A replacement for Apple's /usr/libexec/path_helper.
It helps set the PATH environment variable, among other things.
Because Apple's one loads the system libraries to the front, which almost certainly isn't what you want. Have a look:
$ /usr/libexec/path_helper
PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin
<snip!>
I'm glad you asked. Apple has some good ideas (lots of them, actually) that developers overlook for whatever reason. One of them is the framework bundle structures, but more on that in a moment.
Apple's path_helper helps organise the PATH and MANPATH by listing things you want added to the path in text files in well known locations (e.g. /etc/paths and /etc/paths.d/*) it's easy to create a PATH that works for you. Where the Apple path_helper falls down is:
- It puts them in /etc meaning you need elevated permissions
- Being in /etc also makes them system wide
- It's only for
PATHandMANPATHbut development and administration often need new installs' headers and libraries accessible in the same way too - The string it returns is designed to be
eval'd. I know thatevalisn't always evil but why not just return thePATHstring and allow it to be set to a variable - maybe there's more to be added? Just a thought.
This library fixes those problems by extending that to:
C_INCLUDE_PATH
DYLD_FALLBACK_FRAMEWORK_PATH
DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH
and of course, PATH and MANPATH.
No, it should work on any unix-like system.
Apple has put paths in /etc/paths and further files are there for the user or apps to add under /etc/paths.d/. If you want to order them then prefixing a number works well, e.g.
$ tree /etc/paths.d
/etc/paths.d
├── 10-pkgsrc
└── MacGPG2
└── ImageMagick
The format of the file is simply a path per line, e.g.
$ cat /etc/paths.d/10-pkgsrc
/opt/pkg/bin
/opt/pkg/sbin
$ cat /etc/paths
/usr/local/bin
/usr/local/sbin
/usr/bin
/usr/sbin
/bin
/sbin
The order within the file matters as well as the order the files are read/concatenated.
The /etc/paths file in Apple isn't set out fully or in the order I'd want so I changed mine, you may want to do the same.
This is the bit I like best.
There's not really any help made for paths that might be local to the user, like ~/.rubies or something like that so I've added two places the Ruby script will check for further paths:
~/Library/Paths/paths.dand~/Library/Paths/paths, and~/.config/paths.d/and~/.config/paths
You can use the --setup to have the path_helper set up the directory layout and files, you just have to fill them!
The Ruby script will also allow use of the tilde ~ character in a path by replacing it with the HOME env variable. For example, if I install Haskell and want to put it in my path I can do the following.
$ echo '~/Library/Haskell/bin' > ~/Library/Paths/paths
$ tree ~/Library/Paths
/Users/iainb/Library/Paths
├── paths
└── paths.d
$ cat ~/Library/Paths/paths
~/Library/Haskell/bin
That puts /Users/iainb/Library/Haskell/bin at the front of my path and will only apply to my account's PATH.
$ touch ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/60-Haskell
$ tree ~/Library/Paths
/Users/iainb/Library/Paths
├── paths
└── paths.d
└── 60-Haskell
If I show you my actual set up it'll become clearer:
$ tree ~/Library/Paths
/Users/iainb/Library/Paths
├── paths
└── paths.d
├── 05-pkgsrc
├── 08-homebrew
├── 10-keybase
├── 30-oh-my-zshell
├── 50-ngrok
├── 55-Crystal-opt
├── 60-Crystal
├── 61-Opam
├── 62-Haskell
├── 63-Erlang
├── 63-Go
├── 64-Pyenv
├── 65-Rust
└── 66-Antigen
Once you start installing various things it make sense to keep their paths in their own file, it's easier to organise (and remove).
Library/Paths/paths.d ordered as the file system does
Library/Paths/paths
.config/paths.d (same again)
.config/paths
/etc/paths.d (same again)
/etc/paths
Because this is such a useful pattern that I've extended it for headers and includes, read on!
Apple has already dictated that /etc/manpaths and /etc/manpaths.d/ are the default paths for setting MANPATH, so the same pattern has been followed for that as with PATH, so just add ~/Library/Paths/manpaths or ~/.config/manpaths along with the manpaths.d sub directory if you wish.
~/Library/Paths/manpaths.d/~/.config/manpaths~/Library/Paths/manpaths.d/~/.config/manpaths/etc/manpaths.d//etc/manpaths
Same goes for DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH and DYLD_FALLBACK_FRAMEWORK_PATH (if using the Ruby script):
~/Library/Paths/dyld_library_paths.d/~/.config/dyld_library_paths~/Library/Paths/dyld_library_paths.d/~/.config/dyld_library_paths/etc/dyld_library_paths.d//etc/dyld_library_paths
and:
~/Library/Paths/dyld_framework_paths.d/~/.config/dyld_framework_paths~/Library/Paths/dyld_framework_paths.d/~/.config/dyld_framework_paths/etc/dyld_framework_paths.d//etc/dyld_framework_paths
Same again for C_INCLUDE:
~/Library/Paths/include_paths.d/~/Library/Paths/include_paths~/.config/include_paths.d/~/.config/include_paths/etc/include_paths.d//etc/include_paths
(and the include_paths.d sub dir too, for the last two if you wish).
I was going to make this into a Ruby gem but that is such a faff. Here's the gist of it:
- Download it (use
git cloneor a download link, you can even just copy and past the script) - Make sure it has the correct permissions (
chmod +x) - Run the
--setup - Copy and paste the bit setup tells you to, and put it in your
~/.zshenvor~/.bashenv - Find your life is so much better now it's easy to manage your paths
For example:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/libexec cd /usr/local/libexec
ln ~/Projects/path_helper/exe/path_helper . chmod +x path_helper
path_helper --help
sudo path_helper --setup
path_helper --debug
Apple's path_helper is in /usr/libexec, this install won't touch it, you can always use it or return to it if you wish.
And checking its output:
$ path_helper
PATH="/opt/pkg/sbin:/opt/pkg/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/opt/ImageMagick/bin:/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin:/usr/local/git/bin:/opt/puppetlabs/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin"; export PATH;
The script doesn't set the PATH, it returns a path, you have to set the path with it e.g. PATH=$(/usr/local/libexec/path_helper.rb -p ""). Call /usr/local/libexec/path_helper -h to see all the options.
$ tree ~/Library/Paths
/Users/iainb/Library/Paths
├── include_paths
├── manpaths.d
│ └── 30-oh-my-zshell
├── paths
└── paths.d
├── 05-pkgsrc
├── 08-homebrew
├── 10-keybase
├── 30-oh-my-zshell
├── 50-ngrok
├── 55-Crystal-opt
├── 60-Crystal
├── 61-Opam
├── 62-Haskell
├── 63-Erlang
├── 63-Go
├── 64-Pyenv
├── 65-Rust
└── 66-Antigen
$ tree /etc/paths.d/
/etc/paths.d/
├── 10-pkgsrc
├── 15-macports
├── 20-XCode
├── MacGPG2
├── go
└── mono-commands
The --debug flag. For example:
$ exe/path_helper --debug
Path | Found in | Ignored duplicate
---- | -------- | -----------------
/opt/pkg/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/05-pkgsrc |
| /etc/paths.d/10-pkgsrc | ✗
/opt/pkg/sbin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/05-pkgsrc |
| /etc/paths.d/10-pkgsrc | ✗
/opt/pkg/gnu/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/05-pkgsrc |
~/homebrew/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/08-homebrew |
$HOME/gopath | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/10-keybase |
$HOME/gopath/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/10-keybase |
~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/fzf/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/30-oh-my-zshell |
~/Applications/ngrok | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/50-ngrok |
/opt/crystal/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/55-Crystal-opt |
/opt/crystal/embedded/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/55-Crystal-opt |
~/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/60-Crystal |
~/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/embedded/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/60-Crystal |
~/Library/Frameworks/Opam.framework/Programs | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/61-Opam |
~/Library/Haskell/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/62-Haskell |
~/Library/Frameworks/Erlang.framework/Programs | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/63-Erlang |
~/go/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/63-Go |
~/.pyenv/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/64-Pyenv |
~/.cargo/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/65-Rust |
~/bin | ~/Library/Paths/paths.d/66-Antigen |
/opt/local/bin | /etc/paths.d/15-macports |
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin | /etc/paths.d/20-XCode |
| /etc/paths.d/20-XCode |
/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin | /etc/paths.d/MacGPG2 |
/usr/local/go/bin | /etc/paths.d/go |
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/Commands | /etc/paths.d/mono-commands |
/usr/local/bin | /etc/paths |
/usr/local/sbin | /etc/paths |
/usr/bin | /etc/paths |
/usr/sbin | /etc/paths |
/bin | /etc/paths |
/sbin | /etc/paths |
Current:
/Users/iainb/.gem/ruby/2.6.3/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6.3/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6.3/bin:/Users/iainb/.opam/4.06.1/bin:/Users/iainb/perl5/bin:/opt/pkg/bin:/opt/pkg/sbin:/opt/pkg/gnu/bin:/Users/iainb/homebrew/bin:$HOME/gopath:$HOME/gopath/bin:/Users/iainb/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/fzf/bin:/Users/iainb/Applications/ngrok:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/embedded/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Opam.framework/Programs:/Users/iainb/Library/Haskell/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Erlang.framework/Programs:/Users/iainb/go/bin:/Users/iainb/.pyenv/bin:/Users/iainb/.cargo/bin:/Users/iainb/bin:/opt/local/bin:/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin:/usr/local/go/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/Commands:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin
If you expected items you'd inserted in the path manually to
show up earlier then either clear the path before running this
and reinsert or add paths via:
(~/Library/Paths|~/config)/paths.d
(~/Library/Paths|~/config)/paths/*)
/opt/pkg/bin:/opt/pkg/sbin:/opt/pkg/gnu/bin:/Users/iainb/homebrew/bin:$HOME/gopath:$HOME/gopath/bin:/Users/iainb/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/fzf/bin:/Users/iainb/Applications/ngrok:/opt/crystal/bin:/opt/crystal/embedded/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Crystal.framework/Versions/Current/embedded/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Opam.framework/Programs:/Users/iainb/Library/Haskell/bin:/Users/iainb/Library/Frameworks/Erlang.framework/Programs:/Users/iainb/go/bin:/Users/iainb/.pyenv/bin:/Users/iainb/.cargo/bin:/Users/iainb/bin:/opt/local/bin:/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin:/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin:/usr/local/go/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/Commands:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin%
Everything you need to know! Very useful for working out when other things are manipulating the path too.
I'm happy to hear from you, email me or open an issue. Pull requests are fine too, try to bring me a spec or an example if you want a feature or find a bug.
Sorry the current specs aren't in such good shape, I hope to improve that.
See the LICENCE file.