14

I'm trying to install Euler expert system following these instructions. To add the environment variable I edited my /etc/environment to become as follows:

 PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:
/home/mohammad/Desktop/eye"
 EYE_HOME = "/home/mohammad/Desktop/eye"

But when I use printenv PATH I don't see the new directory added to my path.

What am I doing wrong here?

Eliah Kagan
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Moha the almighty camel
  • 1,713

4 Answers4

8

I don't know the reason why PATH wasn't changed (after relogin), but 

EYE_HOME = "/home/mohammad/Desktop/eye"
--------^-^

those spaces prevent EYE_HOME to be set.

It should be noted that /etc/environment is not a script file, but a kind of assignment file that is read by PAM. OTOH such spaces are not allowed in script files like /etc/profile and ~/.profile either.

If you use a script file, you need to export the variables as shown in Avinash Raj's answer.

Please note that while ~/.bashrc works if you start your program from a terminal window, it may not work if you start it from the graphical environment, since it's not sourced by the display manager.

Gunnar Hjalmarsson
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5
gedit ~/.bashrc

After that add the below lines,

export EYE_HOME="/home/mohammad/Desktop/eye"
export PATH=$PATH:$EYE_HOME

Save the file and sourec it,

source ~/.bashrc
Avinash Raj
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0

You can try these two files too for system wide configuration:

  • /etc/profile
  • /etc/bashrc

For user wide configuration:

  • $HOME/.profile
  • $HOME/.bashrc

Just append the variables as you have done on /etc/environment. But you will have to login and logout (or run the proper reload). Maybe by login and logout /etc/environment would work but I am not sure.

Vinicius Tinti
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-1

You want to edit your .bashrc file in your home directory.

When you edit the path you should include :$PATH on the end so you don't replace the current path.

Julian Stirling
  • 2,929