Passing an environment-variable into a php commandline script

Question

I want to set an environment-variable, then access it in PHP, but cannot find how to do so.

In the (linux) shell, I run:

$ APP_ENV="development"
$ export $APP_ENV

Then I run a simple test script testenv.php:

<?php
print $_ENV["APP_ENV"];
print getenv("APP_ENV");

From the same shell where that variable was set:

$ php testenv.php

This Prints nothing and throws a notice:

Notice: Undefined index: APP_ENV in /xxxx/envtest.php on line 2

Notice makes sense, because APP_ENV is simply not found in the environment-variables, getenv() throws no warning but simply returns nothing.

What am I missing?

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-16 08:27:59Z

17

Don't use $ in the export command, it should be:

export APP_ENV

You can combine this with the assignment:

export APP_ENV="development"

With the $, you were effectively doing:

export development

answered Aug 16, 2013 at 8:27

Barmar

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3 Comments

ciruvan Over a year ago

i think OP included the "$" merely to emphasize that those lines are shell commands.

Barmar Over a year ago

@cuewizchris I'm not talking about the $ before export, I'm talking about the one after it.

Ahmed Masud Over a year ago

@cuewizchris actually no Barmar is correct export $APP_ENV shouldn't have a $ in front

Ahmed Masud · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-16 08:39:20Z

12

+200

Problem 1 Exporting environment variables

Your export is incorrect.

$ APP_ENV="development"
$ export APP_ENV

Notice that the $ is missing from the export statement! :P

First check getenv to make sure that export works:

<?php
  echo getenv ("APP_ENV");
?>

Problem 2: Undefined index on this:

<?php
   echo $_ENV["APP_ENV"];
?>

If you get a proper value from getenv but not the superglobal $_ENV then you may have to check your ini file.

Quoting php.org:

If your $_ENV array is mysteriously empty, but you still see the variables when calling getenv() or in your phpinfo(), check your http://us.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.variables-order ini setting to ensure it includes "E" in the string.

edited Aug 16, 2013 at 8:39

answered Aug 16, 2013 at 8:28

Ahmed Masud

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2 Comments

Carrie Kendall Over a year ago

My problem was that variables_order did not include E and I don't think I would've found that myself. Great catch!

mwm Over a year ago

If you're only reading that on the next command, you can set and run without exporting as exporting will set the variable available for the whole session: APP_ENV="development" php testenv.php

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