---
title: 2.4.5.1 Set Variables on Linux Machine
description: "# Setting System Variables on a Linux Machine The following steps will walk you through adding System Environment Variables to a machine running Linux. 1. Open the **terminal** *(shell)* on your server. 2. Enter the following command(s) to *define* and…"
url: "https://i2b2.org/docs/2-4-5-1-set-variables-on-linux-machine/"
updated: "2026-09-15"
category: i2b2 Installation Guide / Chapter 2. Requirements / 2.4 i2b2 Server Requirements / 2.4.5 System Environment Variables
---

# 2.4.5.1 Set Variables on Linux Machine

# Setting System Variables on a Linux Machine

The following steps will walk you through adding System Environment Variables to a machine running Linux.

1. Open the **terminal** *(shell)* on your server.

2. Enter the following command(s) to *define* and *export* your ***JAVA_HOME*** variable.

  **Set Variables Command**

    JAVA_HOME=/opt/java/jdk1.6.0
     export JAVA_HOME

Warning

- The variable value shown above is an **example**. When adding the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment you need to enter the path for your Java JDK directory.
- It is extremely important the path is to the **JDK location** and not to the Java root directory.
- The same holds true when you add the JBOSS_HOME and ANT_HOME variables in the next steps. The JBOSS_HOME variable needs to have the path for your JBoss directory and the ANT_HOME variable should have the path for your Ant directory.

3. Enter the following command(s) to *define* and *export* your ***JBOSS_HOME*** variable.

  **Set Variables Command**

    JBOSS_HOME=/opt/jboss-as-7.1.1.Final
     export JBOSS_HOME

4. Enter the following command(s) to *define* and *export* your ***ANT_HOME***

  **Set Variables Command**

    ANT_HOME=/opt/apache-ant-1.8.2
     export ANT_HOME

5. Enter the following to *update* your PATH variable

  **Set Variables Command**

   
 PATH=$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin

Note

You do not need to export PATH because it has already been exported. If for some reason your PATH has never been exported then you will need to do it now. Simply adding variables to the PATH does not require you to export it again.