I am on Mac's OS 10.6, and I am trying to learn a thing or two about shell scripting. I understand how to save a shell script and make it executable, but I am wondering what I can do or where I can save the file to make it global (that is, accessible no matter what folder I am in).
For example, if I save a .sh file in the /Users/username/ directory and make it executable, I can only execute that script in that specific directory. If I navigate to /Users/username/Downloads, for example, I can't execute the script.
Also, any suggestions of resources for learning more about shell scripting would be helpful. Thanks
/usr/local/bin would be the most appropriate location. Mac OS X has it in the PATH by default
There are two ways to do it -
Put your script in usr/local/bin and make sure it is executable(chmod +x my_script)(This is already set in the path, you can check by doing an echo $PATH)
Create a folder in your home directory called bin. (For your personal scripts)
cd ~ (Takes you to your home directory)
mkdir bin (create a bin folder)
vim .bash_profile (to set path environment variable)
export PATH=~/bin:$PATH (Press i then add this line and then do esc and type :wq)
Now you can just type the name of your script and run it from anywhere you want.
** NOTE: If you want to run the script with a shortened command rather than typing your entire filename, add the following to your .bash_profile:
alias myscript='my_script.sh'
Then you can run the script by simply typing myscript. (you can sub in whatever alias you'd like)
Traditionally, such scripts either go in ~/bin (ie: the bin directory in your home directory) or /usr/local/bin/ The former means the script will only work for you, the latter is for scripts you want anybody on the system to be able to run.
If you put it in ~/bin, you may need to add that to your PATH environment variable. /usr/local/bin should already be on the path.
In mac operating system
Open bash ~/.bashrc file.
add path of your script in your bashrc file , using
export PATH="$PATH:/Users/sher.mohammad/Office/practice/practiceShell"
Open your ~./bash_profile file and add [[ -s ~/.bashrc ]] && source ~/.bashrc
open new terminal window
Now whenever you will open your terminal your script will be loaded
This one is super easy if you are familiar with your bashrc file! This will entirely use just your .bashrc file and takes 2 seconds to accomplish.
(I use Arch Linux Manjaro so I use .bashrc located in my home directory)
The code to be placed in your .bashrc file:
# Simple bashrc method to launch anything in terminal from any directory
YOURCOMMAND () {
cd /path/to/directory/containing/your/script/ && ./YOURSCRIPT
}
As you can see, first you use the simple 'cd' command and give it the directory of the scripts location, then use '&&' so that you can make the next command executed right after, and finally open your script just as you would normally! Super easy and saved right in your .bash file! :)
Hope I've helped someone!
Sincerely,
AnonymousX
On using bash shell, write that script as function and then put it to the .bashrc or source the file which containing that function by "source file_name"
Now execute the script by function call in the shell.
Either saving it in /usr/bin (or any other directory present in PATH) or editing PATH to include the directory you saved it in will basically make it run in any directory.
from the working directory of 'script.sh'" mv [script.sh] /usr/local/bin"( not tested but seems to be the least complex way IMO.)
You should put it in the global executable directory on your machine. I think that would usually be /usr/bin on Unix-based operating systems (this would however most often require super user privileges on that machine).
You could also put it in any other directory that is in the $PATH environment variable, although it would only work for those users who have that directory in that variable.
You can find the value of $PATH by typing echo $PATH in a shell. The directories are separated by :.
Related
I am trying to permanently add a binary to the path variable on mac os. I have read several posts and blogs, it just does not work.
The question: given a directory /dir which contains an executable foo, how can I make it such that I can execute foo in the commandline without having to type export PATH... etc., and without having to move the foo executable to the bin folder?
I know there exists several scripts that are run on startup and whenever you open a command prompt, I just cannot seem to find the correct one. If I manually execute the export PATH... command and then do foo, it works.
If the export command works for you, just add it to either ~/.zshrc (on zsh) or ~/.bashrc (on bash).
I created a mv_file.sh script and I want to use it even if I'm not in the path where the script is located.
My question is: What do I have to do to use ./mv_file instead of mv, and this whatever the path I'm in.
You can add the directory, where your script is, to your path. Open ~/.bash_profile (or whatever you choose to use, this sometimes in ~/.bashrc or in ~/.zshrc if you use zsh for example) And add:
PATH=/path/to/script:$PATH
OR you can add the script to a directory that's already in your path. For gnu/linux for example that might be:
$HOME/bin
To see what you're current PATH is:
echo $PATH
If memory serves, this should work just as well on a mac.
(First post, be gentle.)
In a bash script, I am using:
#!/bin/bash
baseDir=$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")
I have saved the script as /path/to/location/script.command, so that a double-click in Finder in macOS will execute the script.
I have created symlinks to that script from multiple other locations, but no matter the location, $baseDir always returns as /path/to/location.
However if I save the script as /path/to/location/script.sh and create symlinks to that in, for example, /path/for/symlink, then $baseDir returns as my desired outcome, /path/for/symlink.
My assumption is that symlinking a .sh will always run said script from the location of the symlink, whereas symlinking a .command will always run said script from the location of the linked script.
Unfortunately, this solution won't work because I need to resolve symlinks, and this solution won't work because $0 returns the same as $BASH_SOURCE.
By recommendation of Charles below, I've scoured this FAQ, but unless I'm missing something, all the suggestions would require one of $0, $BASH_SOURCE, or PWD to return the path to the symlink, not the path to the linked script.
Is there any way around this?
I am very new to bash and using .sh files. I am trying to run the program aescrypt by calling it in a .sh file as follows (aescrypt is in the same directory as the .sh file) :
./aescrypt -e -p password file.txt
It throws the following error:
./aescrypt no such file or directory
Am I doing it wrong?
ps- I realy don't want to add it to the PATH variable as I will be using this on more than one computer that resets every day.
The location of the script is irrelevant. The thing that matters is the working directory of the process executing the script. The simplest solution really is to add aescrypt to a standard location like /bin or /usr/bin. If neither of those is acceptable, perhaps /usr/local/bin is an option. Otherwise, just use the full path of aescrypt in your script. Either hard code it, or if it is in the same directory as the script, try:
$(dirname $0)/aescrypt ...
(Note that hardcoding is more reliable, but less flexible. If you move the executable, the script will break. But using dirname will break if the script changes directory during execution.)
how about if you call the program like ./aescrypt.sh, thats the way to call an .sh programm througt the terminal
First off all, you have also to change the permissions of the file to make it executable, the way to make that is to write in the terminal, the command:
sudo chmod 765 aescrypt.sh
For that you have to be located where the file is
Is there a way to get into an alias directory from shell with the command "cd" ? It always returns that "htdocs" isn't a directory.
Edit: I made the shortcut with the OS GUI -> rightclicked the htdocs directory and chose "Alias..." (i'm using a german OS if it's not alias maybe it's called shortcut in english?) then i moved it to my home directory (because my terminal starts from there when i open it).
All i want is to open my terminal and type "cd htdocs" so that i can work from there.
you can make symbolic link to it.
ln -s EXISTING_PATH LINK_NAME
e.g.
ln -s ~/Documents/books ~/Desktop/
Reference
Enter into a directory through an alias in Mac OS X terminal
All i want is to open my terminal and type cd htdocs so that i can work from there.
The easier approach is probably to ignore the links and add the parent directory of your htdocs directory to the CDPATH environment variable. bash(1) will check the contents of the CDPATH environment variable when you type cd foo to find the foo directory in one of the directories listed. This will work no matter what your current working directory is, and it'll be easier than setting symbolic links.
If the path to your htdocs is located /srv/www/htdocs/, then you could use CDPATH=/srv/www. Then, cd foo would first look for /srv/www/foo/ and change to it if it exists; if not, then it would look for foo in the current working directory and change to it if it exists. (This might get confusing if you have multiple htdocs directories on your system; in that case, CDPATH=.:/srv/www would let you change into a child directory easily but still use the /srv/www/htdocs/ version if no ./htdocs directory is present.)
You can add the CDPATH=/srv/www line to your ~/.bashrc file so it works every time you start a terminal.
I personally use this to quickly work in the directory which is present deep inside one of my Volumes in my Mac.
Open your ~/.bash_profile, create an alias to the directory by adding this:
alias cdh="cd /Volumes/Haiku/haiku/src/apps/superprefs"
Save it, restart your terminal. Now on typing cdh in your terminal should change the working directory to the one mentioned as the alias.
I am not sure how OSX exposes Alias links but since you are using bash you can just create a variable in your .bashrc file.
On its own line put:
htdocs=YourDirectoryPath/
Once you have restarted bash you can just type cd $htdocs
There is a old hint on macworld to do this in a way that is integrated with BASH: Enable 'cd' into directory aliases from the Terminal
Plus, here is an answer that uses this solution on superuser.
You may be able to use osascript to do this -- this command seems to work:
cd "`osascript -e "on run aFile" -e "set aFile to POSIX file aFile as alias" -e "tell application "\""Finder"\"" to return POSIX path of ( ( original item of aFile ) as text ) " -e "end run" path_to_my_Finder_alias 2>/dev/null`"
Basically this command is running an AppleScript that finds the destination path of the argument (path_to_my_Finder_alias) in a subshell, then wraps it in double quotes, and changes the directory to it.
Maybe someone with a little more bash expertise can turn it into a bash alias or function.
try:
alias cdgo=`echo cd /root/go/`
cdgo will run, then get command "cd /root/go/" and enter, and it will change your directory in current terminal process
It works on my centos, no test with osx