Setting environment variables on OS X

Question

What is the proper way to modify environment variables like PATH in OS X?

I\'ve looked on Google a little bit and found three different files to edit:

Answer 1

Bruno is right on track. I've done extensive research and if you want to set variables that are available in all GUI applications, your only option is /etc/launchd.conf.

Please note that environment.plist does not work for applications launched via Spotlight. This is documented by Steve Sexton here.

1. Open a terminal prompt

2. Type sudo vi /etc/launchd.conf (note: this file might not yet exist)

3. Put contents like the following into the file

   # Set environment variables here so they are available globally to all apps
   # (and Terminal), including those launched via Spotlight.
   #
   # After editing this file run the following command from the terminal to update
   # environment variables globally without needing to reboot.
   # NOTE: You will still need to restart the relevant application (including
   # Terminal) to pick up the changes!
   # grep -E "^setenv" /etc/launchd.conf | xargs -t -L 1 launchctl
   #
   # See http://www.digitaledgesw.com/node/31
   # and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/135688/setting-environment-variables-in-os-x/
   #
   # Note that you must hardcode the paths below, don't use environment variables.
   # You also need to surround multiple values in quotes, see MAVEN_OPTS example below.
   #
   setenv JAVA_VERSION 1.6
   setenv JAVA_HOME /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6/Home
   setenv GROOVY_HOME /Applications/Dev/groovy
   setenv GRAILS_HOME /Applications/Dev/grails
   setenv NEXUS_HOME /Applications/Dev/nexus/nexus-webapp
   setenv JRUBY_HOME /Applications/Dev/jruby
   
   setenv ANT_HOME /Applications/Dev/apache-ant
   setenv ANT_OPTS -Xmx512M
   
   setenv MAVEN_OPTS "-Xmx1024M -XX:MaxPermSize=512m"
   setenv M2_HOME /Applications/Dev/apache-maven
   
   setenv JMETER_HOME /Applications/Dev/jakarta-jmeter
   

4. Save your changes in vi and reboot your Mac. Or use the grep/xargs command which is shown in the code comment above.

5. Prove that your variables are working by opening a Terminal window and typing export and you should see your new variables. These will also be available in IntelliJ IDEA and other GUI applications you launch via Spotlight.