Setting JAVA_HOME for root on Red Hat

Question

I inserted the following in '/etc/profile'

JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_21 export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin

But when I 'sudo su' from my regular account, it does not pick up the above java path: any suggestions?

Thanks

Answer 1

Try doing

sudo su -

Answer 2

When you do sudo su then su is not a login shell, and file /etc/profile is not processed. In order to make su a login shell you can call it with --login, -l or - option. So, use sudo su -.