'How do I install a script to run anywhere from the command line?

If I have a basic Python script, with it's hashbang and what-not in place, so that from the terminal on Linux I can run

/path/to/file/MyScript [args]

without executing through the interpreter or any file extensions, and it will execute the program.

So would I install this script so that I can type simply

MyScript [args]

anywhere in the system and it will run? Can this be implemented for all users on the system, or must it be redone for each one? Do I simply place the script in a specific directory, or are other things necessary?

pythonlinuxcommand-lineinstallation


Solution 1:[1]

Walkthrough of making a python script available anywhere:

Make a python script:

cd /home/el/bin
touch stuff.py
chmod +x stuff.py

Find out where your python is:

which python
/usr/bin/python

Put this code in there:

#!/usr/bin/python
print "hi"

Run in it the same directory:

python stuff.py

Go up a directory and it's not available:

cd ..
stuff.py

-bash: stuff.py: command not found

Not found! It's as we expect, add the file path of the python file to the $PATH

vi ~/.bashrc

Add the file:

export PATH=$PATH:/home/el/bin

Save it out, re apply the .bashrc, and retry

source ~/.bashrc

Try again:

cd /home/el
stuff.py

Prints:

hi

The trick is that the bash shell knows the language of the file via the shebang.

Solution 2:[2]

Just create ~/bin and put export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin in your bashrc/profile. Don't mess with the system, it will bite you back, trust me.

Few more things (relevant to the question but not part of the answer):

  1. The other way export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH is NOT safe, for bash will will look into your ~/bin folder for executables, and if their name matches with other executables in your original $PATH you will be surprised by unexpected/non working command execution.
  2. Don't forget to chmod+x when you save your script in ~/bin.
  3. Be aware of what you are putting in your ~/bin folder, if you are just testing something or working on unfinished script, its always better to use ./$SCRIPT_NAME from your CWD to execute the script than putting it under ~/bin.

Solution 3:[3]

The quick answer is to symlink your script to any directory included in your system $PATH.

The long answer is described below with a walk through example, (this is what I normally do):

a) Create the script e.g. $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py:

#!/usr/bin/python
print("Hello Pythonista!")

b) Change the permission of the script file to make it executable:

$ chmod +x myscript.py

c) Add a customized directory to the $PATH (see why in the notes below) to use it for the user's scripts:

$ export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"

d) Create a symbolic link to the script as follows:

$ ln -s $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py $HOME/bin/hello

Notice that hello (can be anything) is the name of the command that you will use to invoke your script.

Note:

i) The reason to use $HOME/bin instead of the /usr/local/bin is to separate the local scripts from those of other users (if you wish to) and other installed stuff.

ii) To create a symlink you should use the complete correct path, i.e.

$HOME/bin GOOD ~/bin NO GOOD!

Here is a complete example:

 $ pwd
 ~/Desktop
 $ cat > myscript.py << EOF
 > #!/usr/bin/python
 > print("Hello Pythonista!")
 > EOF
 $ export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"
 $ ln -s $HOME/Desktop/myscript.py $HOME/bin/hello
 $ chmod +x myscript.py
 $ hello
Hello Pythonista!

Solution 4:[4]

you can also use setuptools (https://pypi.org/project/setuptools/)

  1. your script will be:
def hi():
    print("hi")

(suppose the file name is hello.py)

  1. also add __init__.py file next to your script (with nothing in it).

  2. add setup.py script, with the content:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import setuptools

install_requires = [
        'WHATEVER PACKAGES YOU NEED GOES HERE'
        ]

setuptools.setup(
    name="some_utils",
    version="1.1",
    packages=setuptools.find_packages(),
    install_requires=install_requires,
    entry_points={
        'console_scripts': [
            'cool_script = hello:hi',
        ],
    },
    include_package_data=True,
    )
  1. you can now run python setup.py develop in this folder
  2. then from anywhere, run cool_script and your script will run.

Solution 5:[5]

Just create symbolic link to your script in /usr/local/bin/:

sudo ln -s /path/to/your/script.py /usr/local/bin/script

Solution 6:[6]

Putting the script somewhere in the PATH (like /usr/local/bin) is a good solution, but this forces all the users of your system to use/see your script.

Adding an alias in /etc/profile could be a way to do what you want allowing the users of your system to undo this using the unalias command. The line to be added would be:

alias MyScript=/path/to/file/MyScript

Solution 7:[7]

i find a simple alias in my ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zshrc is the easiest:

alias myscript="python path/to/my/script.py"

Solution 8:[8]

Type echo $PATH in a shell. Those are the directories searched when you type command, so put it in one of those.

Edit: Apparently don't use /usr/bin, use /usr/local/bin

Solution 9:[9]

Acording to FHS, the /usr/local/bin/ is the good place for custom scripts. I prefer to make them 755 root:root, after copying them there.

Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source
Solution 1 Eric Leschinski
Solution 2 peterh
Solution 3
Solution 4 Alon Gouldman
Solution 5 Iurii Vasylenko
Solution 6
Solution 7 Ulf Gjerdingen
Solution 8
Solution 9 Micha? Šrajer

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