[ Next Article | Previous Article | Book Contents | Library Home | Legal | Search ]
System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices

Listing All Your Environment Variables (env Commands)

The env command allows you to display your current environment variables. An environment variable that is accessible to all your processes is called a global variable.

All variables (with their associated values) known to a command at the beginning of its execution constitute its environment. This environment includes variables that a command inherits from its parent process and variables specified as keyword parameters on the command line that calls the command. The shell interacts with the environment in several ways. When started, the shell scans the environment and creates a parameter for each name found, giving the parameter the corresponding value and marking it for export. Executed commands inherit the environment.

For more information on environment variables, see:

For example, to list all environment variables, enter:

env

Following is an example of the displayed list:

TMPDIR=/usr/tmp
myid=denise
LANG=En_US
UNAME=barnard
PAGER=/bin/pg
VISUAL=vi
PATH=/usr/ucb:/usr/lpp/X11/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/etc:/u/denise:/u/denise/bin:/u/bin1
MAILPATH=/usr/mail/denise?denise has mail !!!
MAILRECORD=/u/denise/.Outmail
EXINIT=set beautify noflash nomesg report=1 showmode showmatch
EDITOR=vi
PSCH=>
HISTFILE=/u/denise/.history
LOGNAME=denise
MAIL=/usr/mail/denise
PS1=denise@barnard:${PWD}> 
PS3=#
PS2=>
epath=/usr/bin
USER=denise
SHELL=/bin/ksh
HISTSIZE=500
HOME=/u/denise
FCEDIT=vi
TERM=lft
MAILMSG=**YOU HAVE NEW MAIL. USE THE mail COMMAND TO SEE YOUR PWD=/u/denise
ENV=/u/denise/.env

If the listing is very long, the top portion scrolls off the screen. To prevent this from happening, use the env command piped to the pg command. At the prompt, enter:

env | pg

See the env command in the AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference for the exact syntax.


[ Next Article | Previous Article | Book Contents | Library Home | Legal | Search ]