanks in advance.
I just started reading Well-Grounded Rubyist.
That's a very good book. I consider it more of an intermediate level book than a beginner book, but no matter.
I've tried many different methods of trying to call the file,
including using
cd /Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode/c2f
The cd command means "change directories" and you cannot change directories to a file. Instead, you have to change directories to the directory containing the file:
$ cd /Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode
Then you can execute your program contained in the file c2f.rb like this:
$ ruby c2f.rb
Here are some Terminal tips:
1) You can use ~ instead of /Users/YourUserName, so you can save some typing by doing this:
$ cd ~/Desktop/Rubycode
Typing '~' instead of '/Users/YourUserName' will become second nature.
2) Using the cd command with no arguments:
$ cd
will take you to your home directory, i.e. /Users/YourUserName
3) You should change your prompt to indicate what directory you are currently in. To do that, create a file called .bash_profile in your home directory(/Users/YourUserName). Check to see if it exists first:
$ cd
$ ls -al
The command ls -al will show all the files in a directory, including hidden files, which are files whose name begins with a .. If a file named .bash_profile exists, open it; if it doesn't exist, create it. Put this in .bash_profile:
PS1="\w$ "
To get Terminal to recognize the changes, you can either Quit Terminal and relaunch it, or do this:
$ source .bash_profile
Then open a new Terminal widow.
You can also add 'aliases' to .bash_profile. For instance, in my .bash_profile I have the alias 'r' for 'ruby', so that I can execute a ruby program like this:
$ r my_program.rb
In .bash_profile you make an alias like this:
alias r="ruby"
4) Tab completion in Terminal:
You might have noticed that you can type part of a file name, then hit tab and Terminal will complete the file name. Using tab completion, I can execute my ruby program like this:
$ r my_pr<tab>
In fact, I name my practice ruby programs so that I can use tab completion to the greatest effect. I have files named 1.rb, 2.rb, 3.rb, and then I execute one of them by simply typing:
$ r 1<tab>
And in fact, you may not even have to type that! If you hit the up arrow key on your keyboard, Terminal will display the previous command, and if you hit the up arrow key again, you will see the command before that. So you can scroll up to a previous command, then hit return to execute it--without having to type anything.
You should endeavor to use tab completion for each of the file names in a path. For example, if you are cd'ing to /Users/YourUserName/dir1/dir2, you should do this:
$ cd /Use<tab>/YourUser<tab>/di<tab>/di<tab>
The reason you should use tab completion for each filename(by the way in Unix filename is a general term for both directory names and file names) is because when the name won't tab complete, then you are in the wrong directory or you are trying a filename that doesn't exist in that directory. So instead of having to type out the whole path '/Users/YourUserName/dir1/dir2' and then finding out about the error when you hit return, the tab completion will let you know immediately when there is an error(because the filename won't tab complete)--saving you some typing.
5) Because you will probably be using Terminal for mostly ruby programs for awhile, you can set up things so that Terminal will automatically open up in your directory Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode. Put this in .bash_profile:
cd "/Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode" (Here you cannot use ~)
6) Occasionally, you may have to type a long file name that exists on your computer into the command line:
$ cd /Library/SomeLongName/AnotherLongName34832o222/142582dir/some_file.txt
Instead of having to type all that at the command line, you can locate the file in Finder first. Then if you drag the file onto the Terminal window, the file name will be entered at the point of the cursor.
Finally, a better way to organize your files might be to put them in directories below your home directory, like this:
~$ mkdir ruby_programs
~$ cd ruby_programs
~/ruby_programs$ mate 1.rb
First things first: cd stands for "Change directory".
Normally the terminal should open in "~", which is the home directory where most of your things are. In OS X it will be /Users/[username]. It's also possible possible that in OS X, it will save the location of the last session. I also recommend, since you're starting to install, "Iterm2", which is a nice terminal to use. It supports multiple tabs, etc.
Ruby, the interpreter, is the command "ruby". To call a script you have to call Ruby with a filename:
ruby /Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode/c2f/c2f.rb
That is almost the equivalent of:
cd /Users/rexrose/Desktop/Rubycode/c2f/
ruby c2f.rb
It's almost equivalent, but for now the difference shouldn't bother you. Let say that the second way to call the script is more favorable than the first.
Now, the second thing: If you want to try things in Ruby, you can start an interactive shell. The command is "irb".
Type irb and Enter and then you can type Ruby code. If you want to leave, press CTRL+C multiple times.
The last thing, I recommend installing "RVM". It will save you time and pain, I hope. If you want to install Ruby gems, it will not mess with the Ruby already present with the system. That's my personal opinion but I believe lots of people will agree. Even if Ruby comes with OS X, you should install a different Ruby for development. It will make sure that if something goes wrong in dev, it will not mess the Ruby OS X might be using.
I was trying to install Sencha Touch SDK tools 2.0.0 but could not run it properly. It created an entry in the $PATH variable.
Later I deleted the sencha sdk tools folder but didn't realize that the path variable is still there.
When i did echo $PATH I got -
/Applications/SenchaSDKTools-2.0.0-beta3:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
I searched on how to remove variables from $PATH and followed these steps :
Gave the command PATH="/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin"
Did echo $PATH which showed /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
gave the command export PATH
Closed terminal and reopened it. Gave the command echo $PATH. This time I got
/Applications/SenchaSDKTools-2.0.0-beta3:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
Can anyone tell me what am i doing wrong?
echo $PATH and copy it's value
export PATH=""
export PATH="/path/you/want/to/keep"
Check the following files:
/etc/bashrc
/etc/profile
~/.bashrc
~/.bash_profile
~/.profile
~/.MacOSX/environment.plist
Some of these files may not exist, but they're the most likely ones to contain $PATH definitions.
On MAC OS X Leopard and higher
cd /etc/paths.d
There may be a text file in the above directory that contains the path you are trying to remove.
vim textfile //check and see what is in it when you are done looking type :q
//:q just quits, no saves
If its the one you want to remove do this
rm textfile //remove it, delete it
Here is a link to a site that has more info on it, even though it illustrates 'adding' the path. However, you may gain some insight.
What you're doing is valid for the current session (limited to the terminal that you're working in). You need to persist those changes. Consider adding commands in steps 1-3 above to your ${HOME}/.bashrc.
If you're removing the path for Python 3 specifically, I found it in ~/.zprofile and ~/.zshrc.
$PATH contains data that is referenced from actual files. Ergo, you should find the file containing the reference you want to delete, and then delete said reference.
Here is a good list to run through progressively [copied from #Ansgar's answer with minor updates].
/etc/bashrc
/etc/profile
~/.bashrc
~/.bash_profile
~/.profile
~/.MacOSX/environment.plist
/etc/paths
/etc/paths.d/
Note that /etc/paths.d/ is a directory that contains files with path references. For example, inside this directory may be a file called, say, fancy-app, and inside this file you'll see an entry like below:
/path/to/fancy-app
This path will appear in your $PATH and you can delete the entry in the file to remove it, or you can delete the file if it has only the one reference you want to remove.
Use sudo pico /etc/paths inside the terminal window and change the entries to the one you want to remove, then open a new terminal session.
when you login, or start a bash shell, environment variables are loaded/configured according to .bashrc, or .bash_profile. Whatever export you are doing, it's valid only for current session. so export PATH=/Applications/SenchaSDKTools-2.0.0-beta3:$PATH this command is getting executed each time you are opening a shell, you can override it, but again that's for the current session only. edit the .bashrc file to suite your need. If it's saying permission denied, perhaps the file is write-protected, a link to some other file (many organisations keep a master .bashrc file and gives each user a link of it to their home dir, you can copy the file instead of link and the start adding content to it)
Close the terminal(End the current session). Open it again.
If the manual export $PATH method does not seem to be working after you close the terminal and open again, definitely check the shell configuration files.
I found a small script that kept adding some more path in front of the $PATH everytime it was open.
For zsh you can check the ~/.zshrc file.
I have been looking throughout the system but I cannot find it. When I do echo $PATH I get the stuff I added, plus the default path. I do not have a .profile, and I do have a .bashrc, but the default path is not in there. I am looking for it just to know where it is located because all the tutorials explain that its in .profile... but what if you don't have one? Where is it located then? Anybody have any ideas?
If you do sudo man path_helper, it talks a bit about how it puts the path together. You might look in /etc/paths and /etc/paths.d. I did, and found what I was looking for.
Many system-wide settings including PATH are set in /etc/profile which is read in by bash at startup. On Mac OS X this file usually uses path_helper to set PATH. This utility in turn reads the information from other system configuration files under /etc (see path_helper manpage).
Note that even if you disable the reading of the initialization files by bash (e.g. with command-line options like --noprofile) it will still inherit the environment of the parent process.
If you start at /etc/profile, it should look something like this:
if [ -x /usr/libexec/path_helper ]; then
eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s`
fi
It's testing to see if the file exists and if so, executes it. If you execute it by hand, you'll get something like this:
PATH="/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin"; export PATH;
I believe that's what you're looking for. So it comes from /etc/profile, which in turn calls an executable that sets the path.
As mentioned in the accepted answer, the $PATH is built by first looking into the content of the file /etc/paths, and then looking into every file in the folder /etc/paths.d. So, the $PATH in the pre-installed bash system installation contains every entry in these files, as well as in other shell types.
However, because in the latest Mac OS versions the default shell is zsh, I followed a couple of tutorials in which the writer avoided to change the $PATH for the bash shell, and simply added new entries to the $PATH by editing ~/.zshrc the following way:
export PATH=/path/available/only/for/zsh/shells:$PATH
The above command adds /path/available/only/for/zsh/shells to the $PATH, and the added path will only be available in zsh shells.
I hope this helps someone who, like me, had too many entries in the $PATH in zsh shells, and couldn't figure out where they were coming from!
The .profile file on Mac is located in your user folder: ~/Users/youruser/
However, the .profile file is hidden. You can press Command+shift+. (command, shift, dot) while on Finder to see them.
There's one important fact I only realized today while debugging a problem: the profile settings (.bash_profile etc.) are only read by login shells. They are not read by the processes that are used to launch your applications.
You launch your applications in diverse ways: click the icon in /Applications, or type the name in Spotlight search, or click an icon in the Dock ... In all those cases, the application itself (i.e the binary or shell script inside the application) is launched by launchd without any parent shell. Meaning that your profile is not run and that your custom settings (PATH, environment variables ...) will be ignored.
That can cause all sorts of trouble, for example if you setup you environment to use a specific version of Java: your application will not see that and use the "default" java, which will be the one with the highest version number.
In my case, the problem is that my application was crashing when run via the application launcher, but runs fine when run from a terminal window ... The reason was that I had a custom path that included some libraries required by the application, but that was not available when the application was run by the launcher.
The solution I used was to symlink the libraries needed into /usr/local/lib
Looking for a solution to quickly navigate to long paths in a shell (particularly Max OS X Terminal.app).
Say my path is ~/This/Is/A/Really/Long/Path/That/I/Would/Rather/Not/Type/Frequently
Instead of cd ~/This/Is/A/....
I would like to be able to store favorites/bookmark directories so I could do "cd myPath"
Are there any binaries or tools available to do something like this?
I've found the packages 'Apparix' and 'Goto' which together make the stuff dreams are made of for us terminal junkies.
Naturally, I had trouble installing Apparix, but I figured it out in the end.
How To Install Apparix on Mac OS X:
Download the tarball from Apparix's homepage.
Unpack the tarball, cd to the unpacked folder.
Run this command ./configure --prefix=$HOME/local && make && make install.
Run man apparix, scroll down to the heading BASH-style functions, copy everything within that section (delimited with ---) and paste it into ~/.bash_profile.
That's it. You should now have Apparix up and running on OS X (further install info and usage is on Apparix's homepage).
Another solution is to use Bashmarks, which allows you to this
$ cd ~/This/Is/A/Really/Long/Path/That/I/Would/Rather/Not/Type/Frequently
$ s shortname # save current path as `shortname`
$ cd /
$ g shortname # cd to ~/This/Is/A/Really/Long/Path/That/I/Would/Rather/Not/Type/Frequently
You can use aliases (stick them in your ~/.bash_profile if you want them to always load)
alias cd_bmark1='cd ~/This/Is/A/Really/Long/Path/That/I/Would/Rather/Not/Type/Frequently'
Then use by just typing
cd_bmark1
into the console
I know you already found an answer that worked for you, but a couple of more lightweight suggestions that might help others looking for similar things
If your directories are relatively fixed, just long and far away from each other, you can use the CDPATH environment variable to add directories to the search path when typing the "cd" command. If the directory name you try to cd to isn't in the current directory, the other entries in your CD path will also be looked at (and it's also tab complete aware, at least in bash and zsh).
Switching to zsh rather than bash and using the excellent directory stacks abilities. With it, you can maintain a history of directories that you've visited, view the history with the "dh" alias, and easily switch to a directory by using quick shortcuts (ex: cd -3 to switch to the 3rd directory in your history stack).
Why not having a symlink ?
ln -s ~/This/Is/A/Really/Long/Path/That/I/Would/Rather/Not/Type/Frequently bmark
cd bmark
I use to.sh daily to create and navigate bookmarked paths in bash. It supports tag autocompletion and the ability to easily add/remove bookmarks.
https://github.com/Grafluxe/to.sh
Full disclosure, I wrote this tool :)