export - Unix, Linux Command

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NAME

export - Set export attribute for shell variables.

SYNOPSIS

export [-fn] [name[=value] ...] or export -p

DESCRIPTION

export- command is one of the bash shell BUILTINS commands, which means it is part of your shell. The export command is fairly simple to use as it has straightforward syntax with only three available command options. In general, the export command marks an environment variable to be exported with any newly forked child processes and thus it allows a child process to inherit all marked variables.

Options

Tag	Description
-p	List of all names that are exported in the current shell
-n	Remove names from export list
-f	Names are exported as functions

EXAMPLES

Example-1:

To view all the exported variables.

$ export

output:

declare -x EDITOR="/usr/bin/vim"
declare -x HOME="/home/ubuntu"
declare -x LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
declare -x LESSCLOSE="/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s"
declare -x LESSOPEN="| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s"
declare -x LOGNAME="ubuntu"
declare -x LS_COLORS="rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.axv=01;35:*.anx=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.axa=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:"
declare -x MAIL="/var/mail/ubuntu"
declare -x OLDPWD
declare -x PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
declare -x PWD="/home/ubuntu"
declare -x SHELL="/bin/bash"
declare -x SHLVL="1"
declare -x SSH_CLIENT="192.168.134.1 56073 22"
declare -x SSH_CONNECTION="192.168.134.1 56073 192.168.134.128 22"
declare -x SSH_TTY="/dev/pts/0"
declare -x TERM="xterm"
declare -x USER="ubuntu"
declare -x XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/run/user/1000"
declare -x XDG_SESSION_ID="1"

Example-2:

user can also use -p option to view all exported variables on current shell.

$ export -p

output:

declare -x EDITOR="/usr/bin/vim"
declare -x HOME="/home/ubuntu"
declare -x LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
declare -x LESSCLOSE="/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s"
declare -x LESSOPEN="| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s"
declare -x LOGNAME="ubuntu"
declare -x LS_COLORS="rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.axv=01;35:*.anx=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.axa=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:"
declare -x MAIL="/var/mail/ubuntu"
declare -x OLDPWD
declare -x PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
declare -x PWD="/home/ubuntu"
declare -x SHELL="/bin/bash"
declare -x SHLVL="1"
declare -x SSH_CLIENT="192.168.134.1 56073 22"
declare -x SSH_CONNECTION="192.168.134.1 56073 192.168.134.128 22"
declare -x SSH_TTY="/dev/pts/0"
declare -x TERM="xterm"
declare -x USER="ubuntu"
declare -x XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/run/user/1000"
declare -x XDG_SESSION_ID="1"

Example-3:

To set vim as a text editor

$ export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim

output:
no ouput will be seen on screen , to see exported variable grep from exported ones.

$ export | grep EDITOR
declare -x EDITOR="/usr/bin/vim"

Example-4:

To set colorful prompt

$ export PS1='\[\e[1;32m\][\u@\h \W]\$\[\e[0m\] '

output:

the colour of prompt will change to green.

Example-5:

To Set JAVA_HOME:

$ export JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/jdk

output:

no ouput will be seen on screen , to see exported variable grep from exported ones.

$ export | grep JAVA_HOME
declare -x JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/jdk"

Example-6:

To export shell function:

$ name () { echo "tutorialspoint"; }

$ export -f printname

output:

$ name
tutorialspoint

Example-7:

To remove names from exported list, use -n option

$ export -n EDITOR

note: in Example-3 we have set EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim, and have seen it in exported list.

output:

$ export | grep EDITOR

note: no output after grepping all exported varables, as EDITOR exported variable is removed from exported list.

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