`launchctl export` command not working

command linehigh sierralaunchd

According to the man page of launchctl, there is an export command:

export   Export all of the environment variables of launchd for use in a shell eval
         statement.

However, when I try to use this command, I get the following message.

Unrecognized subcommand: export
Usage: launchctl <subcommand> ... | help [subcommand]

What's going on here? Did the command exist at some point, but was removed for some reason, and someone forgot to update the man page?

Best Answer

Apparently launchctl export is just gone.

FWIW launchctl dumpstate appears to contain that info (and much much more), so given enough effort, one could parse it out of there, I guess.

Option 1: just use /etc/launchd.conf

Add a line like

setenv PATH /Users/username/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

to /etc/launchd.conf and restart to apply the changes.

The default path is /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin.

/etc/launchd.conf applies to all processes, which includes graphical applications, non-login shells, and programs started by launchd jobs.

Edit /etc/launchd.conf manually if you see that some program or installer has added new paths to /etc/paths or /etc/paths.d/*.

Option 2: use a launchd job to set the path during startup

Save this plist as /Library/LaunchDaemons/setpath.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>setpath</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>bash</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>launchctl setenv PATH "$((launchctl getenv PATH|tr : \\n
    cat /etc/paths /etc/paths.d/*)|awk '!a[$0]++'|paste -sd: -)"</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

The program should be run the next time you restart. It changes the PATH of the root launchd process, which is inherited by the user launchd process.

In my opinion it's easier to just edit /etc/launchd.conf though.

Option 3: make bash run path_helper even for non-login shells

path_helper is run from /etc/profile, /etc/zshenv, and /etc/csh.login. zsh reads /etc/zshenv even for non-login shells but bash does not read /etc/profile for non-login shells.

This makes bash run path_helper for interactive non-login shells and for non-interactive non-login shells:

echo 'eval $(/usr/libexec/path_helper -s)'>>~/.bashrc
setenv BASH_ENV /etc/profile|sudo tee -a /etc/launchd.conf

It does not make bash run path_helper for non-interactive non-login shells invoked as sh. It also does not affect graphical applications or processes that are not started from shells.

MacOS – In OSX Yosemite, why can I set many environment variables for GUI apps, but cannot set the specific variable PATH

PATH in Yosemite can and should be set within /etc/paths file. Just add your path to the end of this file:

/usr/bin
/bin
/your/custom/path

/etc/environment script in original post provides support for PATH variable in GUI applications (tested with Emacs).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – Making items added to paths via paths.d show up everywhere under Mavericks

Option 1: just use /etc/launchd.conf

Option 2: use a launchd job to set the path during startup

Option 3: make bash run path_helper even for non-login shells

MacOS – In OSX Yosemite, why can I set many environment variables for GUI apps, but cannot set the specific variable PATH

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