kpsewhich -expand-var "\$TEXMFLOCAL"
the output being the actual path, for example (on the workstation the author is using today):
/usr/local/share/texmf
In a MiKTeX installation, the location will in fact typically be something you specified yourself when you installed MiKTeX in the first place, but you may find you need to create one. The MiKTeX “Settings” window (
Start
->
Programs
->
MiKTeX
->
Settings
)
has a tab “Roots
”; that tab gives a list of current
TDS roots (they’re typically not called
texmf
-anything). If there’s not one there with
“local
” in its name, create an appropriate one (see below),
and register it using the window’s
“Add
” button.
The
MiKTeX FAQ
suggests that you should create
“C:\Local TeX Files
”, which is good if you
manage your own machine, but often not even possible in corporate, or
similar, environments — in such situations, the user may have no
control over the hard disc of the computer, at all.
So the real criterion is that your local tree should be somewhere that
you, rather than the system, control. Restrictive systems often
provide a “home directory” for each user, mounted as a network
drive; this is a natural home for the user’s local tree. Other (often
academic) environments assume the user is going to provide a memory
stick, and will assign it a defined drive letter — another good
candidate location. Note that the semantics of such a tree are
indistinguishable from those of a
“home” TEXMF tree.
There are circumstances when you might not wish to use the ‘local’ tree:
This question on the Web: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=what-TDS