Environment variable in bash or tcsh

This entry was posted in Linux on by

The syntax for setting an environment variable under UNIX/Linux depend on the shell that you are using.
The syntax for bash/sh shell is

 export <variable name> = $<variable name>:<new value1>:<new value2>

For tcsh/csh shell

 set <variable name> = ($<variable name> <new value1> <new value2>)

You can set the environment variable either from a terminal or add it directly to your .bashrc (for BASH/sh shell) or .cshrc (for tcsh/csh shell).


For example to add /usr/local/bin to your PATH under bash, open ~/.bashrc and enter

 export PATH = $PATH:/usr/local/bin

Or enter the following in a terminal to append to your .bashrc file

 echo 'export PATH = $PATH:/usr/local/bin' >> ~/.bashrc

If you are using tcsh/csh, open ~/.tcsh and enter

 export PATH = ($PATH /usr/local/bin)

Or enter the following in command line or terminal to append to your .tcsh file

 echo 'set PATH = ($PATH /usr/local/bin)' >> ~/.cshrc

To display path settings, enter in the terminal

 echo $PATH

To delete a environment variable, type in the terminal

 unset <variable name>

Leave a Comment