Java – How to set environment variables from Java

environment-variablesjava

How do I set environment variables from Java? I see that I can do this for subprocesses using ProcessBuilder. I have several subprocesses to start, though, so I'd rather modify the current process's environment and let the subprocesses inherit it.

There's a System.getenv(String) for getting a single environment variable. I can also get a Map of the complete set of environment variables with System.getenv(). But, calling put() on that Map throws an UnsupportedOperationException — apparently they mean for the environment to be read only. And, there's no System.setenv().

So, is there any way to set environment variables in the currently running process? If so, how? If not, what's the rationale? (Is it because this is Java and therefore I shouldn't be doing evil nonportable obsolete things like touching my environment?) And if not, any good suggestions for managing the environment variable changes that I'm going to need to be feeding to several subprocesses?

Best Answer

For use in scenarios where you need to set specific environment values for unit tests, you might find the following hack useful. It will change the environment variables throughout the JVM (so make sure you reset any changes after your test), but will not alter your system environment.

I found that a combination of the two dirty hacks by Edward Campbell and anonymous works best, as one of the does not work under linux, one does not work under windows 7. So to get a multiplatform evil hack I combined them:

protected static void setEnv(Map<String, String> newenv) throws Exception {
  try {
    Class<?> processEnvironmentClass = Class.forName("java.lang.ProcessEnvironment");
    Field theEnvironmentField = processEnvironmentClass.getDeclaredField("theEnvironment");
    theEnvironmentField.setAccessible(true);
    Map<String, String> env = (Map<String, String>) theEnvironmentField.get(null);
    env.putAll(newenv);
    Field theCaseInsensitiveEnvironmentField = processEnvironmentClass.getDeclaredField("theCaseInsensitiveEnvironment");
    theCaseInsensitiveEnvironmentField.setAccessible(true);
    Map<String, String> cienv = (Map<String, String>)     theCaseInsensitiveEnvironmentField.get(null);
    cienv.putAll(newenv);
  } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
    Class[] classes = Collections.class.getDeclaredClasses();
    Map<String, String> env = System.getenv();
    for(Class cl : classes) {
      if("java.util.Collections$UnmodifiableMap".equals(cl.getName())) {
        Field field = cl.getDeclaredField("m");
        field.setAccessible(true);
        Object obj = field.get(env);
        Map<String, String> map = (Map<String, String>) obj;
        map.clear();
        map.putAll(newenv);
      }
    }
  }
}

This Works like a charm. Full credits to the two authors of these hacks.

Related Solutions

Java – Is Java “pass-by-reference” or “pass-by-value”

Java is always pass-by-value. Unfortunately, when we deal with objects we are really dealing with object-handles called references which are passed-by-value as well. This terminology and semantics easily confuse many beginners.

It goes like this:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Dog aDog = new Dog("Max");
    Dog oldDog = aDog;

    // we pass the object to foo
    foo(aDog);
    // aDog variable is still pointing to the "Max" dog when foo(...) returns
    aDog.getName().equals("Max"); // true
    aDog.getName().equals("Fifi"); // false
    aDog == oldDog; // true
}

public static void foo(Dog d) {
    d.getName().equals("Max"); // true
    // change d inside of foo() to point to a new Dog instance "Fifi"
    d = new Dog("Fifi");
    d.getName().equals("Fifi"); // true
}

In the example above aDog.getName() will still return "Max". The value aDog within main is not changed in the function foo with the Dog "Fifi" as the object reference is passed by value. If it were passed by reference, then the aDog.getName() in main would return "Fifi" after the call to foo.

Likewise:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Dog aDog = new Dog("Max");
    Dog oldDog = aDog;

    foo(aDog);
    // when foo(...) returns, the name of the dog has been changed to "Fifi"
    aDog.getName().equals("Fifi"); // true
    // but it is still the same dog:
    aDog == oldDog; // true
}

public static void foo(Dog d) {
    d.getName().equals("Max"); // true
    // this changes the name of d to be "Fifi"
    d.setName("Fifi");
}

In the above example, Fifi is the dog's name after call to foo(aDog) because the object's name was set inside of foo(...). Any operations that foo performs on d are such that, for all practical purposes, they are performed on aDog, but it is not possible to change the value of the variable aDog itself.

For more information on pass by reference and pass by value, consult the following SO answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/430958/6005228. This explains more thoroughly the semantics and history behind the two and also explains why Java and many other modern languages appear to do both in certain cases.

Java – How to efficiently iterate over each entry in a Java Map

Map<String, String> map = ...
for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : map.entrySet()) {
    System.out.println(entry.getKey() + "/" + entry.getValue());
}

On Java 10+:

for (var entry : map.entrySet()) {
    System.out.println(entry.getKey() + "/" + entry.getValue());
}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Java – Is Java “pass-by-reference” or “pass-by-value”

Java – How to efficiently iterate over each entry in a Java Map

Related Topic