Setting environment variables in OS X?

stackoverflow.com/questions/135688/setting-environment-variables-in-os-x

Bruno is right on track. I've done extensive research and if you want to set variables that are available in all GUI apps, 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 enviroment 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 show 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 and other GUI apps you launch via Spotlight.

Setting environment variables via launchd.conf no longer works in OS X Yosemite/El Capitan?

Create an environment.plist file in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ with this content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>my.startup</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>sh</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>
    launchctl setenv PRODUCTS_PATH /Users/mortimer/Projects/my_products
    launchctl setenv ANDROID_NDK_HOME /Applications/android-ndk
    launchctl setenv PATH $PATH:/Applications/gradle/bin
    </string>

  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

You can add many launchctl commands inside the <string></string> block.

The plist will activate after system reboot. You can also use launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/environment.plist to launch it immediately.

Setting PATH environmental variables in OSX permanently

http://architectryan.com/2012/10/02/add-to-the-path-on-mac-os-x-mountain-lion/#.VzLvFWYabGl

sudo nano /etc/paths