If I have a basic Python script, with it's hashbang and what-not in place, so that from the terminal on Linux I can run
/path/to/file/MyScript [args]
without executing through the interpreter or any file extensions, and it will execute the program.
So would I install this script so that I can type simply
MyScript [args]
anywhere in the system and it will run? Can this be implemented for all users on the system, or must it be redone for each one? Do I simply place the script in a specific directory, or are other things necessary?
The best place to put things like this is /usr/local/bin.
This is the normal place to put custom installed binaries, and should be early in your PATH.
Simply copy the script there (probably using sudo), and it should work for any user.
Walkthrough of making a python script available anywhere:
Make a python script:
cd /home/el/bin
touch stuff.py
chmod +x stuff.py
Find out where your python is:
which python
/usr/bin/python
Put this code in there:
#!/usr/bin/python
print "hi"
Run in it the same directory:
python stuff.py
Go up a directory and it's not available:
cd ..
stuff.py
-bash: stuff.py: command not found
Not found! It's as we expect, add the file path of the python file to the $PATH
vi ~/.bashrc
Add the file:
export PATH=$PATH:/home/el/bin
Save it out, re apply the .bashrc, and retry
source ~/.bashrc
Try again:
cd /home/el
stuff.py
Prints:
hi
The trick is that the bash shell knows the language of the file via the shebang.
you can also use setuptools (https://pypi.org/project/setuptools/)
your script will be:
def hi():
print("hi")
(suppose the file name is hello.py)
also add __init__.py file next to your script (with nothing in it).
add setup.py script, with the content:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import setuptools
install_requires = [
'WHATEVER PACKAGES YOU NEED GOES HERE'
]
setuptools.setup(
name="some_utils",
version="1.1",
packages=setuptools.find_packages(),
install_requires=install_requires,
entry_points={
'console_scripts': [
'cool_script = hello:hi',
],
},
include_package_data=True,
)
you can now run python setup.py develop in this folder
then from anywhere, run cool_script and your script will run.
Just create ~/bin and put export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin in your bashrc/profile. Don't mess with the system, it will bite you back, trust me.
Few more things (relevant to the question but not part of the answer):
The other way export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH is NOT safe, for bash will will look into your ~/bin folder for executables, and if their name matches with other executables in your original $PATH you will be surprised by unexpected/non working command execution.
Don't forget to chmod+x when you save your script in ~/bin.
Be aware of what you are putting in your ~/bin folder, if you are just testing something or working on unfinished script, its always better to use ./$SCRIPT_NAME from your CWD to execute the script than putting it under ~/bin.
The quick answer is to symlink your script to any directory included in your system $PATH.
The long answer is described below with a walk through example, (this is what I normally do):
a) Create the script e.g. $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py:
#!/usr/bin/python
print("Hello Pythonista!")
b) Change the permission of the script file to make it executable:
$ chmod +x myscript.py
c) Add a customized directory to the $PATH (see why in the notes below) to use it for the user's scripts:
$ export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"
d) Create a symbolic link to the script as follows:
$ ln -s $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py $HOME/bin/hello
Notice that hello (can be anything) is the name of the command that you will use to invoke your script.
Note:
i) The reason to use $HOME/bin instead of the /usr/local/bin is to separate the local scripts from those of other users (if you wish to) and other installed stuff.
ii) To create a symlink you should use the complete correct path, i.e.
$HOME/bin GOOD ~/bin NO GOOD!
Here is a complete example:
$ pwd
~/Desktop
$ cat > myscript.py << EOF
> #!/usr/bin/python
> print("Hello Pythonista!")
> EOF
$ export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"
$ ln -s $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py $HOME/bin/hello
$ chmod +x myscript.py
$ hello
Hello Pythonista!
Just create symbolic link to your script in /usr/local/bin/:
sudo ln -s /path/to/your/script.py /usr/local/bin/script
Putting the script somewhere in the PATH (like /usr/local/bin) is a good solution, but this forces all the users of your system to use/see your script.
Adding an alias in /etc/profile could be a way to do what you want allowing the users of your system to undo this using the unalias command. The line to be added would be:
alias MyScript=/path/to/file/MyScript
i find a simple alias in my ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zshrc is the easiest:
alias myscript="python path/to/my/script.py"
Type echo $PATH in a shell. Those are the directories searched when you type command, so put it in one of those.
Edit: Apparently don't use /usr/bin, use /usr/local/bin
Acording to FHS, the /usr/local/bin/ is the good place for custom scripts.
I prefer to make them 755 root:root, after copying them there.
I'd like to make some files to put in my /usr/bin folder (Mac OS) and be able to run them by typing the name to the terminal, like the commands gcc, cd, or vim (those are all in that folder). When I open such a file as text, it appears encrypted, so I'm not sure how to create one or what extension to use. Thank you.
The files you see in /usr/bin are not encrypted - they're compiled code in machine language different from bash scripts. You can however have scripts also in the /usr/bin location and have them run exactly as you are expecting.
In order to do that, you will have to create an executable script file. In unix, scripts are not identified by file extension but by 2 things:
executable bit set on the file permission level
Script interpreter header, such as #!/bin/bash
For a bash script, you can do the following:
Make a new file with the following content:
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello world - My first bash script."
Save the file as hello.sh (the .sh is just convention, it could be any file name).
Then run chmod +x hello.sh and you will be able to run this file as an executable.
Move this file to /usr/local/bin and you should be able to run hello.sh from command line and it should execute your program.
You can create scripts, for example in bash, make the file executable with chmod and put the file path in your $PATH.
Example:
Create a new file called myscript.sh, you can use vi or any editor you prefer.
Add the content below on it:
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello world!"
Now make it executable:
chmod u+x my script.sh
You can run your script like this ./myscript.sh or add it to your path:
export PATH=$PATH:$PWD
Now you can just run with the name, like myscript.sh
Programs such as gcc and cd are not encrypted, but compiled; however, if you create a shell script (without .sh as suffix; the .sh file extension for a shell script is optional) and place it in /usr/bin or any PATH location, and you chmod +x <script-path> (to give execute permission) then you can directly use that as a command.
Note: use shebang to mention the script interpreter, e.g. #!/usr/bin/env bash or equivalent for korn shell, python, etc.
I wrote a shell script which opens some directories and runs some script, I run this bash file by terminal (bash filename.sh), how can I make it clickable?
You need to add the following shebang line to the top of your code.
#!/bin/bash
You also need to ensure that the script has executable permissions by running:
chmod a+x <filename>.sh
You first need to start your script with
'#!/bin/bash '
and save it as <filename>.sh Also make sure that you keep the permissions as a+x i.e all users can execute the script.
I have a shell script with some functionalities. I want to convert it to an executable file. Any idea if this is possible?
Thanks
Add the following line at the very top of your script:
#!/bin/sh
This is known as a shebang. It indicates which program to invoke the shell script with when you execute it. You could change it to anything. Eg, to run a zsh script you would use #!/bin/zsh, which is the path to the zsh interpreter on my machine.
Then you need to mark the file as executable using chmod. You can do this as follows:
chmod +x myscript
You can now run the script like this:
/full/path/to/myscript
Or, if you're in the directory the script is in:
./myscript
The '.' expands to the path of your current working directory.
If you want to be able to run the script from anywhere, stick it somewhere in your path. Eg.
mv myscript /usr/bin
You can now run the script from anywhere by typing in just the name.
I've written a simple script, that basically looks like this:
#!/bin/bash
echo Hello World
I'm trying to run this in my unix terminal but it basically does nothing. no errors, no printing, nothing
[solgag#t2 ~]$ olga
[solgag#t2 ~]$
any ideas?
Try ./test instead. If you run just test, bash will look for an executable named test in $PATH and it will find it (or maybe execute its own built-in?) as test is a standard command in UNIX.
if you shell script name is olga you need to run in terminal as
$./olga
To run the script as specified above you need to have executable permissions you can add executable permission using chmod command
$chmod u+x ./olga
You can also run a bash script using sh command
$sh olga