Default PATH

[chuckd35@msn.com]

On our AIX 5.1 systems we are unable to have the /etc/profile or
/etc/environment PATH statements take. The individual users
$HOME/.profile overrides any PATH statements in /etc/profile or
/etc/environment. Has anyone seen this problem, or know the solution?

[Todd H.]

[email]chuckd35@msn.com[/email] writes:

> On our AIX 5.1 systems we are unable to have the /etc/profile or
> /etc/environment PATH statements take. The individual users
> $HOME/.profile overrides any PATH statements in /etc/profile or
> /etc/environment.

Yes, that's the way UNIX is designed. The local customization trumps
the system wide one.

> Has anyone seen this problem, or know the solution?

Users shouldn't be setting PATH in an absolute fashion.

Instruct users that their setting of an absolute PATH breaks things
and that their .profile should only append to the existin PATH
statement, eg

good:
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
export PATH

versus the bad:
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:$HOME/bin
export PATH


Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
[url]http://www.toddh.net/[/url]

[Rich]

<chuckd35@msn.com> wrote in message
news:39ab5d89.0309091222.76e14668@posting.google.c om...

> On our AIX 5.1 systems we are unable to have the /etc/profile or
> /etc/environment PATH statements take. The individual users
> $HOME/.profile overrides any PATH statements in /etc/profile or
> /etc/environment. Has anyone seen this problem, or know the solution?

The shell will by default take the path form /etc/profiles and
/etc/environments. A users setting in their home directory with override.
What you must do is append the path. ie in the the $HOME/.profile is
should say

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin

where the usr/local/bin is whatever you want to add do the path set in
/etc/environment


Hope this helps

Rich