How do I set persistent environment variables for root?

Question

To create persistent environment variables, I add the script file to /etc/profile.d directory, for example:

# my script
export MY_VAR=var_value

This works properly for current user:

alex@alex-64:~$ echo $MY_VAR
var_value

Now I need the same environment variables for the root user, but /etc/profile.d script doesn't work for root:

alex@alex-64:~$ echo $MY_VAR
var_value
alex@alex-64:~$ sudo su
root@alex-64:/home/alex# echo $MY_VAR

root@alex-64:/home/alex#

How can I set the same variables for the root?

This question about how to preserve a particular variable from the caller's environment when running sudo is very related. (But it is not a duplicate because this question is about how to customize root's own environment.) — Eliah Kagan, Apr 10 '15 at 17:47

ish · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-10T11:10:18.533

65

sudo does not normally preserve local environment variables. You should use it with the -E switch to do so, i.e. sudo -E su will preserve $MYVAR for root.

Alternatively, to create persistent variables that are truly system-wide, you should set them in /etc/environment.

edited Jul 10 '12 at 11:10

answered Jul 10 '12 at 10:47

ish

139,926

21

Does not work, /etc/environemnt variables are not set for sudo – Frederic Yesid Peña Sánchez Jan 24 '15 at 13:49
4

@FredericYesidPeñaSánchez it did for me on CentOS. You don't script in there, you just do simple assignments on each line, i.e. FOO=bar – iamyojimbo Oct 05 '16 at 22:25
2

Thanks, worked. /etc/environment values were available as root after restarting my terminal (not before) – dutoitns Jan 16 '20 at 11:32
Worked for me right away on Ubuntu 20.04 – J. Gwinner Sep 20 '22 at 01:12

score 10 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 03 '13 at 15:36

10

Defaults env_reset in /etc/sudoers will reset root's PATH defined by /etc/environment.

You could modify it to Defaults !env_reset to disable resetting or add:

Defaults secure_path="my/custom/path:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin

edited Dec 03 '13 at 15:36

jokerdino

41,320

answered Nov 27 '13 at 14:14

diyism

241

If I want to use the second solution(means add path to secure_path), what is key?! path is just value. I want to add ANDROID_NDK to environment variables for root. So for now, I just using the first one(!env_reset).Thanks. – Dr.jacky Dec 06 '15 at 06:07

ppppplv · Answer 3 · 2018-10-06T06:48:14.120

10

Like the process you define your own environment variable, for example by editing '~/.bashrc', you can define root's environment variable by editing '/root/.bashrc'.

edited Oct 06 '18 at 06:48

answered May 21 '15 at 14:50

ppppplv

221

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 28 '20 at 04:47

You can pass environment variables using env flag. I always need to get around proxies and this is a constant issue for me. Especially when you need to pass PATH and proxy environment variables.

Command:

sudo env "ENV=$ENV1" "ENV2=$ENV2" [command]

And you can add it as an alias (add this .bashrc, .bash_aliases or .zshrc etc).

Example of my alias:

alias psudo='sudo env "PATH=$PATH" "HTTP_PROXY=$HTTP_PROXY" "HTTPS_PROXY=$HTTPS_PROXY" "http_proxy=$http_proxy" "https_proxy=$http_proxy"'

Be mindful that this obviously reduces the security of sudo.

How do I set persistent environment variables for root?

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