Linux custom executable globally available

Question

I downloaded the Google App Engine as a zip format, unzipped it to /usr/local/google_engine

Now I need to run a python script from that folder all the time. How do I make it available no matter where my path is? ie: when i'm in /usr/something/ i can execute the script by just calling script.py?

Can I do this without aliasing or without using bash scripts?

Set your `PATH`? Like `export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/google_engine` — wkl, Apr 19 '12 at 19:14

Kalpak Gadre · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-19T19:36:43.570

70

Edit your .bashrc to add the desired directory on the PATH environmental variable.

export PATH=/usr/local/google_app_engine/bin:$PATH

then, either start new terminal or do,

source ~/.bashrc

Now try to run the script from anywhere.

Another way you can do it without even touching the .bashrc would be to create a symlink by doing something like,

sudo ln -s /usr/local/google_app_engine/bin/script.py /usr/bin/script.py

edited Apr 19 '12 at 19:36

answered Apr 19 '12 at 19:16

Kalpak Gadre

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Shouldn't it be `ln -s /usr/local/google_app_engine/bin/script.py /usr/bin/script.py`? The destination with `ln`, as with most commands, is the last parameter. – rodrigo Apr 19 '12 at 19:34
It's easy to remember if you think that it works just like `cp`. – rodrigo Apr 19 '12 at 19:44
3

Why can't I just copy the binary files to `/usr/bin/`? – Alston May 09 '15 at 09:23
`sudo ln -s /usr/local/google_app_engine/bin/script.py /usr/bin/script.py ` Rocks! – Ahmed Akhtar Jun 21 '16 at 11:56
`zsh: too many levels of symbolic links: /usr/bin/script.py` – alper Aug 12 '21 at 17:30

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 21 '16 at 19:41

There are two ways to do this. As Kal mentioned above you can add the folder to the path variable by adding

export PATH=/usr/local/google_app_engine/bin:$PATH1

to your .bashrc. Alternatively, if the command is just one script you can move or copy it to /usr/bin. This will make it accessible as a command from anywhere.

If you want to create a command to do this without moving script.py then you can create a bash file that calls it with a fixed path then put that in /usr/bin

Linux custom executable globally available

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