[stupid question] setting env variables globally

2007-10-19 Thread Aryeh M. Friedman
Is there any way to set the default value of a enviromental variable
globally.   Specifically I want JAVA_VERSION to default to 1.6 unless
the user sets it other wise.   By global I mean no matter how something
is invoked (command line, script, GUI, IPC trigger, etc.) if it checks
the value of the var it gets the same value (and I want to do this
system wide)
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Re: [stupid question] setting env variables globally

2007-10-19 Thread Erik Trulsson
On Fri, Oct 19, 2007 at 04:14:12PM +, Aryeh M. Friedman wrote:
 Is there any way to set the default value of a enviromental variable
 globally.   Specifically I want JAVA_VERSION to default to 1.6 unless
 the user sets it other wise.   By global I mean no matter how something
 is invoked (command line, script, GUI, IPC trigger, etc.) if it checks
 the value of the var it gets the same value (and I want to do this
 system wide)

You can take a look at login.conf(5) which probably can provide what you
want.  Depending on exactly how and when (and from where) a process is
started this might not work, but is probably the best that can be done
without hacking the kernel source code.



A process normally inherits the environment from its parent process.
When a process calls some of the exec(3) functions to start a new program it
can also provide a completely new environment which can be completely
independent of the parent's.

The settings in login.conf(5) only (AFAICT) affects processes whose ancestry
can be traced back to a login(1) instance, and where the environment hasn't
been changed along the way.  This should cover most of the processes you are
interested in but perhaps not quite all of them.

If you really want *all* processes to have a certain environment variable
set to a given value you will have to modify the execve(2) system call.
I don't recommend doing this unless you know *exactly* what you are doing
and the possible consequences thereof.  





-- 
Insert your favourite quote here.
Erik Trulsson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: [stupid question] setting env variables globally

2007-10-19 Thread Chuck Swiger

On Oct 19, 2007, at 9:14 AM, Aryeh M. Friedman wrote:

Is there any way to set the default value of a enviromental variable
globally.   Specifically I want JAVA_VERSION to default to 1.6  
unless
the user sets it other wise.   By global I mean no matter how  
something

is invoked (command line, script, GUI, IPC trigger, etc.) if it checks
the value of the var it gets the same value (and I want to do this
system wide)


Setting variables in /etc/profile and /etc/csh.cshrc (respectively)  
will do it for the common shells; or perhaps you might look at /etc/ 
login.conf...


--
-Chuck

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Re: [stupid question] setting env variables globally

2007-10-19 Thread Tim Daneliuk

On Fri, Oct 19, 2007 at 04:14:12PM +, Aryeh M. Friedman wrote:

Is there any way to set the default value of a enviromental variable
globally.   Specifically I want JAVA_VERSION to default to 1.6 unless
the user sets it other wise.   By global I mean no matter how something
is invoked (command line, script, GUI, IPC trigger, etc.) if it checks
the value of the var it gets the same value (and I want to do this
system wide)




For userland stuff that is invoked after a login (i.e. In some user's
login context), I have a master profile I keep in /usr/local/etc/.myprofile.
I then source this from the .profile or .bashrc  in a given user's account.

If you need this for cron jobs, there is a way to set environment variables
in the crontab entry IIRC...

HTH,


Tim Daneliuk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PGP Key: http://www.tundraware.com/PGP/


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