The [[git-annex-shell]] program is a part of git-annex that is used when
accessing a git-annex repository on a remote server. The client runs
something like "ssh server git-annex-shell". For this to work,
git-annex-shell needs to be installed in PATH.

If you install git-annex on your server as root, using a distribution's
package manager, like apt-get, or otherwise installing it into /usr/bin, or
/usr/local/bin, then git-annex-shell will be in PATH, and you'll not have
any trouble (and can stop reading here).

But, if you need to install git-annex on a server without being root,
it can be tricky to get it into PATH. The bash shell doesn't source all of
its config files when ssh uses it to run a non-interactive command like
git-annex-shell, so even if git-annex-shell seems to be in PATH when you're
logged onto the server, "ssh server git-annex-shell" won't find it.

	bash: git-annex-shell: command not found; failed; exit code 127

----

In some systems (when it's compiled with `SSH_SOURCE_BASHRC` set), bash will
load your `~/.bashrc` (but not your `~/.bash_profile`). So you can add to
PATH in the .bashrc.

Note that many .bashrc files start with something like this: 

	# If not running interactively, don't do anything
	[ -z "$PS1" ] && return

So, make sure to make any PATH changes before such a guard. For example:

	PATH=$HOME/bin/:$PATH

	# If not running interactively, don't do anything else
	[ -z "$PS1" ] && return

----

In some systems, bash won't load *any* config files at all.
A few ways to deal with that:

* Move or symlink git-annex-shell into a directory like
  /usr/bin, that is in the default PATH.

* If you're not root, ask the system administrator to please install
  git-annex system-wide.

* As a last resort, you can configure the git repository that's using
  the server to know where git-annex shell is installed, by configuring
  `remote.<name>.annex-shell`

  For example, if git-annex-shell is installed in ~/bin/git-annex-shell
  on the server, and the git remote named "annoyingserver" uses the server:

	git config remote.annoyingserver.annex-shell /home/me/bin/git-annex-shell