Permanently Set Remote System Wide Environment Variables on Linux - /etc/environment - Ansible module lineinfile
How to automate the customization of System-Wide Environment Variables on Linux editing /etc/environment file using Ansible module lineinfile.
February 22, 2022
How to permanently set system-wide environment variables on remote Linux with Ansible?
I’m going to show you a live demo with some simple Ansible code. I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Pilot.
Permanently Set System-Wide Environment Variables on Remote Linux
- /etc/environment
- /etc/profile.d directory
There are principally two ways to configure System-Wide Environment Variables on Linux:
/etc/environmentis a system-wide configuration file, which means it is used by all users. It is owned by root so you need admin user privilege or sudo to modify it. Specifically, this file stores the system-wide locale and path settings./etc/profileand/etc/profile.d/*.share the global initialization scripts. This file gets executed whenever a bash login shell is entered via console, terminal, ssh, or graphical user interface. The global scripts get executed before the user-specific scripts though, and the main/etc/profileexecutes all the*.shscripts in/etc/profile.d/just before it exits. Each user could customize their~/.profile, the user’s personal shell initialization scripts. Every user has one and can edit their file without affecting others. This is the equivalent to/etc/profilefor each user.
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demo
How to permanently set System-Wide Environment variables on Remote Linux with Ansible Playbook.
code
---
- name: set environment demo
hosts: all
gather_facts: false
become: true
vars:
os_environment:
- key: EDITOR
value: vi
- key: MY_ENV_VARIABLE
value: ansiblepilot
tasks:
- name: customize /etc/environment
ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
dest: "/etc/environment"
state: present
regexp: "^{{ item.key }}="
line: "{{ item.key }}={{ item.value }}"
with_items: "{{ os_environment }}"
execution
ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory ansible\ statements/set-environment.yml
PLAY [set environment demo] ***********************************************************************
TASK [customize /etc/environment] *****************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com] => (item={'key': 'EDITOR', 'value': 'vi'})
changed: [demo.example.com] => (item={'key': 'MY_ENV_VARIABLE', 'value': 'ansiblepilot'})
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=1 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $
idempotency
ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory ansible\ statements/set-environment.yml
PLAY [set environment demo] ***********************************************************************
TASK [customize /etc/environment] *****************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => (item={'key': 'EDITOR', 'value': 'vi'})
ok: [demo.example.com] => (item={'key': 'MY_ENV_VARIABLE', 'value': 'ansiblepilot'})
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $
before execution
ansible-pilot $ ssh [email protected]
Last login: Tue Feb 22 18:45:12 2022 from 192.168.131.111
[[email protected] ~]$ sudo su
[[email protected] devops]# printenv | grep EDITOR
[[email protected] devops]# printenv | grep MY_ENV_VARIABLE
[[email protected] devops]# cat /etc/environment
[[email protected] devops]#
after execution
ansible-pilot $ ssh [email protected]
Last login: Tue Feb 22 18:48:46 2022 from 192.168.131.111
[[email protected] ~]$ sudo su
[[email protected] devops]# printenv | grep EDITOR
EDITOR=vi
[[email protected] devops]# printenv | grep MY_ENV_VARIABLE
MY_ENV_VARIABLE=ansiblepilot
[[email protected] devops]# cat /etc/environment
EDITOR=vi
MY_ENV_VARIABLE=ansiblepilot
[[email protected] devops]#
Recap
Now you know how to Permanently Set System-Wide Environment Variables on Remote Linux with Ansible. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Medium, Website, Twitter, and Substack to not miss the next episode of the Ansible Pilot.
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