- MacOS: Set / Change $PATH Variable Command
- macOS (OS X): Change your PATH environment variable
- Method #1: $HOME/.bash_profile file
- Method #2: /etc/paths.d directory
- Conclusion
- How to Set Environment Variables in MacOS
- Check Current Environment Variables
- List All Environment Variables
- Check A Specific Environment Variable
- Set Temporary Environment Variable
- Set Permanent Environment Variable
- Unset Environment Variable
MacOS: Set / Change $PATH Variable Command
I need to add dev tools (such as JDK and friends) to my PATH. How do I change $PATH variable in OS X 10.8.x? Where does $PATH get set in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or latest version of macOS?
Tutorial details | |
---|---|
Difficulty level | Easy |
Root privileges | No |
Requirements | Apple macOS or OS X with Bash |
Est. reading time | 3 mintues |
Here is what I see
Fig.01: Displaying the current $PATH settings using echo / printf on OS X
macOS (OS X): Change your PATH environment variable
You can add path to any one of the following method:
- $HOME/.bash_profile file using export syntax.
- /etc/paths.d directory.
Method #1: $HOME/.bash_profile file
The syntax is as follows:
In this example, add /usr/local/sbin/modemZapp/ directory to $PATH variable. Edit the file $HOME/.bash_profile , enter:
vi $HOME/.bash_profile
OR
vi
/.bash_profile
Append the following export command:
Save and close the file. To apply changes immedialty enter:
source $HOME/.bash_profile
OR
. $HOME/.bash_profile
Finally, verify your new path settings, enter:
echo $PATH
Sample outputs:
Method #2: /etc/paths.d directory
Apple recommends the path_helper tool to generate the PATH variable i.e. helper for constructing PATH environment variable. From the man page:
The path_helper utility reads the contents of the files in the directories /etc/paths.d and /etc/manpaths.d and appends their contents to the PATH and MANPATH environment variables respectively.
(The MANPATH environment variable will not be modified unless it is already set in the environment.)
Files in these directories should contain one path element per line.
Prior to reading these directories, default PATH and MANPATH values are obtained from the files /etc/paths and /etc/manpaths respectively.
To list existing path, enter:
ls -l /etc/paths.d/
Sample outputs:
You can use the cat command to see path settings in 40-XQuartz:
cat /etc/paths.d/40-XQuartz
Sample outputs:
To set /usr/local/sbin/modemZapp to $PATH, enter:
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OR use vi text editor as follows to create /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp file:
sudo vi /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp
and append the following text:
Save and close the file. You need to reboot the system. Alternatively, you can close and reopen the Terminal app to see new $PATH changes.
Conclusion
- Use $HOME/.bash_profile file when you need to generate the PATH variable for a single user account.
- Use /etc/paths.d/ directory via the path_helper tool to generate the PATH variable for all user accounts on the system. This method only works on OS X Leopard and higher.
See also:
- Customize the bash shell environments from the Linux shell scripting wiki.
- UNIX: Set Environment Variable
- Man pages – bash(1), path_helper(8)
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Comments on this entry are closed.
thank you for this.
to append multiple executables in one group, e.g ‘modemZapp2’:
sudo -s ‘echo “/usr/local/sbin/modemZapp2” >> /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp’
Thank you for your useful article! It helped me a lot!
I cannot get this to work. You write “Save and close the file”. How do I do this please?
The author does not explain this but the commands ‘vi’ in the terminal starts an editor called vim. According to the link below you can just type ‘:x’ (without the ‘) and then enter to save and close at the same time
I would like to be able to use gcc to compile a file.
I see gcc-4.0 and gcc-4.2 in /Developer/usr/bin/
echo “$PATH” gives me this:
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin:/usr/X11/bin
If I need to set the path also to /Developer/usr/bin/ where my gcc is (I mean I guess I have to do that, not even sure) I am kind of lost. I append this:
vi $HOME/.bash_profile
Then I see in he Terminal many line breaks with
in front, the cursor is before all these breaks and at the bottom I read “”
/.bash_profile” [New File]” (in my firs attempts it was written “INSERT”).
If I paste “export PATH=$PATH:/Developer/usr/bin” there, I don’t know how to go further. If I then paste “source $HOME/.bash_profile” after, I get a mess: I had to re-install xcode everytime I messed up with the Terminal which kept on scrolling and scrolling with error messages.
Actually as soon as I paste “export PATH=$PATH:/Developer/usr/bin”, he word “INSERT” comes up at the bottom replacing ”
/.bash_profile” [New File]”
So I guess from now on I should save my new bash_profile, bu I do not know how.
I got it to work. gcc never worked, but g++ did.
Now the ./a.out command form the script I want to create is not working. Nerverending story. FIle not found no matter where my source file is.
When I did echo “$PATH”, I got
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
In my .bash_profile file, I have put
PATH=”/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH”
export PATH
But, when ever I execute a command, I need to give the full path in the command. For example,
when I take update in SVN. The command should be “svn update” but in my case i need to give “/usr/local/bin/svn update”. It happens for me in every command.
FYI: I am using OS X Yosemite, 10.10.3
Is there anything I need to change in resolving this issue ? Thanks in advance.
The reason why this is happening is because you are not pointing your “$PATH” to a folder with ONLY Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64. In order to do this, please follow this tutorial: https://www.objc.io/issues/6-build-tools/mach-o-executables/. Long story short, to make for example an executable file from a C file “.c”, use the terminal tool xcrun with clang as an argument followed by the name of your “.c” file…This will look something like xcrun clang helloworld.c. This in turn will generate the desired “Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64”. The file will look something like: a.out (“The file is called ‘a’ because it is the default name if given no parameters for such”). Now you can take this “a.out” file and rename it to whatever you want your command to be when you are calling it from terminal. Now after renaming your file, put it in a folder where ONLY Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 will be located and put this folder in your “$PATH” using any of the options listed in this article and finito!. Now you can call your file with the desired named from the terminal.
Conclusion : If you want additional values to your path for all users, you just have to create a new file in /etc/paths.d and put, on per line, additional paths that are required.
Conclusion : Specific roles taken up from time to time by users could need different environment settings. Ex – Dev role by the administrator could need the XAMP stack, and access to executing Apache, MySQL and PHP. Though Apache and PHP come built-in along with Yosemite, their bin directories are not set in the PATH variable.
Hence, we can have .bash_profile_dev in the HOME of the administrator, with all the PATH settings and command line conveniences for starting / stopping servers, etc as the need arises. This can be executed whenever the user needs to change their role, by running
Worked on my M1 MacBook Air too. Cheers mate.
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How to Set Environment Variables in MacOS
Home » SysAdmin » How to Set Environment Variables in MacOS
Environment variables are used to store system-wide values that can be used by any user and process under the operating system. Setting environment variables is essential in the steps of certain installations we covered such as How To Install Java or How To Install Java On Raspberry Pi.
This tutorial explains how to view, add, and remove temporary and permanent environment variables on macOS.
- A system running the lastest version of macOS
- Access to the terminal
- A user with admin-level privileges
Check Current Environment Variables
There are two ways to check current environment variables in macOS:
1. Display and review a list of all current environment variables.
2. Display and review a specific environment variable.
List All Environment Variables
Use the printenv command to display a list of currently set environment variables:
Note: If you want to display the complete list of shell variables, use the set command.
Check A Specific Environment Variable
If you want to display the value of any specific environment variable, use the echo command:
For example, to check the value of the PATH variable which stores a list of directories with executable files, use the
echo command:
Note: Always use the $ prefix when specifying a variable name.
Set Temporary Environment Variable
The value you assign to a temporary environment variable only lasts until you close the terminal session. This is useful for variables you need to use for one session only or to avoid typing the same value multiple times.
Assign a temporary environment variable with the export command:
- [variable_name] : The name for the new temporary environment variable you want to set.
- [variable_value] : The value you want to assign to the new variable.
The export command also allows you to add new values to existing environment variables:
- [existing_variable_name] : The name of the environment variable you want to add a new value to.
- [new_variable_value] : The value you want to add to an existing variable.
For example, if you want to add a custom folder path to the PATH variable, use:
Set Permanent Environment Variable
Permanent environment variables are added to the .bash_profile file:
1. Find the path to .bash_profile by using:
2. Open the .bash_profile file with a text editor of your choice.
3. Scroll down to the end of the .bash_profile file.
4. Use the export command to add new environment variables:
5. Save any changes you made to the .bash_profile file.
6. Execute the new .bash_profile by either restarting the terminal window or using:
Unset Environment Variable
Use the unset command to remove an environment variable:
After following this tutorial, you should know how to set temporary and permanent environment variables in macOS. This should make it easier for you to configure software packages in the future.
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