Altering my PATH specification

[rjaduthie]

Having the need to modify the default PATH of the LINUX kernel as to include the directories of a new program (TeXlive) - I have stumbled across a difficulty.

With Debian 4.0 (Etch) and Kernel 2.6.18-5-k7 (of Debian 2.6.18.dfsg.1-17), the /etc/profile file may be altered by:

PATH=$PATH:[new path]

...though this yeilds no result!

If the same command is given at the prompt (root), then the result is positive - which is good! However, the endevour of produing a file with the command inserted inside does nothing (similar to the profile problem).

I've also tried modifying:

/etc/profile
/home/[..username..]/.bash_profile
/home/[..username..]/.bashrc
/home/[..username..]/.bash_aliases
/root/.profile

The printenv command returns that there was no change.

Any suggestions?

[daark.child]

In your ~/.bash_profile, you can do

export PATH=$PATH:{NEW_PATH}

If you want this to be global, you can edit /etc/profile, look for the place where the place where the path variable is set or exported and add your new path to the end. You will need to log out and back in again for the changes to take effect or you need to source your /etc/profile o ~/.bash_profile depending on which file you added the new path to.