CODEWITHSUNDEEP
apacheenvironment-variablescgisetenv
user6856775
user6856775

Reputation:

Is it possible to SetEnv (set environment variable) through cgi?

I am wondering if you call setenv() on a shared web host, in general, is this allowed? Or would such a feature be disabled on most hosts as you are setting a global environment variable. I.e. if you have a cgi program, on most web hosts would setenv actually work? Wondering if it is a security issue and they have it disabled..

Reason I ask is because for some programs, setting up PATH variables as a setenv call would be very useful, but if this feature is not portable to all servers and some servers disable this then it would not be very portable code if you ever change servers.

And I do not mean a cgi variable or post variable, I mean an actual operating system setenv call that really sets a real environment variable on unix, not just an apache server variable or http variable or such.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 948

Answers (1)

Grisha Levit
Grisha Levit

Reputation: 8617

Yes, it's allowed but note that it will only have an effect on processes that your CGI script launches.

This is true in general and not specific to CGI. setenv() only affects the current program's environment and (in general) the environment of any child processes. Setting of "systemwide" environment variables is done in various startup scripts, etc.

Upvotes: 0

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