help a newbie with system wide environmental variables, please
Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
help a newbie with system wide environmental variables, please
Hi,
I am taking my first Linux class and given the following assignment:
"All users on the system are to have an environmental variable that points to the /usr/local/share_ideas directory. the name of the environmental variable is SPI(for SharePoint Ideas folder). Every user on the system will have this environmental variable, regardless of weather they are on the SharePoint project or not."
I have done Environmental variables in bash and I think it is:
SPI=/usr/local/share_ideas
Then I thought that that would have to be added to /etc/profile, saved and reboot my system.
I did that and with echo $SPI, I get nothing back.
any help or explanation of what I am doing wrong would be helpful.
I would suggest looking at some of the other variables set either their or in your .bashrc file and see what else you might be required to do for it to take affect.
do I need to write a script in /etc/profile? Is SPI=/usr/local/share_ideas the correct variable for what is being asked? this entire question seems to have me stumped and not finding much online as crazy as that sounds.
Well it seems sysfce has thrown in the spoiler, but imagine /etc/profile as a script. When you set the variable it only lives inside the script. Therefore, as demonstrated by sysfce,
you need to export it so the environment is made aware of it
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.