Hey everyone,
I just would like to know how I can specify environment variables such as JAVA_HOME, update PATH, etc. to be used everywhere in Linux. Currently I specify it in /etc/bash.bashrc (Kubuntu & SuSE). Where can I place it sothat if I want to open a Java app from my desktop, that it will automatically see where the java app is and use that to open up and execute the JAR file?

I hope I am making sence.

Thanks

It varies with the distro, but in general, the system wide environmental variables are normally setup in /etc/profile. However, using /etc/bashrc should accomplish the same thing. Not sure exactly what you are trying to do. To run a .jar file in linux, you would usually run:

$ java -jar app.jar

if you have the java /bin directory in PATH. To have a launch icon from the desktop you could create a bash script(s) that could do that. Post back if you need more details.

Thanks kilgoretrout.
The thing is, I did make scripts for the stuff to run but you have to run it from the console in order to pick up the JAVA_HOME var in bash.bashrc and I had to respecify the JAVA_HOME var the whole time in the scripts I'm running.I want to click on a desktop link and let it have access to the JAVA_HOME and new PATH vars without running it from the console. Know what I mean?

I can illustrate what I'm talking about by example; don't know if this will help. Say you have a java app located in ~/myjava called "coolapp.jar". You can create a bash script to launch it with:

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/myjava
java -jarr coolapp.jar

Lets name the above script "bscoolapp" and make it executable(chmod +x bscoolapp) so it will run. Also, lets put bscoolapp in ~/scripts. Now if you are in ~/scripts, you should be able to launch coolap.jar by running:

$ ./bscoolapp

It should work. Now say you don't want to open a console and cd into ~/scripts every time you want to launch coolapp.jar. Make another script called "do_bscoolapp" like so and put it in your home directory:

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/scripts
./bscoolapp

do "chmod +x do_bscoolapp" to make it executable. Now, open your home directory in konqueror or nautilus. If you doulbe click on do_bscoolap it should launch coolapp.jar. If it works, you can make a shortcut link to it on your desktop and open coolapp.jar by clicking on it.

This is a general technique I've used for many years to create a launch icon on the desktop for applications that can only be launched from the command line.