CODEWITHSUNDEEP
macosenvironment-variablesosx-mavericks
Lugaru
Lugaru

Reputation: 1460

OSX 10.9 Mavericks environment variables: how to set environment variables

How I can EXPORT environment variable not just for one tab but for all system?

If i will use export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/Home it will set JAVA_HOME only for current terminal tab and after system restart I will need do it one more time.

How I can set environment variable globally to make by default?

How I can edit variables in $ env list?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 4784

Answers (2)

bames53
bames53

Reputation: 88235

You can set environment variables by adding the export commands to various configuration files. E.g. ~/.profile

You can find out more about what files can be used to modify your bash environment by reading the bash manual (man bash). If you're using a different shell then it's probably similar and its man page should contain the same info. You can also read this answer on unix.stackexchange.com, which has some of these details.

If you want to set environment variables for your entire user environment, including GUI applications, I believe you can do that using ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist.

Upvotes: 0

l'L'l
l'L'l

Reputation: 47302

Add an entry to ~/.bash_profile:

export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/Home
  • save it, (or create it if it doesn't exist)
  • quit Terminal.app
  • re-launch and you're in business.

This is the best place to add the entry in my opinion, although for the distinct differences on OS X of where to add environment variables specifically for one reason or another see:

And for a more generalized UNIX overview:

Upvotes: 4

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