Editing $PATH in Linux

Question

I'm working on a linux client and I need to add my home directory path to $PATH but I was unable to do that. I tried to find .bash_profile file and also .bashrc file but both are missing. Please let me know how to achieve this.

Answer 1

Here is a good article on understanding configuration files: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-config/index.html#4

The point is - like everyone else says:

• If it does not exist - create it.
• If process does not recognize it - restart the process.
• If it doesn't work - read the manual, may be that config file are not optional or you putted it into a wrong place (for example root user uses different configs due to home dir of root).

Answer 2

If a .bashrc file doesn't exist, create one! Try adding one with this in it:

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME

Answer 3

If those files don't exist, you can simply create them.

Answer 4

If .bash_profile doesn't exist in your home directory, you can always create it. To accomplish the goal of adding your home directory to the $PATH environment variable add a line similar to the following:

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME