Trying to set up bash command

Question

I was trying to set up a bash command in Terminal on a Mac.

The scripts run correctly when I execute them directly.

I set up symlinks in /usr/local/bin/ to the current location of the scripts. When I try to run it off the symlink, it doesn't work. I don't believe the issue is the $PATH, because pip, git, ipython all exist in this location. When I edit the $PATH setting, these fail.

Suggestions?

Answer 1

ls -l /usr/local/bin/foo and see where your symlink is actually pointing. Betcha it's broken.

If not, try running /usr/local/bin/foo. If that works, it was your PATH that's wrong, despite what you said in the OP.

The only other thing that would cause this behavior is if the script is reading $0 (its own name as executed). With a symlink, that will have a different value.

Answer 2

I found my own answer... The symlinks were created by an automated file which was gabbing my pwd. I was also using virtualenv, so to get it to work, I had to activate the virtualenv and be inside the folder that had the script that created the symlinks.

Answer 3

I install my commands in $HOME/bin instead of /usr/local/bin, but it does not matter much. As hinted in the comments, one question is whether the symlinks are set correctly.

• Check which command the shell thinks you should execute: which command
• Check that the link in /usr/local/bin points to the correct file (and has execute permission, etc):
  • ls -l /usr/local/bin/command
  • ls -lL /usr/local/bin/command
• Check that the interpreter path in the shebang is correct:
  • file /usr/local/bin/command
• Check that /usr/local/bin is actually on your PATH: echo $PATH

If none of that shows up a problem, show us the results of the commands above.