powershell-pathx

Utility for manipulating the PATH (envar and registry) from the command-line.

Windows-Only

This only works on Windows. Sorry, I haven't tried any PowerShell on Linux nor OSX yet!

Installation:

Put the pathx directory in %UserProfile%\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules.

PS> cd "%UserProfile%\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules"
PS> git clone https://github.com/kodybrown/powershell-pathx pathx

Import the pathx module in your Profile.ps1 file:

PS> echo Import-Module pathx>> $PROFILE

Reload your Profile (or restart your console):

PS> . $PROFILE

Command-line Usage:

PS> Show-Path [SearchExpr]
PS> Edit-Path [--insert|--add|--remove|--enable|--disable] [--force] "C:\NewDir" ... [--user|--machine|--both]

Commands:

Show-Path: Shows the current path envar, one directory per line. Directories that do not exist are highlighted in red. (alias: pathx)

Edit-Path: Allows you to add, insert, and remove paths from the environment and also make the changes permanent via the registry. (alias: edpath)

Notes:

Multiple directories can be specified.

PS> edit-path --insert "C:\NewDir" "C:\Additional\Dir" ...

Flags:

-q|--quiet: Reduces the console output.

-a|--add|--append: Append the specified directory (or directories) to the end of the PATH.

-i|--insert: Insert the specified directory (or directories) to the beginning of the PATH.

-rm|--remove: Removes the specified directory (or directories) from the PATH.

--disable: Disables the specified directory (or directories) in the PATH.

--enable: Enables the specified directory (or directories) in the PATH.

--force: Allows removing a protected directory (see notes below in 'Adding and Removing' section). Also, used to allow adding (or inserting) a directory that does not exist.

-u|--user: also make the change to the HKCU Registry hive.

-m|--machine: also make the change to the HKLM Registry hive.

--both: also make the change to both the HKCU and HKLM Registry hives.

Note: The - and / are (mostly) interchangeable. As are using - or --.

Adding and Removing

If the directory being added or inserted does not exist a warning will be displayed; use --force to override it.

Also, in order to remove the C:\Bin, C:\Windows, or C:\Windows\System32 directories, you must also specify the --force flag.

Examples

Show the current environment path:

Assume every example uses this set of directories, before each command is executed.

PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common

PS> pathx bin

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\ProjectBin

PS> pathx \bin

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\Go\bin

Add directories:

PS> edit-path --append C:\NewDir
Appending C:\NewDir
  into environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common
 C:\NewDir

PS> edit-path --append C:\Go\bin
Appending C:\Go\bin
  into environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common
 C:\Go\bin          <-- Notice `C:\Go\bin` moved from the fourth position to the last..

Insert directories:

PS> edit-path --insert C:\NewDir
Inserting C:\NewDir
  into environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\NewDir
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common

PS> edit-path --insert C:\Go\bin
Inserting C:\Go\bin
  into environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Go\bin          <-- Notice `C:\Go\bin` moved from the fourth position to the first..
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common

Remove directories:

PS> edit-path --remove "C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common"
Removing C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common
  from environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin

Disable directories:

Note: Directories are disabled by inserting DISABLED at the beginning of the directory.

PS> edit-path --disable "C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common"
Disabling C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common"
  in environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\DISABLED\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common

Enable directories:

Note: Directories are enabled by removing DISABLED from the beginning of the directory.

PS> edit-path --enable "C:[\DISABLED]\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common"
Disabling C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common"
  in environment
PS> pathx

 FullName
 --------
 C:\Bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32
 C:\WINDOWS
 C:\Go\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
 C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
 C:\ProjectBin
 C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common