How to Override PATH environment variable?

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1

I cannot override the PATH environment variable.
I have tried with environment block, and withEnv block.

With either, the PATH variable is accessible in the Jenkinsfile, as an Jenkins variable.
However when inside a shell, printing out the env, the PATH remains unchanged.

environment {
  PATH=$WORKSPACE/build-dir:$PATH
}

steps {
  withEnv(["PATH+BUILD_DIR=${WORKSPACE}/build-dir"]) {
    echo "PATH is: $PATH"
    sh 'echo "PATH is: $PATH"'
  }
}

[Pipeline] withEnv
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] echo
PATH is: /home/build/jenkins/workspace/pipeline-tests/pipeline-test-path/build-dir:/home/build/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_221/bin
[Pipeline] sh
+ echo 'PATH is: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin'
PATH is: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // withEnv

I need to update the PATH in the running docker container, so I can use it in shell scripts within the sh step.

2

i believe that should be

environment {
  PATH="${env.WORKSPACE}/build-dir:${env.PATH}
}

(env. might be optional) but quotes are necessary.

i don’t see whats wrong with the second one.

3

What is wrong with the second one, is that the WORKSPACE is not part of the PATH.

Your soluton does not work either

  environment {
    PATH="${env.WORKSPACE}/build-dir:${env.PATH}"
  }
  stages {
    stage ('build') {
      steps {
        echo "PATH is: $PATH"
        sh 'echo "PATH is: $PATH"'
      }
    }
  }

The first print out is substituted by Groovy. Here you can see the workspace in the path.
The second print out is echo the $PATH in a shell without Groovy substitution.
It shows that the PATH I set in Jenkinsfile is not being stored in the shell environment variables.

4

If I add an environment variable, that does not exist in the shell environment, it works fine

  environment {
    TEST="${env.WORKSPACE}/build-dir:${env.PATH}"
  }
  stages {
    stage ('build') {
      steps {
        echo "PATH is: $PATH"
        sh 'echo "PATH is: $PATH"'
        sh 'echo "TEST is: $TEST"'
      }
    }
  }

[Pipeline] { (build)
[Pipeline] echo
PATH is: /home/build/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_221/bin
[Pipeline] sh
+ echo 'PATH is: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin'
PATH is: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
[Pipeline] sh
+ echo 'TEST is: /home/build/jenkins/workspace/pipeline-tests/pipeline-test-path/build-dir:/home/build/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_221/bin'
TEST is: /home/build/jenkins/workspace/pipeline-tests/pipeline-test-path/build-dir:/home/build/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_221/bin
[Pipeline] }

It cannot override an existing environment variable.

The two different PATH’s are

  1. The PATH from the docker agent
  2. The PATH from the docker container