Bdtyktl

I am trying to output the PATH used by the computer to a simple text file.

Something like echo PATH >PATH.TXT or >>PATH.TXT

With the double >>, it works but gives each on a different line and if I use the single of course it overwrites the previous line with the next. Using %~dpo >PATH.TXT, or %~fo >>PATH.TXT, or even %~nx0 >>PATH.TXT does not give me the output I want. Simply put I want to put the PATH into a text file for backup using a BATCH file incase I do something stupid like HELP PATH, which would change PATH completely.

Thanks in advance for any help.

You change your PATH with command:

PATH=/new-path:$PATH

For example here is how to correctly expand the PATH:

$ PATH=/newpath:$PATH

$ echo $PATH

/newpath:/home/rick/bin:/home/rick/.local/bin:/mnt/e/bin:/mnt/e/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/db/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/bin

Here is just one way to break your PATH (by omitting $ prefix):

$ PATH=/brokenpath:PATH

$ echo $PATH

/brokenpath:PATH

If you mess up your PATH usually you can simply close your terminal and reopen it.

Omitting the $ is the mistake made in your question as well. The method to capture PATH to text file is:

echo $PATH > PATH.TXT

To keep a running log of PATH changes you can use:

echo $PATH >> PATH.TXT

PATH is an environmental variable. To set the variable we use "PATH=" but to reference it's contents we need to use "$PATH".

The PATH variable can be set in many places as outlined in this Q&A: Where is my PATH variable being set?. To discover which files are setting the PATH one of the answers recommends using:

grep --color -H 'PATH=' ~/.bashrc ~/.profile ~/.bash_profile ~/bash.login 

                     ~/.bash_aliases /etc/bash.bashrc /etc/profile 

                     /etc/profile.d/* /etc/environment 2> /dev/null

On my machine the command returns:

/home/rick/.profile:PATH="$HOME/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

/etc/profile.d/apps-bin-path.sh:    export PATH=$PATH:${snap_bin_path}

/etc/profile.d/jdk.sh:export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/db/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/bin

/etc/environment:PATH="/mnt/e/bin:/mnt/e/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"

You can print your PATH to a text file with the following code:

echo $PATH >> PATH.txt

If you want to run a file to do this, be sure to add a shebang to the top:

#!/bin/bash

echo $PATH >> PATH.txt