I'm confused, where do I set environmental variables?
In .profile or in .bash_profile?
I am using both mac osx and ubuntu.
Confused as to which one I use here.
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2 Answers
read http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Bash-Startup-Files:
When Bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as a
non-interactive shell with the --login option, it first reads
and executes commands from the file /etc/profile, if that file
exists. After reading that file, it looks for ~/.bash_profile,
~/.bash_login, and ~/.profile, in that order, and reads and executes
commands from the first one that exists and is readable. The
--noprofile option may be used when the shell is started to inhibit
this behavior.
other shells load ~/.profile as well (zsh, tcsh) .. so, i would put environment stuff into ~/.profile.
mac osx related update (thanks @Matt B):
for gui programs read http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#qa/qa2001/qa1067.html and edit ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist carefully.
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1In addition, ~/.profile is read before your window manager starts, so environment variables that you want to be seen by your window manager or the applications it launches should be put in your ~/.profile.– garyjohnAug 2, 2010 at 18:39
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@zneak: I'm reasonably sure about Ubuntu, less so about Mac OS X, but I don't have access to either one to verify at the moment.– garyjohnAug 4, 2010 at 8:03
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1@zneak: @garyjohn's remark does not apply to Mac OS X. To change environment variables for GUI programs, you must place your settings into
~/.MacOSX/environment.plist. See more information here: astro.washington.edu/users/rowen/AquaEnvVar.html.– mbaumanSep 27, 2010 at 1:14
If you use bash, in ~/.bash_profile. If you use other shells, in ~/.profile
