/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.

aquaherd · Answer 1 · 2011-09-26 09:27:30Z

up vote 2 down vote

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

sudo su -

answered Sep 26 '11 at 9:27

aquaherd
3,050928

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

1

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

1 Answer