Issues setting $PATH on Bash on Ubuntu on Windows (Linux Subsystem) - linux

Question

I am using the "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" (Linux Subsystem) and want to add Terraform to my $PATH. Since Terraform can't be installed via apt-get, I did the following steps:
Navigated to this directory, where I wanted to install Terraform:
cd /usr/local
In the above path, I used wget to download Terraform:
wget
https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/0.9.8/terraform_0.9.8_linux_amd64.zip
Terraform successfully unzips! When I open the file in VIM it is all good:
unzip terraform_0.9.8_linux_amd64.zip
I then enter this command to check to see if the Terraform binary is accessible from the command line:
terraform -version
However the following message gets returned:
terraform: command not found
This tells me that the Terraform downloaded location needs to be added to my $PATH.
Already being logged in as the root user ("sudo su") I enter the following command to access ".profile":
vim ~/.profile
The following is already in this file, which I leave untouched:
# ~/.profile: executed by Bourne-compatible login shells.
if [ "$BASH" ]; then
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
. ~/.bashrc
fi
fi
mesg n
Immediately below this text, I add the following, and successfully save the file using :wq!:
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/terraform
6.
I then again enter the following command to check to see if terraform is detected
terraform -version
Still the same "terraform: command not found" message is returned. I even tried closing out and starting a new command line session and even restarting my computer. Still no change.
Anyone have any ideas on how to resolve this? Again, note that I am using "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" (Linux Subsystem). Any input would be appreciated!

Answer 1

The direct answer to your problem is at the end.
But I think it will make more sense if you keep reading from here.
Before trying to add to PATH,
I recommend to test a program first.
In your case I would do like this:
wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/0.9.8/terraform_0.9.8_linux_amd64.zip
unzip terraform_0.9.8_linux_amd64.zip
./terraform
Notice the last line ./terraform.
The zip file contains a single file, terraform,
which now should be in the current directory,
so I can run it with ./terraform.
If it's executable.
If it's not executable then confirm it:
ls -l terraform
And make it executable if needed:
chmod +x terraform
Now let's add it to PATH.
But first,
let's decide where to put this executable.
/usr/local/bin seems a reasonable location.
So let's move the terraform executable into that directory.
Usually /usr/local/bin is already on PATH,
so you might not need to change anything.
Now you can try your check, and there's a good chance it already works:
terraform -version
If it doesn't, then /usr/local/bin is not on the PATH.
To add it, add this line in ~/.profile:
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
Two things looked fundamentally wrong with your approach:
Adding /usr/local/terraform to PATH. This is fishy, because the entries on PATH must be directories, and in your post nothing indicates that you created a directory at /usr/local/terraform.
You cd into /usr/local, and then unzip the zip file of terraform. The linked zip contains a single file named terraform, so /usr/local/terraform in your example should be a file.
If it is a file, then you could make it executable as terraform by adding to add to PATH its base directory. But adding /usr/local to PATH would not be a good idea. It's conventional to put binaries into /usr/local/bin, not directly into /usr/local
You did not mention how you reloaded ~/.profile. After editing this file, the new commands you added do not get automatically executed in your current shell. They will get executed when you open a new shell. Or you could manually execute the added commands in the current shell.

Answer 2

Hit below command
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin