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Show HN: Justpath – a simple utility to explore the PATH environment variable

76 points by epogrebnyak 3y ago

nolongerthere 3y ago
I’m struggling to understand the use case for this aside from just checking if your own directory is on the path.
- MightyBuzzard 3y ago
  [dead]
- OccamsMirror 3y ago
  Not bad for a security check. https://systemweakness.com/linux-privilege-escalation-using-path-variable-manipulation-64325ab05469 https://systemweakness.com/linux-privilege-escalation-using-...
- epogrebnyak 3y ago
  For me the use case was trying to understand what directories should I clean from path and if there where duplicates. Just something to help understand if my PATH on Windows was repetitive or not.
- epogrebnyak 3y ago
  Actually funny enough does not do that - cool possible feature Should it be `justpath --contains .`? Opened issue here: https://github.com/epogrebnyak/justpath/issues/10 https://github.com/epogrebnyak/justpath/issues/10
  - nolongerthere 3y ago
    I was thinking you’d pipe the results and check that way
dang 3y ago
Url changed from https://polar.sh/epogrebnyak/posts/justpath-to-explore-path-quickly https://polar.sh/epogrebnyak/posts/justpath-to-explore-path-..., which points to this.
agumonkey 3y ago
the original ~unionfs :)
arp242 3y ago
For zsh I use this to setup $PATH, which seems to address most of the use cases of this tool: ### Setup PATH dirs=( /usr/lib/ccache/bin # ccache ~/.local/script ~/.local/bin # My local scripts. ~/.local/gobin # GOBIN /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin # local takes precedence /bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/sbin # Standard Unix /usr/pkg/bin /usr/pkg/sbin # NetBSD /usr/X11R6/bin /usr/X11R6/sbin # OpenBSD /opt/ooce/bin # illumos ~/.local/share/gem/ruby/*/bin(N[-1]) # Ruby ~/.luarocks/bin(N[-1]) # Lua ~/.local/dotnet/root ~/.local/dotnet/tools # .NET /usr/lib/plan9/bin # Plan 9 from userspace ~/code/Vim/gopher.vim/tools/bin # gopher.vim ~/.nimble/bin # Nim ~/.cargo/bin # Rust ~/.ghcup/bin # Haskell ) typeset -U path=() # No duplicates # Use full path so /bin and /usr/bin aren't duplicated if it's a symlink. for d in $dirs:A; [[ -d $d ]] && path+=($d) unset dirs d typeset -U makes the $path array "unique", and :A ensures the full path is always used (in case of symlinks). You can probably do something similar with bash, but idk. $path is tied to $PATH and an array, so you can use it as such for some of the other things: print ${(F)path} | grep /bin # (F) to print one array per line print ${(F)path} | sort # can also use (o) to print ordered
- throwaway84846 3y ago
  I use 'path=( ${(u)^path:A}(N-/) )' instead of that for loop
  - mst 3y ago
    To just reduce the current entries to those that exist, I'd probably do PATH=$(perl -e 'print join ":", grep -d, split ":", $ENV{PATH}') but that's because as a 20 year perl hacker and thus connoiseur of line noise, I'd rather read that than the shell clever. (this doesn't mean the shell clever is bad, it just means I don't find -that- dialect of line noise as skimmable)
    - JNRowe 3y ago
DanielKehoe 3y ago
I'd like to hear viewpoints on using `~/.zprofile` versus `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` on macOS. I was bothered for years that I didn't know the difference so I dived down the rabbit hole and wrote a guide [1]. In the end, I concluded: - Use `~/.zprofile` to set the PATH and EDITOR environment variables. - Use `~/.zshrc` for aliases and a custom prompt, or anything tweaking the appearance and behavior of the terminal. It seems the advantage of the `~/.zprofile` file versus `~/.zshenv` is that it sets environment variables such as `$PATH` without override from macOS. It seems the `~/.zshrc` file could be used for `$PATH` but, by convention and design, is intended for customizing the look and feel of the interactive terminal. Frankly, saying `~/.zprofile` is better than `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` only "by convention and design" feels like a cop-out. Wondering if anyone knows better. [1] https://mac.install.guide/terminal/zshrc-zprofile https://mac.install.guide/terminal/zshrc-zprofile
- vim-guru 3y ago
  Your assessment is correct. But it really comes down to what type of shell that's running. For an interactive shell (one you open yourself in a terminal), the run-com file (.zshrc) will be loaded, so anywhere you put it, things will seemingly work. But if you start doing some task scheduling etc, that would fail if you have set your PATH in a run-com.
- sidneythekidney 3y ago
  I set $PATH in ~/.zshenv. If you don't, you can't use any of your "extra stuff" in your zsh-scripts, as they do not use login or interactive sessions. And then I unset GLOBAL_RCS so the system configfiles don't override my settings. In your guide, under ~/.zshenv, you mention that "macOS overrides this for PATH settings for interactive shells", without mentioning why or how. What's happening is that macOS sets your path in /etc/zprofile. It seems your guide is missing a few global configfiles :) This is the order for an interactive login shell [1]: /etc/zshenv ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshenv /etc/zprofile (login) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprofile (login) /etc/zshrc (interactive) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc (interactive) /etc/zlogin (login) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogin (login) /etc/zlogout (login - loaded on logout) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogout (login - loaded on logout) In fact, the configfiles you mention are only loaded the way you've mentioned them, if the option GLOBAL_RCS is unset. And if GLOBAL_RCS is unset, macOS does not override your PATH, because/etc/zprofile is not loaded :) 1: <https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Files.html https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Files.html>
vim-guru 3y ago
I think for most of its use-cases, you could replace it with a one-liner: alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n} ' and work with it via sort and uniq. I've had this alias in my configuration for a couple of decades now, so I'm not bashing on its usefulness though.
- nmz 3y ago
  or you could just check env for a special variable and load a file once if the env var exists.
nmz 3y ago
Kinda pointless
- rrosen326 3y ago
  I like it! I do the steps involved in this occasionally, manually. It’s not hard but this makes it nice. Not sure I’ll use it since it is one more thing to install and remember, but the author had an itch and scratched it. Well done.
  - epogrebnyak 3y ago
    Thanks! Indeed an itch that was both on Linux and Windows - so a tool that I could use in either environment

76 points by epogrebnyak 3y ago

nolongerthere 3y ago

I’m struggling to understand the use case for this aside from just checking if your own directory is on the path.

MightyBuzzard 3y ago
[dead]
OccamsMirror 3y ago
Not bad for a security check. https://systemweakness.com/linux-privilege-escalation-using-path-variable-manipulation-64325ab05469 https://systemweakness.com/linux-privilege-escalation-using-...
epogrebnyak 3y ago
For me the use case was trying to understand what directories should I clean from path and if there where duplicates. Just something to help understand if my PATH on Windows was repetitive or not.
epogrebnyak 3y ago
Actually funny enough does not do that - cool possible feature Should it be `justpath --contains .`? Opened issue here: https://github.com/epogrebnyak/justpath/issues/10 https://github.com/epogrebnyak/justpath/issues/10
- nolongerthere 3y ago
  I was thinking you’d pipe the results and check that way

dang 3y ago

Url changed from https://polar.sh/epogrebnyak/posts/justpath-to-explore-path-quickly https://polar.sh/epogrebnyak/posts/justpath-to-explore-path-..., which points to this.

agumonkey 3y ago

the original ~unionfs :)

arp242 3y ago

For zsh I use this to setup $PATH, which seems to address most of the use cases of this tool: ### Setup PATH dirs=( /usr/lib/ccache/bin # ccache ~/.local/script ~/.local/bin # My local scripts. ~/.local/gobin # GOBIN /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin # local takes precedence /bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/sbin # Standard Unix /usr/pkg/bin /usr/pkg/sbin # NetBSD /usr/X11R6/bin /usr/X11R6/sbin # OpenBSD /opt/ooce/bin # illumos ~/.local/share/gem/ruby/*/bin(N[-1]) # Ruby ~/.luarocks/bin(N[-1]) # Lua ~/.local/dotnet/root ~/.local/dotnet/tools # .NET /usr/lib/plan9/bin # Plan 9 from userspace ~/code/Vim/gopher.vim/tools/bin # gopher.vim ~/.nimble/bin # Nim ~/.cargo/bin # Rust ~/.ghcup/bin # Haskell ) typeset -U path=() # No duplicates # Use full path so /bin and /usr/bin aren't duplicated if it's a symlink. for d in $dirs:A; [[ -d $d ]] && path+=($d) unset dirs d typeset -U makes the $path array "unique", and :A ensures the full path is always used (in case of symlinks). You can probably do something similar with bash, but idk. $path is tied to $PATH and an array, so you can use it as such for some of the other things: print ${(F)path} | grep /bin # (F) to print one array per line print ${(F)path} | sort # can also use (o) to print ordered

throwaway84846 3y ago
I use 'path=( ${(u)^path:A}(N-/) )' instead of that for loop
- mst 3y ago
  To just reduce the current entries to those that exist, I'd probably do PATH=$(perl -e 'print join ":", grep -d, split ":", $ENV{PATH}') but that's because as a 20 year perl hacker and thus connoiseur of line noise, I'd rather read that than the shell clever. (this doesn't mean the shell clever is bad, it just means I don't find -that- dialect of line noise as skimmable)
  - JNRowe 3y ago

DanielKehoe 3y ago

I'd like to hear viewpoints on using `~/.zprofile` versus `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` on macOS. I was bothered for years that I didn't know the difference so I dived down the rabbit hole and wrote a guide [1]. In the end, I concluded: - Use `~/.zprofile` to set the PATH and EDITOR environment variables. - Use `~/.zshrc` for aliases and a custom prompt, or anything tweaking the appearance and behavior of the terminal. It seems the advantage of the `~/.zprofile` file versus `~/.zshenv` is that it sets environment variables such as `$PATH` without override from macOS. It seems the `~/.zshrc` file could be used for `$PATH` but, by convention and design, is intended for customizing the look and feel of the interactive terminal. Frankly, saying `~/.zprofile` is better than `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` only "by convention and design" feels like a cop-out. Wondering if anyone knows better. [1] https://mac.install.guide/terminal/zshrc-zprofile https://mac.install.guide/terminal/zshrc-zprofile

vim-guru 3y ago
Your assessment is correct. But it really comes down to what type of shell that's running. For an interactive shell (one you open yourself in a terminal), the run-com file (.zshrc) will be loaded, so anywhere you put it, things will seemingly work. But if you start doing some task scheduling etc, that would fail if you have set your PATH in a run-com.
sidneythekidney 3y ago
I set $PATH in ~/.zshenv. If you don't, you can't use any of your "extra stuff" in your zsh-scripts, as they do not use login or interactive sessions. And then I unset GLOBAL_RCS so the system configfiles don't override my settings. In your guide, under ~/.zshenv, you mention that "macOS overrides this for PATH settings for interactive shells", without mentioning why or how. What's happening is that macOS sets your path in /etc/zprofile. It seems your guide is missing a few global configfiles :) This is the order for an interactive login shell [1]: /etc/zshenv ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshenv /etc/zprofile (login) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprofile (login) /etc/zshrc (interactive) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc (interactive) /etc/zlogin (login) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogin (login) /etc/zlogout (login - loaded on logout) ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogout (login - loaded on logout) In fact, the configfiles you mention are only loaded the way you've mentioned them, if the option GLOBAL_RCS is unset. And if GLOBAL_RCS is unset, macOS does not override your PATH, because/etc/zprofile is not loaded :) 1: <https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Files.html https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Files.html>

vim-guru 3y ago

I think for most of its use-cases, you could replace it with a one-liner: alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n} ' and work with it via sort and uniq. I've had this alias in my configuration for a couple of decades now, so I'm not bashing on its usefulness though.

nmz 3y ago
or you could just check env for a special variable and load a file once if the env var exists.

nmz 3y ago

Kinda pointless

rrosen326 3y ago
I like it! I do the steps involved in this occasionally, manually. It’s not hard but this makes it nice. Not sure I’ll use it since it is one more thing to install and remember, but the author had an itch and scratched it. Well done.
- epogrebnyak 3y ago
  Thanks! Indeed an itch that was both on Linux and Windows - so a tool that I could use in either environment