Check Path in Unix

Ever type in a simple command and get an error?

Then the command is not in your PATH, or simply doesn't exist on your system.

Steps

Use the right command. When you type in a command, the shell searches itself for built-in commands, then it searches the directories listed in your PATH variable.
- To check PATH, type "echo $PATH".
  - $ echo $PATH
    - /sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin
Include the dollar sign, or the shell will just print "PATH" to your screen.) This shows the directories checked, separated by colons.
To find the location of a command, use the "which" or "type" commands:
- $ which ifconfig
- /sbin/ifconfig
- $ type ifconfig
- ifconfig is /sbin/ifconfig

By default, the shell does not search your current directory in Unix-type OSes (BSD, Linux, etc.) unless it's already in your path. This can be fixed by adding a period (dot), which is the Unix short-cut for the current directory. This can be changed by going to your home directory. This should contain '.profile'. Use an editor, such as vi, to open, change, and save.