Where is the PATH set?

2005-01-05 Thread David Dyer-Bennet
On a standard install woody system, in particular.

Particularly, where does it get set on console login, and where does
it get set for an ssh session?  And where does it get set for an
xterm?  And where does it get set for an Emacs shell window?  I'd
prefer these to be the same, but

And then, where is it set for a root session?  And for a zup-initiated
root session?

Is it in /etc/profile?  Is it in /etc/bash.bashrc?  (or equivalent for
other shells)? 

Is it in /etc/login.defs?

Or might it be in /etc/pam.d/login, or /etc/pam.d/ssh?  Or maybe
/etc/security/pam_env.conf? 

It *looks like* it's set in /etc/profile.  But *why* it's set there I
haven't a clue.  That's later than the more sensible places, so will
override them.  And it's shell-specific, and only gets executed on
certain kinds of shell startups. 

Why *isn't* it set in /etc/login.defs?  Does that not work?  Same
question for pam_env.conf.  And how do those two compete with each
other, by the way?  

This rather looks like it's starting to open a can of worms -- how
user processes are started up.  Is this documented anywhere in enough
detail to be of any use?  I'm afraid of deciding to do things one way,
only to discover that that's on its way out and Debian is moving
towards doing things another way, and the stuff I chose to standardize
on was vestigial.  
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/


-- 
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]



Re: Where is the PATH set?

2005-01-05 Thread Paul E Condon
On Wed, Jan 05, 2005 at 05:57:13PM -0600, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
 On a standard install woody system, in particular.
 
 Particularly, where does it get set on console login, and where does
 it get set for an ssh session?  And where does it get set for an
 xterm?  And where does it get set for an Emacs shell window?  I'd
 prefer these to be the same, but
 
 And then, where is it set for a root session?  And for a zup-initiated
 root session?
 
 Is it in /etc/profile?  Is it in /etc/bash.bashrc?  (or equivalent for
 other shells)? 
 
 Is it in /etc/login.defs?
 
 Or might it be in /etc/pam.d/login, or /etc/pam.d/ssh?  Or maybe
 /etc/security/pam_env.conf? 
 
 It *looks like* it's set in /etc/profile.  But *why* it's set there I
 haven't a clue.  That's later than the more sensible places, so will
 override them.  And it's shell-specific, and only gets executed on
 certain kinds of shell startups. 
 
 Why *isn't* it set in /etc/login.defs?  Does that not work?  Same
 question for pam_env.conf.  And how do those two compete with each
 other, by the way?  
 
 This rather looks like it's starting to open a can of worms -- how
 user processes are started up.  Is this documented anywhere in enough
 detail to be of any use?  I'm afraid of deciding to do things one way,
 only to discover that that's on its way out and Debian is moving
 towards doing things another way, and the stuff I chose to standardize
 on was vestigial.  

I looked at the POSIX standard to see what it says about PATH. Of
course it is mentioned, but it seems its existence on a compliant
system is not even required. It is required that, if it exists, it
obey certain rules which are given in some detail. I didn't see any
indication that there are rules as to how and when it is set. (But, I
didn't really look hard)

HTH
-- 
Paul E Condon   
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


-- 
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]