WSL $PATH dir spaces issue

[nicriz]

Environment

Windows build number: [Version 10.0.18363.1198]
Your Distribution version: [Ubuntu 20.04]
Whether the issue is on WSL 2 and/or WSL 1: [Linux version 4.4.0-18362-Microsoft (Microsoft@Microsoft.com) (gcc version 5.4.0 (GCC) ) #1049-Microsoft Thu Aug 14 12:01:00 PST 2020]

Steps to reproduce

Executing this script.

export tmpnccfg="$( cd -P "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )/bin/ncrystal-config"
if [ -f "$tmpnccfg" ]; then
    $( "$tmpnccfg" --setup )
    unset tmpnccfg
    return 0
else
    echo "ERROR: Could not find ncrystal-config script"
    unset tmpnccfg
    return 1
fi

The -config file executed by the script is here.

Expected behavior

I expected to set up the environmental variables for the software.

Actual behavior

-bash: export: `'PATH=/home/nicorizzi/ncrystal_install/bin:/home/nicorizzi/phits/dchain-sp/bin:/home/nicorizzi/phits/bin:/home/nicorizzi/anaconda3/bin:/home/nicorizzi/anaconda3/condabin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/mnt/c/Python27/Lib/site-packages/PyQt4:/mnt/c/Program': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `Files/Python38/Scripts:/mnt/c/Program': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `Files/Python38:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/system32:/mnt/c/WINDOWS:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/Wbem:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/OpenSSH:/mnt/c/Python27:/mnt/c/Python27/DLLs:/mnt/c/Python27/Scripts:/mnt/c/Python27/Lib/site-packages/vtk:/mnt/c/Python27/gnuplot/binary:/mnt/c/Program': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `(x86)/pythonxy/SciTE-3.2.2-1:/mnt/c/Program': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `(x86)/pythonxy/console:/mnt/c/MinGW32-xy/bin:/mnt/c/Program': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `(x86)/MiKTeX': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `2.9/miktex/bin:/mnt/c/Users/nicri/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps:/mnt/c/Users/nicri/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft': not a valid identifier
-bash: export: `Code/bin:/snap/bin'': not a valid identifier

Long Story

Hi everybody, I have a problem with the environmental variable PATH on WSL. I am trying to install a software called NCrystal , which requires to set up some environmental variables. However, when I try to execute the script given by the developers I end up with the error above.

It seems like Linux is breaking the PATH variable due to the spaces in windows directories.
I found many issues on the topic, but I could not find a solution. Disabling the Windows variables on my WSL environment would not be a desirable solution for me, since I often use VS Code and I like the fact that I can run it from the terminal.

Here you can find the PATH variable as printed out by env command:

PATH=/home/nicorizzi/phits/dchain-sp/bin:/home/nicorizzi/phits/bin:/home/nicorizzi/anaconda3/bin:/home/nicorizzi/anaconda3/condabin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/mnt/c/Python27/Lib/site-packages/PyQt4:/mnt/c/Program Files/Python38/Scripts:/mnt/c/Program Files/Python38:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/system32:/mnt/c/WINDOWS:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/Wbem:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32/OpenSSH:/mnt/c/Python27:/mnt/c/Python27/DLLs:/mnt/c/Python27/Scripts:/mnt/c/Python27/Lib/site-packages/vtk:/mnt/c/Python27/gnuplot/binary:/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/pythonxy/SciTE-3.2.2-1:/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/pythonxy/console:/mnt/c/MinGW32-xy/bin:/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/MiKTeX 2.9/miktex/bin:/mnt/c/Users/nicri/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps:/mnt/c/Users/nicri/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin:/snap/bin

Thank you for your time

[DHowett]

Sorry, you’re trying to run the contents of the environment variable PATH? You’re getting a “no such file or directory” error because /bin:/sbin (example) isn’t a fully qualified path to a single file that exists on your filesystem, as would be required to execute.

[nicriz]

Sorry, you’re trying to run the contents of the environment variable PATH? You’re getting a “no such file or directory” error because /bin:/sbin (example) isn’t a fully qualified path to a single file that exists on your filesystem, as would be required to execute.

Apologies, I thought it was the command to show the saved PATH, not execute it. I can change the description of the issue, but the problem when trying to export the environmental variable persists though

[therealkenc]

This is linux-behavior, variation #1766 #5099, others. Best guess the error in the script is not the export in the edited OP, but further up (wherever $PATH gets parsed). [Unintuitively enough, that export tmpnccfg looks okay, at least from here. The error described is not a valid identifier, and tmpnccfg is a valid identifier.]

If you bring it up in NCrystal-related forum, it is usually better to frame the ask in Linux terms instead of WSL. Looks like:

$ export MY_BIN="$HOME/My Things/bin"
$ mkdir -p "$MY_BIN"
$ export PATH=$PATH:$MY_BIN
$ # do NCrystal things

[nicriz]

Thank you, I'll try to give a careful look into the config file. Unfortunately the NCrystal developer does not have the workforce to support windows user :/