0

I added a line echo $PATH > /home/z/path.txt to the front of /etc/profile and found the content of /home/z/path.txt was as follows:

/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin

Part of the modified /etc/profile:

# /etc/profile

Set our umask


umask 022
echo $PATH > /home/z/path.txt


Append "$1" to $PATH when not already in.


This function API is accessible to scripts in /etc/profile.d


append_path () {
    case ":$PATH:" in
        :"$1":)
            ;;
        *)
            PATH="${PATH:+$PATH:}$1"
    esac
}


Append our default paths


append_path '/usr/bin'
append_path '/usr/local/sbin'
append_path '/usr/local/bin'

As you can see the PATH is not empty when /etc/profile is processed. My question is: before /etc/profile is processed, what script sets the PATH variable?

I've looked through /etc/environment but I don't think it's the one I am looking for:

#
# This file is parsed by pam_env module
#
# Syntax: simple "KEY=VAL" pairs on separate lines
#

QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1


QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME="gnome"


QT_STYLE_OVERRIDE="kvantum"


Force to use Xwayland backend


QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb


#Not tested: this should disable window decorations


QT_WAYLAND_DISABLE_WINDOWDECORATION=1


EDITOR=/usr/bin/nano

I am using zsh shell on manjaro.

z.h.
  • 994
  • Are you starting your shell in a terminal emulator in a graphical session or in a tty? Possibly related, though the question is about Bash: https://unix.stackexchange.com/q/227989/315749 – fra-san Oct 09 '20 at 16:08
  • If you just do echo $PATH > /home/z/path.txt, you're overwriting the file, so how are you guaranteeing that the output you see is not from some invocation that already had $PATH in the environment? (Also, even if you do something like env -u PATH /bin/zsh -c 'declare PATH', you'll still see zsh's built-in default PATH.) And of course, zsh is sourcing zshenv, and /etc/zprofile, before it gets around to emulate sh -c 'source /etc/profile' in /etc/zprofile – muru Oct 09 '20 at 16:16
  • @fra-san I tried in tty6 and gnome-terminal. same result. – z.h. Oct 09 '20 at 16:36
  • @fra-san The link you provided is quite helpful. I think the value is set in /etc/login.defs after I checked its content. – z.h. Oct 09 '20 at 16:57
  • muru Thanks for the comment. I didn't really know the exact procedure of login so I didn't think too much before putting that line in /etc/profile. – z.h. Oct 09 '20 at 17:00

0 Answers0