Temporarily change current working directory in bash to run a command

Question

I know I can use cd command to change my working directory in bash.

But if I do this command:

cd SOME_PATH && run_some_command

Then the working directory will be changed permanently. Is there some way to change the working directory just temporarily like this?

PWD=SOME_PATH run_some_command

why not keep it simple **cd SOME_PATH && run_some_command && cd -** the last command will take you back to the last pwd directory. — Sahil, Jan 02 '15 at 03:21

score 461 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 24 '14 at 07:38

461

You can run the cd and the executable in a subshell by enclosing the command line in a pair of parentheses:

(cd SOME_PATH && exec_some_command)

Demo:

$ pwd
/home/abhijit
$ (cd /tmp && pwd)  # directory changed in the subshell
/tmp 
$ pwd               # parent shell's pwd is still the same
/home/abhijit

edited Apr 24 '14 at 07:38

Eric O. Lebigot

91,433
48
218
260

answered Apr 30 '12 at 10:30

codaddict

445,704
82
492
529

That sort of invalidates the point of using `exec`, don't you think? – tripleee Apr 30 '12 at 10:32
@tripleee: I guess OP meant to execute any executable and not the exec. – codaddict Apr 30 '12 at 10:34
1

not working in shell file – Allan Ruin Sep 14 '16 at 13:14
2

@BeC use `function` rather than `alias`. Better two years late than never. – jez Feb 07 '19 at 18:30
1

best answer. works with multiline wrappers as well and premature exits – mjs Feb 24 '20 at 22:58
I won't see the output of the command if it runs in a subshell. – Hexworks Oct 26 '21 at 09:37
worth noting: if your subshell to run the commands (in parentheses now) and that code does an "exit" (you want to stop execution), control goes back to the parent shell (the parent shell does NOT exit). This might be a difference if you refactor your code (execution doesn't stop anymore if something bad happens in the parentheses) – Pierre Nov 30 '21 at 14:08
Works in a bash script for me. Also, you can use `(cd /tmp && echo $(pwd))` to test the output from a script. – scottlittle May 29 '23 at 16:16

score 184 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 30 '12 at 16:15

184

bash has a builtin

pushd SOME_PATH
run_stuff
...
...
popd

answered Apr 30 '12 at 16:15

pizza

7,296
1
25
22

4

+1, pushd/popd is ideal for this. Just don't forget to popd before you exit. – Fr0sT Jun 17 '13 at 06:54
31

Not necessarily a good solution if run_stuff can fail (and the script exits). You'd be stuck in SOME_PATH. – ron rothman Aug 08 '13 at 00:58
2

@ron.rothmanℝℝ couldn't you just do something like `pushd PATH; (run_stuff); [[ "$?" != 0 ]] && popd; ...; popd` – galois Nov 10 '17 at 22:42
In my case, if the script execution failed e.g. `git pull`, I wanted to investigate in the directory with `git log`. – octoquad Nov 14 '19 at 18:24
What an excellent way to quickly update targets under another project while testing. Thanks! – Jason R Stevens CFA Dec 27 '19 at 19:31
best answer for me! – Damian Apr 19 '20 at 10:14
This should be the accepted answer! A subshell breaks the log output! – Hexworks Oct 26 '21 at 09:37

score 41 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 30 '12 at 10:35

41

Something like this should work:

sh -c 'cd /tmp && exec pwd'

answered Apr 30 '12 at 10:35

yazu

4,462
1
20
14

Temporarily change current working directory in bash to run a command

3 Answers3

Linked

Related