Set environment variable in Windows and WSL Linux in terminal

Windows set env variable from the command line

• Open command line. set API_KEY=123
• echo %API_KEY% should print your API_KEY.
• This env variable is set for the context of the current cmd line.

Windows set env variable permanently using the command line

• Open the command line as admin. setx API_KEY "123" /M
• Close the current shell. Open a new shell.
• echo %API_KEY% should print your API_KEY.
• This env variable is set for all future shell instances permanently for your system.

WSL Linux set env variable from a bash terminal

• Launch your wsl instance.
• $ API_KEY=123
• $ echo $API_KEY should print your API_KEY.

WSL Linux set env variable permanently from a bash terminal

• Launch your wsl instance.
• $ sudo vim ~/.bashrc
• Enter your password.
• Press i to go into edit mode. Go to the end of the file using arrow key.
• Add your variable as API_KEY=123 at the end of the file. If your variable has spaces, use quotes.Example - API_KEY= 'My Key'
• Press esc key to get out of edit mode.
• Enter :wq and press enter . This will save and close the file.
• $ source ~/.bashrc will load your recent changes into your current shell.
• $ echo $API_KEY should print your API_KEY.

This post was originally published at https://www.jskap.com/blog/set-environment-variables-windows-wsl-linux/

👋 Hi! I’m Kapil. I am always chatty about building things, sharing my learnings, freelancing. Come say hi to me at https://twitter.com/kapilgorve