Re: [cobalt-users] Symbolic link for /usr directory

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Carrie Bartkowiak" <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> How do you get a symbolic link to be recognized server-wide, rather
> than in just one directory?
>
> Like, say I wanted to install something in /usr/bin and didn't want to
> have to type /usr/bin/myprogram everytime I wanted to access the
> program.

What output do you get when you login to the shell and type "echo $PATH"?
If /usr/bin/ is listed you should be able to type "myprogram" without the
full path to it and have it run, assuming it's executable.  If it's not
listed you can add the following to your user's .profile file in the user's
home directory:

PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin

Then /usr/bin will be added to the PATH environment variable which is a
variable containing the list of directories to check for programs that are
called without a full path.

> I've tried making a symbolic link ln -s /usr/bin/myprogram myprogram
> in the / directory of the server, but if I move out of that directory
> at all then typing in 'myprogram' doesn't work.
> I've read man ls and didn't see anything about recursive, can I do a
> ln -R -s /usr/bin/myprogram myprogram

ln does not have a recursive flag.  Your desire to use ln to accomplish your
goal is logical, but it won't work even if you created symbolic links to the
directory you're currently in.  To call a program you have to either enter
the full path to it or just type the filename as long as it's in a directory
located within your PATH.

>, or is there a different way
> (srm.conf maybe?) to do it?

srm.conf is an Apache config file - it only affects the Apache web server,
won't help in this case.

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com