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I create my own documentclasses and packages in some directory of tex\latex. The directory tex\latex itself might be in any other directory in any drive. I can register the packages/classes to Miktex as already posted in my answer here. Putting the documentclass or packages in a dedicated directory in a separate drive is practically useful to avoid data loss when the system crashes.

But how to do this for TeX Live?

Based on Ulrike's answer I do the following steps and it works.

Step 1

Open C:\texlive\2010\texmf\web2c\texmf.cnf to see how TEXMFLOCAL is defined.

% .... other settings before this line have been removed for simplicity. 
%
% A place for local additions to a "standard" texmf tree.
% This tree is not used for local configuration maintained by
% texconfig, it uses TEXMFCONFIG below.
TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local
%
% .... other settings after this line have been removed for simplicity.

Step 2

Open C:\texlive\2010\texmf.cnf and modify it as follows.

% (Public domain.)
% This texmf.cnf file should contain only your personal changes from the
% original texmf.cnf (for example, as chosen in the installer).
%
% That is, if you need to make changes to texmf.cnf, put your custom
% settings in this file, which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf.cnf, rather than
% the distributed file (which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf).
% And include *only* your changed values, not a copy of the whole thing!
%
OSFONTDIR = $SystemRoot/fonts//
%============== Below this row is my modification ====================
%
% My custom packages and classes are
% in E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary/tex/latex/misc.
%
TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local,E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary
%
%
% It is wrong if you do like below
% TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local,E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary/tex/latex/misc
% or
%TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local,E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary% comments

Packages and classes must be in some subdirectory of tex\latex. In my example above, they are in E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary/tex/latex/misc directory. I am not sure spaces in the path still work in OS other than Windows.

Step 3

Invoke texhash as follows.

enter image description here

Step 4

Done. Congratulation.

Old comments below this question should be removed because they might be no longer relevant to this final edit.

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    @xport I wouldn't use spaces in the path, they are a sure source of problems. Try asking kpsewhich --var-value TEXMFLOCAL and see what's the answer. – egreg Jun 07 '11 at 11:05
  • @xport: spaces in paths are extremely dangerous and may be the reason for failure. Append ; at the end. This ensures that a possible system-wide setting of TEXMFLOCAL is evaluated too. – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 11:07
  • @xport. Your settings seem to be ignored. Please verify, whether the texmf.cnf you modified is actually used: Run the command kpsewhich texmf.cnf. It should return C:/texlive/2010/texmf.cnf – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 11:44
  • @xport: What does kpsewhich texmf.cnf say? – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 11:49
  • @xport. It is important that texhash and kpsewhich read the correct configuration file, that is the one you modified, otherwise your modifications were made in vain. – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 11:56
  • @xport. Strange. Even a non existing directory put into TEXMFLOCAL should at least be shown by kpsewhich --var-value TEXMFLOCAL. I am running out of ideas :( – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 13:22
  • @xport: I tried both, Linux and Windows. Added (fake or existing) directories show up in kpsewhich --var-value TEXMFLOCAL output. texhash registers files added to existing directories. – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 14:31
  • @xport: As a workaround for your Windows box (since your texmf.cnf doesn't seem to be read) I suggest setting the environmental variable TEXINPUTS by set TEXINPUTS=.//;E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary//; in a *.bat file which also does the TeXing of your document. – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 14:35
  • I don't have a full TeXLive but I have a skeleton (for luatex). I have added various texmf trees (e.g. from miktex) for various drive to texmf.cnf and it works fine. The syntax I used: – Ulrike Fischer Jun 08 '11 at 08:02
  • Continuation (I hit enter before the end): TEXMFLOCAL = I:/TeX-Roots/microtype,I:/TeX-Roots/UFlocaltexmf,... (commas between the roots, no slashes at the end). The variable TEXMFLOCAL is then used later on in the texmf.cnf like this: TEXMF = {!!$TEXMFMAIN,!!$TEXMFLOCAL, ...}. kpathsea reads all texmf.cnf. Settings in earlier ones wins. Check the list of pathes with kpsewhich -show-path=cnf. If you have a miktex installed: Check that you are not using its texhash (try texhash --version). – Ulrike Fischer Jun 08 '11 at 08:21
  • @xport ... means etc (more texmf trees and/or variables). Additional information: I don't have a comma at the end of such a setting. There is somewhere a kpathsea.pdf which contains details about the syntax etc. – Ulrike Fischer Jun 08 '11 at 08:58
  • @xport: really? I wouldn't be so confident. You probably have another texmf.cnf hanging around. – egreg Jun 08 '11 at 09:06
  • @xport Would you please report in your question the output of kpsewhich --var-value TEXMF? The creation of the ls-R files depends on another variable (TEXMFDBS); I fear that many important parts are missing from your TEXMF. – egreg Jun 08 '11 at 09:25
  • @egreg: kpathsea uses all texmf.cnf it finds. So it should be ok if the local texmf.cnf's is empty at the start and it should be enough to add only the value you want to change to it. (In context MKIV there is also a texmfcnf.lua involved, but I don't know if there too all versions are used. When I asked even the context experts didn't seem to be certain how the configurations files are processed.) – Ulrike Fischer Jun 08 '11 at 09:37
  • @Ulrike: I know this; the problem I see is exactly setting TEXMF to that value in the "almost empty" one. Can you write down an answer showing exactly the contents of your "almost empty" file? – egreg Jun 08 '11 at 09:44
  • @egreg Ah I see what you mean. Yes I also have some doubts if it is necessary and advisable to (re)set TEXMF in the local texmf.cnf. I have only one "home made" texmf.cnf for my luatex skeleton and so naturally it also contains all the settings which are normally in the global texmf.cnf. – Ulrike Fischer Jun 08 '11 at 09:47
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    I think appending ,E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary to TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local in the global texmf.cnf is the easiest way. But don't forget to execute texhash as well. – Friendly Ghost Jul 05 '11 at 18:26
  • @AlexG, @xport: I tried to add a directory to TEXMFLOCAL = ... in c:/texlive/2013/texmf.cnf and made the following observations: 1.) it doesn't seem to matter if you use a comma or a semicolon to separate the directories, 2.) the line must end with a line break/newline (didn't test if LF or CR or both are necessary), otherwise the value is not used. – Alex Oct 04 '13 at 14:58

5 Answers5

15

OK. At request I sum up my comments as an answer:

I don't have a full TeX Live but I have a skeleton (for LuaTeX). I have added various texmf trees (e.g. from MiKTeX) from various drives to texmf.cnf and it works fine. The syntax I used is

 TEXMFLOCAL = I:/TeX-Roots/microtype,I:/TeX-Roots/UFlocaltexmf,...

(commas between the roots, no slashes at the end, no comma at the end, the ... stand for more pathes).

The variable TEXMFLOCAL is then used later on in my (complete) texmf.cnf like this: 

TEXMF = {!!$TEXMFMAIN,!!$TEXMFLOCAL, ...}

Normally TEXMF should already have this definition in the global texmf.cnf so it shouldn't be necessary to reset it in the local texmf.cnf. kpathsea reads all texmf.cnf. Settings in earlier (local) ones wins.

You should check if you didn't loose the texmf trees from the original TEXMFLOCAL definition (perhaps it did contains something before).

Check the list of pathes/texmf.cnf with kpsewhich -show-path=cnf or (according mpg) kpsewhich -a texmf.cnf.

If you have a MiKTeX installation, check that you are not using its texhash (try texhash --version).

Svend Tveskæg
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Ulrike Fischer
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11

With a default TeXLive installation you have a directory c:\texlive\texmf-local. There you can save your own files. This local directory has the same subdirectories as the default main one. LaTeX files should be saved in texmf-local\tex\latex\.... After saving your files run as command texhash to update the data base.

you can run from the command line kpsewhich -expand-var '$TEXMFHOME', then you see the default home directory. You can change this variable for your needs. You have three trees: $TEXMF, $TEXMFLOCAL, and $TEXMFHOME.

8

You can easily add package directories which reside outside the c:/texlive directory. Just append them, separated by ;, to the TEXMFLOCAL variable in the configuration file c:/texlive/texmf.cnf of your installation and run the texhash command. This will add all files found to the file name data base.

EDIT: Here is my texmf.cnf:

% (Public domain.)
% This texmf.cnf file should contain only your personal changes from the
% original texmf.cnf (for example, as chosen in the installer).
%
% That is, if you need to make changes to texmf.cnf, put your custom
% settings in this file, which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf.cnf, rather than
% the distributed file (which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf).
% And include *only* your changed values, not a copy of the whole thing!
%
TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/texmf-local;/home/grahn/texpkgs
TEXMFHOME = $TEXMFLOCAL
TEXMFVAR = $TEXMFSYSVAR
TEXMFCONFIG = $TEXMFSYSCONFIG
ASYMPTOTE_HOME = $TEXMFCONFIG/asymptote
TEXINPUTS=.//;
main_memory = 30000000

As far as I know, this file was installed during TeXLive installation (I was using the --portable option). The additions I did are the TEXINPUTS and main_memory lines and the additional directory in TEXMFLOCAL for illustration. Always use / in paths (even for Windows). TEXINPUTS=.//; lets TeX search for files in subdirectories of the current one.

AlexG
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  • @xport: the usual value for TEXMFLOCAL is given by TEXMFLOCAL = $TEXMFROOT/../texmf-local Copy this line into the texmf.cnf file and append ;x:/path/to/right/place. Note that this requires your external disk is always mounted with the same specifier (here x). Maybe Windows has some way to refer to devices by name. – egreg Jun 07 '11 at 10:13
  • @xport: I think so, but I don't know Windows. I would use the exact capitalization, though, just in case. – egreg Jun 07 '11 at 10:27
  • @xport: always use / in paths. – AlexG Jun 07 '11 at 10:32
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    @xport: you have many texmf.cnf files. Try kpsewhich -a texmf.cnf to list them. The first (and shorter) one is the one you found, meant for local editions. The other one is much longer, contains all the settings and should not be edited manually but can serve as example/documentation. – mpg Jun 08 '11 at 05:58
3

As already mentioned by @mpg, there are 2 texmf.cnf files. The one with a shorter path is for user-defined settings. The other one with a longer path is for factory-default settings and should not be edited by users.

However, in my experience, the user-defined texmf.cnf seems to be ignored or its settings do not affect anything even though you invoke texhash after editing it. That is why I always edit the factory-default texmf.cnf file.

Open the factory-default texmf.cnf, locate TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local, and append ;E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary. So it becomes

TEXMFLOCAL = $SELFAUTOPARENT/../texmf-local;E:/A/My LaTeX/MyLibrary

Finally invoke texhash.

Note that you have to change \ to / and use ; as appending delimiter. When you update your TeXLive installation then redo this ritual because factory-default texmf.cnf will be reset to its default settings.

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With TeX Live 2017 it is very easy to register a new TEXMF tree. Assume your files are in E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary/tex/latex/misc. So the new TEXMF tree would be E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary. Now, open a console window and type in:

tlmgr conf auxtrees add "E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary"

Linux or OS/X users may need to use sudo:

sudo tlmgr conf auxtrees add "E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary"

You can test for all these auxiliary trees and their search order using

tlmgr conf auxtrees show

And if you want to remove such an auxiliary tree just use

tlmgr conf auxtrees remove "E:/A/MyLaTeX/MyLibrary"

(here it may also be necessary to use sudo as shown above).

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