How does export command work?

What does export command do?

Export is a built-in command of the Bash shell. It is used to mark variables and functions to be passed to child processes. Basically, a variable will be included in child process environments without affecting other environments.

How does export work Linux?

Export is defined in POSIX as The shell shall give the export attribute to the variables corresponding to the specified names, which shall cause them to be in the environment of subsequently executed commands. If the name of a variable is followed by = word, then the value of that variable shall be set to the word.

What happens when you export in terminal?

When you export a variable, it is not added to any file anywhere. The effect of export , as opposed to merely assigning a variable, is that of passing the variable into the environment of all of the shell's child processes. It does not do anything else; it does not modify any of the shell's configuration files.

What does export command do in Mac?

In general, the export command marks an environment variable to be exported with any newly forked child processes and thus it allows a child process to inherit all marked variables.