Question

I am invoking cmd from Python like this:

subpocess.Popen(['coffee'], shell=True)

which I belive is translated to:

/bin/sh -c "coffee"

From docs I have read that in non-interactive mode files like /etc/profile, /etc/bash.bashrc are not read and default $PATH is used (init $PATH). Am I right? Is there the only way to add coffee to the $PATH is to copy it to /usr/local/bin?

Answer 1

No, the shell will inherit the PATH from the Python interpreter, i.e. it will be os.getenv('PATH'). Also, you can set the path within the command:

subprocess.Popen(['PATH=/where/ever/bin:$PATH coffee'], shell=True)

though I’d really advise you to either use the full path to coffee, or set the PATH before executing your Python program.