OSGeo4W does not add bin directory to Windows PATH

Question

I am trying to run the following shp2pgsql cmd using the OSGeo4W shell:

shp2pgsql -s 4269 -g geom_4269 -I -W "latin1"
"tl_2012_states" staging.tl_2012_states | 
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -d dvdtwo -U postgres

but I am getting the following error:

'shp2pgsql' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

I have tried updating the environment variable path to include the PostgreSQL\9.5\bin, but that hasn't worked.

What should I try next, or what do you think my problem is?

I am using, PosgreSQL 9.5, QGIS 2.18.5, PostGIS 2.0

Answer 1

is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

OSGeo4W specifically has closed the ticket to add this to the system path. The DLLS may conflict with other system DLLs and cause problems.

You need to statically point to the absolute location of shp2pgsql, in the case of OSGeo4W and with your example, I believe it's

C:\OSGeo4W\bin\shp2pgsql -s 4269 -g geom_4269 -I -W "latin1" "tl_2012_states" staging.tl_2012_states | psql -h localhost -p 5432 -d dvdtwo -U postgres

I got the path from the docs on the directory structure. I have no idea if the docs are correct though.

Answer 2

Looking at the OSGEO4W package list, I don't see anything related to Postgis (although psql gets installed). So you can not blame OSGEO4W for the missing path entry.

If the Postgis installation does not add the folder to the path, you simply have to expand the command line with the full path to the exe.

It should be C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.5\bin\shp2sql.exe (or wherever you find it in your installation).

Answer 3

This worked for me - assuming my install location for osgeo4w is C:\OSGeo4W:

1. Go to environment variables and edit the Path variable (User variable section if you want it applicable only for your user, System variable for all users)
2. Click new and add the following path C:\OSGeo4W\bin
3. If you already have a command prompt / powershell open, don't forget to refresh the environment variables with a refreshenv command
4. gdalinfo and other commands found in the bin folder should now work!