printenv Command: Tutorial & Examples

Display the value of an environment variable

The printenv command is used to print the values of all environment variables, or a specific environment variable if a name is provided as an argument. Environment variables are used to store system-wide or user-specific settings that can be accessed by various programs and scripts.

The basic syntax for using the printenv command is as follows:

printenv [variable]

Here are a few examples of how the printenv command can be used:

Print all environment variables:

printenv

Print a specific environment variable:

printenv HOME

In the first example, the command is run without any arguments, so it prints the values of all environment variables. In the second example, the command is run with the HOME variable as an argument, so it only prints the value of the HOME variable.

Environment variables can be used to store various types of information, such as system paths, user preferences, and configuration settings. They are typically set in the user's shell profile or in system-wide initialization scripts, and can be accessed and modified by various programs and scripts.

To set an environment variable, you can use the export command.