A Bit More Information about Setting up your Shell

Note that setting these variables only works in the shell or window you issue the above commands in. You will need to ensure that the proper path is set and used for future logins and for other newly created shells.

To do so you should also modify your shell's startup file so that this bin directory will be at the front of your path each time you log in.

If your shell is the csh or tcsh you should modify your .cshrc or .tcshrc file appropriately, as well as your .profile if you plan to be working by logging in through SSH. If your shell is the bourne shell (sh) or bash you should modify your .bash_profile (if it exists, and .profile if it does not) as well as your .bashrc file appropriately.

On many Unix systems you can find out which shell you are using by grepping for your userid in /etc/passwd. So running:

grep ^brecht: /etc/passwd

Will give produce the following line:

brecht:x:1204:1204:Tim Brecht,DC 3508,x35892,,:/u4/brecht:/xhbin/tcsh

The last string at the end of the line tells you your login shell.