DESCRIPTION

The variable environ points to an array of pointers to strings called the environment. The last pointer in this array has the value NULL. (This variable must be declared in the user program, but is declared in the header file <unistd.h> if the _GNU_SOURCE feature test macro is defined.) This array of strings is made available to the process by the exec(3) call that started the process. When a child process is created via fork(2), it inherits a copy of its parent_zsingle_quotesz_s environment.

By convention the strings in environ have the form name=value. Common examples are:

Names may be placed in the shell_zsingle_quotesz_s environment by the export command in sh(1), or by the setenv command if you use csh(1).

The initial environment of the shell is populated in various ways, such as definitions from /etc/environment that are processed by pam_env(8) for all users at login time (on systems that employ pam(8)). In addition, various shell initialization scripts, such as the system-wide /etc/profile script and per-user initializations script may include commands that add variables to the shell_zsingle_quotesz_s environment; see the manual page of your preferred shell for details.

Bourne-style shells support the syntax

NAME=value command

to create an environment variable definition only in the scope of the process that executes command. Multiple variable definitions, separated by white space, may precede command.

Arguments may also be placed in the environment at the point of an exec(3). A C program can manipulate its environment using the functions getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3), and unsetenv(3).

Note that the behavior of many programs and library routines is influenced by the presence or value of certain environment variables. Examples include the following:

NOTES

The prctl(2) PR_SET_MM_ENV_START and PR_SET_MM_ENV_END operations can be used to control the location of the process_zsingle_quotesz_s environment.

BUGS

Clearly there is a security risk here. Many a system command has been tricked into mischief by a user who specified unusual values for IFS or LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

There is also the risk of name space pollution. Programs like make and autoconf allow overriding of default utility names from the environment with similarly named variables in all caps. Thus one uses CC to select the desired C compiler (and similarly MAKE, AR, AS, FC, LD, LEX, RM, YACC, etc.). However, in some traditional uses such an environment variable gives options for the program instead of a pathname. Thus, one has MORE, LESS, and GZIP. Such usage is considered mistaken, and to be avoided in new programs. The authors of gzip should consider renaming their option to GZIP_OPT.

SEE ALSO

bash(1), csh(1), env(1), login(1), printenv(1), sh(1), tcsh(1), execve(2), clearenv(3), exec(3), getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3), unsetenv(3), locale(7), ld.so(8), pam_env(8)