How do I set environment variables on OS X?

Question

I have always difficulties setting the Environment variables in OS X like JAVA_HOME, M2_HOME or PATH. How to set these on OS X Mavericks?

I did some research but the answers I've found didn't really help me yet:

export JAVA_HOME=/... (But it seems that the changes are temporary, just for one terminal session.)
setenv JAVA_HOME=/... (But command not found.)
Open .profile and write the variables inside to make the changes permanent- (.profile does not exist).
Open .bash_profile and write the variables inside to make the changes permanent- (.bash_profile does not exist).
vi ~/.bash_profile (Quite a challenge for somebody who doesn't know vi.)
Creating your own enrivonment.plist file.

Can somebody please walk me through the steps to get that to work on OS X Mavericks, assuming no Unix knowhow?

For macOS Catalina and greater (Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur) you have to set them inside ~/.zshrc as shown here. — kevin_theinfinityfund, Nov 04 '21 at 00:07
related on Stack Overflow: Setting environment variables on OS X — starball, May 06 '23 at 22:53

score 68 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 12 '23 at 14:11

68

I have a .profile in my home directory; it contains many export … statements for environment variables.

You can create such a file by opening a Terminal and issuing the command touch .profile.

Close Terminal.

Then you should open that file in a plain-text editor (TextWrangler for example). You can also use nano .profile in a Terminal window (current directory should be your home), which is much easier than vi. Insert lines such as export JAVA_HOME=…. Save, exit nano if you used that and quit a running Terminal.

Open Terminal and issue the command env to see all environment variables. Check that the ones you defined have the value you assigned to them. You should be good to go now but don't forget that environment variables defined in .profile are not passed to GUI applications.

edited Oct 12 '23 at 14:11

Greenonline

2,004

answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:57

Bhas

836

Thank you very much. This was what i really looking for. I now have set all my variables. What do u mean by GUI applications? I just needed some variables for java and maven in order to work with eclipse, spring tools etc. Eclipse is an application with GUI (Graphical User Interface). Do you mean this by GUI? – akcasoy Oct 25 '13 at 18:32
Ok. I have read some and i think you have mean really GUI with GUI.. Is there a way to make these variables available everywhere? What is the most common way or where is the most common location to define them then? – akcasoy Oct 25 '13 at 18:49
yes that is what I meant by a GUI app. 2. setting environment variables for GUI app's in OS X 10.8 appears to be quit difficult. Some apps let you define environment variables, which are to be passed to other applications, in their preferences for example. You can also use the open -a Appname method in a Terminal session.

Bhas

Oct 26 '13 at 09:37

8

I don't know why but for me (OS X Yosemite 10.10.1) the .profile didn't help. I had to put the export statements into the .bash_profile to make it work. Hopefully this helps someone else if he runs into the same problems... – chuky Dec 04 '14 at 19:50

@chuky if you're using zsh you should add them to .zprofile instead. – Ariel Mirra Jun 21 '22 at 21:39

shellbye · Answer 2 · 2023-10-12T11:31:22.707

46

In case you're using zsh like me, you need to modify ~/.zshrc (or ~/.zprofile as sugguested by @timetofly).

edited Oct 12 '23 at 11:31

answered Dec 26 '18 at 02:15

shellbye

589

9

Or in .zprofile – timetofly May 16 '19 at 12:58
Some of my application add something to PATH, but I didn't see the ~/.zshrc or .zprofile you said? @timetofly – Raining Apr 16 '20 at 06:57
You can try creating that file in your home directory and see if zsh picks it up. – timetofly Apr 17 '20 at 17:27
5

Starting with macOS Catalina, Macs use zsh as the default login shell and interactive shell - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208050 – Vadim Kotov Nov 20 '20 at 11:18
1

what if I have both .zshrc & .zprofile, where do I set my new environment variable ? – Sumax Oct 09 '23 at 07:11
@Sumax you can have a try. – shellbye Oct 12 '23 at 11:29

score 38 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 18 '15 at 03:37

38

In Yosemite, you should put export VARIABLE='something' inside .bash_profile.

I've tried writing the export VARIABLE='something' inside .profile without success.

answered Jan 18 '15 at 03:37

Rafael Eyng

665

1

if you're using zsh you should add them to .zprofile instead. – Ariel Mirra Jun 21 '22 at 21:39

score 35 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 06 '16 at 09:56

35

From http://hathaway.cc/post/69201163472/how-to-edit-your-path-environment-variables-on-mac:

Open Terminal
Run touch ~/.bash_profile; open ~/.bash_profile
In TextEdit, add
```
export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"
```
Save the .bash_profile file and Quit (Command + Q) Text Edit.
Run source ~/.bash_profile

edited Mar 06 '16 at 09:56

nohillside

100,768

answered Mar 06 '16 at 04:17

Sivathanu

469

1

This assumes that the user is using Bash as their shell. It will not work for alternative shells such as Fish Shell. – Carl Winbäck May 27 '22 at 07:41
Your example in particular only shows how to extend the $PATH variable by a custom path. You can create your own unique environment variable by export <variable name>='<variable value>' in your shell's startup text file. – Sumax Aug 19 '22 at 17:17

score 11 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 30 '14 at 08:24

11

For adding a directory to a path, there is a better option in OS X: All entries in the file /etc/paths are added to the path, before any shell is started.

Edit this file with:

sudo pico /etc/paths

For more info, see: https://gist.github.com/Overbryd/1669348

answered Jun 30 '14 at 08:24

Bjinse

211

Thank you! for me this is the most elegant way to include a new path – Asimov Oct 31 '16 at 21:54

score 11 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 01 '21 at 20:19

11

launchctl setenv environmentvariablename environmentvariablevalue

or

launchctl setenv environmentvariablename `command that will generate value`

use proper ` and remember to restart application or terminal for the environment variable to take effect.

you can check environment variable by printenv command.

answered Aug 01 '21 at 20:19

Jainil Patel

211

2

it works! in VSC you have to close all windows to actually restart the terminal. – GoTo Oct 20 '21 at 20:10
1

This is the only answer (to date) that will set the environment variable for all shells AND for applications! Thank you! – baskren May 25 '22 at 13:38

score 9 · Answer 7 · edited Aug 31 '17 at 18:52

9

For those who don't like to have the hassle with text files and editors, there is a GUI tool as well on GitHub.

edited Aug 31 '17 at 18:52

shim

418

answered Apr 03 '14 at 12:46

mkraemerx

191

Great ! I spent whole day figuring out to solve the environment variable issue and I was nowhere .The app that you posted solved all my environment hassles – Shajo Apr 22 '15 at 08:08

score 5 · Answer 8 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45

5

OSX has had only one change re environment variables and that was in Lion where ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist was removed. Although there also has been a change in the default shell in 10.2 or 10.3 from tsch to bash.

You need to define what you want the enviroment variable set for and what environment you have.

You also need to understand shells and Unix which by your comments you have not fully done. There are several nbash tutorials around.

As to your points

You understand correctly assuming you are in a sh type shell (e.g. bash or zsh)
This is for C shells e.g. tcsh so won't work on recent defaults.
You need to create .profile then it works
It is .bash_profile or better .bashrc and you need to create the file first
Totally correct :) Use TextEdit or nano (or emacs)
Correct up to OSX 10.7 and the wy to do this for programs called from the Workspace e.g. from Dock or Finder (or open)

So 3 or 4 work if you are calling the program from the command line (or from a program started in the command line but not by open)

As for programs from the GUI see this question

As for internet is full of rubbish - you need to have enough background to understand an article because as you have discovered many assume things or are incorrect. StackExhnage sites should be better as you can see if an answer has been agreed to from the number of votes.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45

Community

1

answered Oct 25 '13 at 13:28

mmmmmm

30,160

I still do not have any result. The linked question does not bring me to solution. I have a mac for 4 years, yet still do not have (didn't have to) experience about UNIX. I think, when the answer of "Why is it damn so hard?" is "plist was removed, change in 10.2 or 10.3, sh type shell, up to 10.7 etc.." the answer contradicts with itself. – akcasoy Oct 25 '13 at 13:37
It could be made very easily like in windows. Anyway.. what i was really expecting was sth. like this: 1- open home dir 2- open terminal 3- write "xxx" 4-click save etc.. one must not have enough background to set just a simple variable, at least could find a proper solution from those boilerplate answers on the internet. – akcasoy Oct 25 '13 at 13:41
If you need environment variables you have to understand what they are doing and that requires background. Also as you did not state what you were using the variables for I have to give all the possible differences. Note for Java setting JAVA_HOME is not necessarily the best way (see Java questions) – mmmmmm Oct 27 '13 at 17:25
My question was about SETTING the variables. Neither about what they are doing, nor about any other thing which requires more info. You can obviously set them even without background. Thank you for your answer though. But as i already wrote, a simple proposal for solution was enough, which i already have thanks to Bhas. – akcasoy Oct 30 '13 at 22:37
You really should not set variables without background you have to know what they do – mmmmmm Oct 30 '13 at 22:55

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 14 '22 at 09:40

Background Knowledge

Mac's OS=Operation System
- old ones called: OS X
  - such as your OS X Mavericks
- now called: macOS
for any macOS, normally have built-in a console application, called Terminal
- look like this (My here is Chinese name: 终端)

Can somebody please walk me through the steps to get that to work on OS X Mavericks, assuming no Unix knowhow?

Steps to add environment variable in MacOS

Simple

use terminal to add export JAVA_HOME=/your/path to your launch script
- bash's ~/.bash_profile
- or zsh's ~/.zshrc

Detail

open terminal

Launch Pad -> Terminal

look like this:

prepare boot script

then make sure you already have your boot script

for basic and common case is:

you are using bash, related boot script is ~/.bash_profile

➜  ~ ls -lh ~/.bash_profile 
-rw-r--r--  1 crifan  staff   461B 10 28  2021 /Users/crifan/.bash_profile

if can not found, you can create one:

touch ~/.bash_profile

add your environment variable into your boot script

then you can edit the boot script ~/.bash_profile

using text editor, such as vi / vim / nano / echo

here use most simple:

echo "export JAVA_HOME=/your/path" >> ~/.bash_profile

here is my output for you refer:

(using cat to print file content to verify is ok)

➜  ~ cat ~/.bash_profile 
export THEOS=/opt/theos
export PATH=$PATH:$THEOS/bin
export THEOS_MAKE_PATH=$(THEOS)/makefiles
export THEOS_BIN_PATH=$(THEOS)/bin
export THEOS_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/lib
export THEOS_VENDOR_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/lib
export THEOS_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include
export THEOS_VENDOR_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/include
export THEOS_FALLBACK_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include/_fallback
export THEOS_MODULE_PATH=$(THEOS)/mod
export THEOS_SDKS_PATH=$(THEOS)/sdks
➜  ~ echo "export JAVA_HOME=/your/path" >> ~/.bash_profile 
➜  ~ cat ~/.bash_profile

export THEOS=/opt/theos
export PATH=$PATH:$THEOS/bin
export THEOS_MAKE_PATH=$(THEOS)/makefiles
export THEOS_BIN_PATH=$(THEOS)/bin
export THEOS_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/lib
export THEOS_VENDOR_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/lib
export THEOS_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include
export THEOS_VENDOR_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/include
export THEOS_FALLBACK_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include/_fallback
export THEOS_MODULE_PATH=$(THEOS)/mod
export THEOS_SDKS_PATH=$(THEOS)/sdks
export JAVA_HOME=/your/path
➜  ~

[optional] make variable take effect immediately

normally above is ok. but if you want to let your added environment variable take effect immediately, you can use:

source ~/.bash_profile

then can use echo to verify worked

➜  ~ source ~/.bash_profile 
....
➜  ~ echo $JAVA_HOME
/your/path

appendix

the full log for refer:

➜  ~ ls -lh ~/.bash_profile 
-rw-r--r--  1 crifan  staff   461B 10 28  2021 /Users/crifan/.bash_profile
➜  ~ cat ~/.bash_profile 
export THEOS=/opt/theos
export PATH=$PATH:$THEOS/bin
export THEOS_MAKE_PATH=$(THEOS)/makefiles
export THEOS_BIN_PATH=$(THEOS)/bin
export THEOS_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/lib
export THEOS_VENDOR_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/lib
export THEOS_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include
export THEOS_VENDOR_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/include
export THEOS_FALLBACK_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include/_fallback
export THEOS_MODULE_PATH=$(THEOS)/mod
export THEOS_SDKS_PATH=$(THEOS)/sdks
➜  ~ echo "export JAVA_HOME=/your/path" >> ~/.bash_profile 
➜  ~ cat ~/.bash_profile

export THEOS=/opt/theos
export PATH=$PATH:$THEOS/bin
export THEOS_MAKE_PATH=$(THEOS)/makefiles
export THEOS_BIN_PATH=$(THEOS)/bin
export THEOS_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/lib
export THEOS_VENDOR_LIBRARY_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/lib
export THEOS_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include
export THEOS_VENDOR_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/vendor/include
export THEOS_FALLBACK_INCLUDE_PATH=$(THEOS)/include/_fallback
export THEOS_MODULE_PATH=$(THEOS)/mod
export THEOS_SDKS_PATH=$(THEOS)/sdks
export JAVA_HOME=/your/path
➜  ~ source ~/.bash_profile 
...
➜  ~ echo $JAVA_HOME
/your/path

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. — Community, Jun 14 '22 at 11:09
Also how does it improve on other answers. Also either the OP wants to chnage things in the terminal which then makes most of this answer not useful as they know how to get to terminal or the OP wants to set variables for a GUI app and in that case you do not answer. — mmmmmm, Jun 14 '22 at 11:26

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 01 '22 at 07:22

-1

.bash_profile works for bash but not for zsh that is used by default in macOS.

Since you may need both, I encourage to create symbolic link:

ln -s ~/.bash_profile .zprofile

answered Dec 01 '22 at 07:22

Serg Kryvonos

101

score -1 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 17 '23 at 20:00

-1

In Terminal, type this (without any spaces around = sign)

export PORT=5000

answered Mar 17 '23 at 20:00

TheTechGuy

223

That is the first point in the question - how is this an answer? – mmmmmm Mar 17 '23 at 20:35

score -2 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 16 '21 at 17:55

Open terminal

COMMAND-1

input : echo $SHELL output : /bin/zsh

if your machine uses zsh then use below commands|

Command - 2

vi ~/.zshrc

it will open new file or edits existing file.

now add below line and press esc and enter :wq to save and close the file. export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

Command 3:: to apply the changes

source ~/.zshr

Command 4::

echo $JAVA_HOME /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home

you will see output as per above line.