$PATH is nothing but an environment variable on Linux, OS X, Unix-like operating systems, and Microsoft Windows. You can specify a set of directories where executable programs are located using $PATH. The $PATH variable is specified as a list of directory names separated by colon (:) characters. To print the current settings, open the Terminal and then type:

echo “$PATH” OR

printf “%s\n” $PATH Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Displaying the current $PATH settings using echo / printf on OS X Fig.01: Displaying the current $PATH settings using echo / printf on OS X OS X: Change your PATH environment variable

You can add path to any one of the following method:

$HOME/.bash_profile file using export syntax. /etc/paths.d directory. Method #1: $HOME/.bash_profile file The syntax is as follows:

export PATH=$PATH:/new/dir/location1 export PATH=$PATH:/new/dir1:/dir2:/dir/path/no3 In this example, add /usr/local/sbin/modemZapp/ directory to $PATH variable. Edit the file $HOME/.bash_profile, enter: vi $HOME/.bash_profile

OR vi ~/.bash_profile

Append the following export command:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin/modemZapp Save and close the file. To apply changes immedialty enter: source $HOME/.bash_profile

OR . $HOME/.bash_profile

Finally, verify your new path settings, enter: echo $PATH

Sample outputs:

/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/usr/local/sbin/modemZapp Method #2: /etc/paths.d directory Apple recommends the path_helper tool to generate the PATH variable i.e. helper for constructing PATH environment variable. From the man page:

The path_helper utility reads the contents of the files in the directories /etc/paths.d and /etc/manpaths.d and appends their contents to the PATH and MANPATH environment variables respectively.

(The MANPATH environment variable will not be modified unless it is already set in the environment.)

Files in these directories should contain one path element per line.

Prior to reading these directories, default PATH and MANPATH values are obtained from the files /etc/paths and /etc/manpaths respectively.

To list existing path, enter: ls -l /etc/paths.d/

Sample outputs:

total 16 -rw-r–r– 1 root wheel 13 Sep 28 2012 40-XQuartz You can use the cat command to see path settings in 40-XQuartz: cat /etc/paths.d/40-XQuartz

Sample outputs:

/opt/X11/bin To set /usr/local/sbin/modemZapp to $PATH, enter:

sudo -s 'echo “/usr/local/sbin/modemZapp” > /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp' OR use vi text editor as follows to create /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp file: sudo vi /etc/paths.d/zmodemapp

and append the following text:

/usr/local/sbin/modemZapp Save and close the file. You need to reboot the system. Alternatively, you can close and reopen the Terminal app to see new $PATH changes.