[Tutor] accessing another system's environment

Steve Willoughby steve at alchemy.com
Sat Feb 26 04:27:43 CET 2011


On 25-Feb-11 18:50, Bill Allen wrote:
> I apologize for not have been clear previously.   What I am trying to
> access are the Windows system environment variables.   The same ones
> that are listed out if you type the set command at a command prompt in
> Windows.

There isn't a "system" set of environment variables on Unix-like 
systems--there is a default "starting" set per user (although they are 
configurable per-process as has already been stated).

Perhaps you want to see the set of variables for the "root" account? 
But again, I have to ask what you're really trying to accomplish. 
Environment variables are only such a small part of a system's 
configuration, on Windows or Unix/Linux.  On a Windows box, I would 
probably be more interested in what's in the system registry, for 
example, and on a Unix system I'd want to see what's in various 
configuration files in /etc to know what's configured on that system.

Environment variables, from the point of view of a random process 
running on the system, are pretty much the same on both Windows and 
Unix.  Where they come from, and which are "system" or "user" variables, 
is quite different, and I suspect you're reaching for environment 
variables out of habit but that may not ultimately be what you're really 
looking for here.

Or maybe it is.  If it is, step back and consider WHOSE set of variables 
you really want?  The root account? the account of a service that you're 
interested in? The default skeleton configuration files for new users? 
The environment of something you know to be running already?

All of those things are possible to look at, if you know what you're 
really after and why it will help you accomplish what you need to do.

--steve

>
>
> --Bill
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 03:11, Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com
> <mailto:alan.gauld at btinternet.com>> wrote:
>
>
>     "Bill Allen" <wallenpb at gmail.com <mailto:wallenpb at gmail.com>> wrote
>
>         I have times when it is useful for me to check the environment
>         of a user
>         system on our lan remotely while trouble shooting and issue with
>         them.  Now,
>         this is quite easy to do while I am using a windows system via
>         the computer
>         management console.
>
>
>     I think we are meaning different things by "environment"?
>     Can you give a specific example?
>
>
>         However, I am trying to do this via a linux workstation
>         (which is joined to the domain, etc.).   I cannot find a native
>         facility to duplicate the computer management functions, so I
>         thought I
>         would write a program to fill the need.
>
>
>     Anything you can do locally you can do on the remote
>     machine with a combination of ssh, rsh, rlogin, telnet etc.
>     ssh is the safest but requires a bit more admin to set it
>     up properly for maximum convenience.
>
>     Having got remote access its just a case of figuring out
>     which of the 500 or so Unix commands you need to
>     use to do the job... :-)
>
>
>     HTH,
>
>     --
>     Alan Gauld
>     Author of the Learn to Program web site
>     http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
>
>
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-- 
Steve Willoughby / steve at alchemy.com
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
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