/etc/environment and /etc/profile.d/* ignored for the root user

Question

How do I set global environment variables in Ubuntu, in such a way, that they would apply also to root user?

Setting PATH or JAVA_HOME in /etc/environment
or in /etc/profile.d/my_settings.sh
both works for usual user, but not for root.

I'm logging in as root using sudo bash or sudo zsh.

NOTE: using Ubuntu 10.04.

score 12 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 26 '11 at 09:27

12

You will need to get into a real root login shell:

sudo su -

answered Sep 26 '11 at 09:27

aquaherd

I get an error: "Sorry, user [...] is not allowed to execute '/bin/su' as root on [...]" – Ivivi Vavava Sep 26 '11 at 10:37
Have you used sudo before su? – enzotib Sep 26 '11 at 16:47
7

sudo -i also works. – elmicha Sep 26 '11 at 17:39
1

@AleksandrDubinsky sudo su without the hyphen (not an en-dash or em-dash; that could break things) does not execute /etc/profile, which does not answer OP's question – Doktor J Jul 08 '16 at 17:49

1 Answers1