Ubuntu – When I use ZSH, how to set PATH in /etc/profile.d

environment-variableszsh

I'm using zsh as my shell, and I'm trying to configure my environment.

I usually define my $JAVA_HOME variable by creating a file:

/etc/profile.d/java.sh

with the following content

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/jdk
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

then I logout and back in, and it all works, but for some reason the PATH variable is not set. It recognizes JAVA_HOME, but not the new PATH, see this terminal snippet:

~  echo $JAVA_HOME
/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_05
~  echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games

and I confirmed it by trying to run a command form the jvm

~  java -version
zsh: command not found: java

the PATH doesn't include the $JAVA_HOME as it should. is there something else I should check?

I have checked that if I run:

source /etc/profile.d/java.sh

it all runs correctly and my variables get set as they should, but shouldn't the scripts in /etc/profile.d run automatically?

Best Answer

From my point of view, the best way is to add the following lines at the ~/.zshrc file (if you don't already have it, then create it):

if [ -d "/path/to/jdk" ] ; then
    export PATH="/path/to/jdk/bin:$PATH"
fi

Then restart your zsh, or just run source ~/.zshrc and then your PATH should be exactly as you wish.

Or, if you want to make the change to be system-wide, then add the previous code to the end of /etc/zsh/zshenv file.

But in any case do not use /etc/profile.d to automatically run scripts in zsh. This directory is useful only for the bash shell, not zsh as in your case. To understand this, open /etc/profile file, which is a bash initialization file and in no case a zsh initialization file, and you will see somewhere at the end of the file:

if [ -d /etc/profile.d ]; then
  for i in /etc/profile.d/*.sh; do
    if [ -r $i ]; then
      . $i
    fi
  done
  unset i
fi

So, your scripts from /etc/profile.d directory will automatically run in zsh only if you add the previous code in a zsh initialization file, like /etc/zsh/zprofile for example, or source /etc/profile in /etc/zsh/zprofile file.

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