Python Get System Environment Variable Linux

Question

I've exposed one system environment variable say KEY1 with value VALUE1 in /etc/profile (I know, I know, it's probably bad)

Now in my shell if I do

$ echo $KEY1 VALUE1

But when I do

$ python -c "import os; print os.environ.get('KEY1')" None $

Why might this be the case?

Instead of keeping it in /etc/profile you can create a bash shell and pass the KEY1 as arguments to python script. — joydeep bhattacharjee
– joydeep bhattacharjee, Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 7:36
Multiple different types of apps are using it so can't pass argument to python script. — Ganesh Satpute
– Ganesh Satpute, Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 7:42

joydeep bhattacharjee · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-05 07:32:25Z

2

You might not have exported the variable. You can think of export as a way of making a shell variable public and not private to the shell. Take a look at the export man page.

➜ ~ K=1 ➜ ~ echo $K 1 ➜ ~ python -c "import os; print os.environ.get('K')" None ➜ ~ export K=1 ➜ ~ python -c "import os; print os.environ.get('K')" 1

answered Jul 5, 2017 at 7:32

joydeep bhattacharjee

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2 Comments

Ganesh Satpute Over a year ago

I've added the variable in the /etc/profile. Which is global store for environment variables. I don't have to export it again.

Graham Dumpleton Over a year ago

Even if you stick it in /etc/profile, you still need to have that export statement. If you don't, it isn't available to sub processes from the shell in which it was set. So have you used export when you set it?

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