Where to set environment variables for regular user?

[LordKelvan]

Hi:

I've been setting environment variables in the file /etc/environment, which has worked fine. However, I'd like to stop doing this because I'd like to have all of my settings in my home directory.

1. Which file (in my home directory) should I set my environment variables in so that they get set whenever I log in? I presume that the value of a particular environment variable set in my home directory overrides the value set in /etc/environment. For example, if I set A="foo", would this override A="bar" in /etc/environment?
2. In the file for the above question, how would I modify an existing environment variable? For example, how would I append paths to the $PATH variable?

Thanks,
LK

[jocko]

Hi:

I've been setting environment variables in the file /etc/environment, which has worked fine. However, I'd like to stop doing this because I'd like to have all of my settings in my home directory.

1. Which file (in my home directory) should I set my environment variables in so that they get set whenever I log in? I presume that the value of a particular environment variable set in my home directory overrides the value set in /etc/environment. For example, if I set A="foo", would this override A="bar" in /etc/environment?
2. In the file for the above question, how would I modify an existing environment variable? For example, how would I append paths to the $PATH variable?

Thanks,
LK

You can add paths in your ~/.bashrc

gedit ~/.bashrc

If you want to include ~/.bin in your path, add this to the end:

if [ -d ~/.bin ]; then
    PATH=~/.bin:"${PATH}"
fi

You can also add aliases, either directly in ~/.bashrc or in ~/.bash_aliases:

alias A='foo'

I'm pretty sure those aliases set in your ~/.bashrc or ./bash_aliases will override any aliases set anywhere else.

To apply the changes without logging out:

source ~.bashrc

[LordKelvan]

Sorry, I should have been more clear that

A="foo"

was setting the environment variable A to "foo", and not setting up an alias.

To confirm, I only need to edit ~/.bashrc. If I wanted to set an environment variable, I would add:

A="foo"

If I want to append something to an existing environment variable, I would add (omitting the checking code):

A="${foo}":/path/to/somewhere

Can I set it anywhere inside ~/.bashrc, or is there a specific place?

One final thing: does Ubuntu first read /etc/environment for system-wide environment variables, and then read ~/.bashrc for user-specific environment variables (i.e., my changes will not be clobbered)?

[jocko]

Sorry, I should have been more clear that

A="foo"

was setting the environment variable A to "foo", and not setting up an alias.

To confirm, I only need to edit ~/.bashrc. If I wanted to set an environment variable, I would add:

A="foo"

If I want to append something to an existing environment variable, I would add (omitting the checking code):

A="${foo}":/path/to/somewhere

Can I set it anywhere inside ~/.bashrc, or is there a specific place?

One final thing: does Ubuntu first read /etc/environment for system-wide environment variables, and then read ~/.bashrc for user-specific environment variables (i.e., my changes will not be clobbered)?

Well... if I make the line:

A="foo"

at the end of my ~/.bashrc, typing $A in the terminal gives me

No command 'foo' found, did you mean:
 Command 'xoo' from package 'xoo' (universe)
 Command 'fop' from package 'fop' (universe)
 Command 'fox' from package 'objcryst-fox' (universe)
 Command 'zoo' from package 'zoo' (universe)
 Command 'goo' from package 'goo' (universe)
foo: command not found

so it seems it works as you want it to.
I don't think it matters where you place it.
bashrc is read when you log in, so any variables in there should replace any variables that were set during boot.