UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I want to install a software program on a computer cluster that I have remote access to. I don't have /usr access on the cluster. I am allowed to put software on the cluster, apparently not on /usr tree.
What folder should I put program executables into so that I can access them from all my other folders on the /home/myfolder tree?
Thanks

That is normal -- writing to /usr is a huge security risk.

If you are the only one running the code, then put it in your home directory. Otherwise it will have to go someplace publicly accessible. Each site has its own guidelines. You need to put the binaries where they will not get clobbered by cleanup routines.
/var/tmp and /tmp are possible.

Some places will allow you to submit your code to the sysadmin, and after secuity analysis, have him compile it into something like /usr/local/bin or maybe /opt/local/bin.

Thanks Jim,
I think I knew about the restricted access reasoning, but when I install to /var or /tmp/var how do I access the executables?

I just get an error that says
-bash: merlin: command not found
when I try to execute a command in a folder other than where I put the executables.

Thanks

You'll need to either add the installation dir to your path or just run it fully qualified.

In the case of /var/tmp or /tmp, whatever you do, do NOT add these to your path, it's really dangerous as you could inadvertantly execute any code put there by anyone.

If it's only you using it, I'd suggest making a bin dir (or something similar) under your home directory and adding that to (the end of) your PATH environment variable (under sh, PATH="${PATH}:/home/you/bin" ; export PATH)

If you really want to use /var/tmp or /tmp, keep in mind that those directories are usually cleaned out periodically so your data will eventually be removed without warning. If you still want to procede, you can run things in there by typing /var/tmp/programname (or /var/tmp/whatever_subdir_you_used/programname)