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Disco
Asked: 2009-10-10 06:33:27 +0800 CST

How to change default /tmp to /home/user/tmp

  • 772

Is there an environment variable to set the temporary directory on debian based systems?

I have a java applet that uses that environement variable and it's getting confused when launching two instances of the same applet.

linux

8 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I am unsure if the java applet will actually look at the environment variables before it starts, but what you can do it edit /etc/profile and add the following lines:

    if [[ -O /home/$USER/tmp && -d /home/$USER/tmp ]]; then
        TMPDIR=/home/$USER/tmp
else
        # You may wish to remove this line, it is there in case
        # a user has put a file 'tmp' in there directory or a
        rm -rf /home/$USER/tmp 2> /dev/null
        mkdir -p /home/$USER/tmp
        TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d /home/$USER/tmp/XXXX)
fi

TMP=$TMPDIR
TEMP=$TMPDIR

export TMPDIR TMP TEMP

    To make it a true tmp directory (as in the files go away when the session is ended, you'll want to edit the user's .bash_logout as well as the skeleton .bash_logout (/etc/skel/.bash_logout) to include the following:

    if [ -O $TMPDIR && -d $TMPDIR ]; then
        rm -rf $TMPDIR/*
fi

    The logout portion is dangerous is the variable doesn't get set and your logged in as root! I wouldn't add this to the root account or anyone that is a member of the wheel group! Proceed at your own caution.

    • 20

  2. The file you are looking for is:

    /etc/environment

    You have to set the TEMP variable like:

    TEMP=/home/user/tmp
    • 10

  3. If you want /home/user/tmp to be cleaned on reboot, I suggest you add an @reboot job to the user's personal crontab.

    • 4

  4. In C, I would use the tmpfile() call for a posix system, which would avoid the collision. So I would look for a similar Java call before trying to implement it myself, if you haven't already.

    • 1

  5. Java uses the system property java.io.tmpdir to configure the temporary directory. A reasonable JRE will set that to a sensible value based on the system if not explicitly specified.

    • 1

  6. For me this worked when i was trying to install a jar file using java.

    export _JAVA_OPTIONS="-Djava.io.tmpdir=/apps/prod/tmp"

    I use a Red Hat Linux. /apps/prod/tmp being the new folder.

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  7. export TMPDIR=/path/to/desired/tmp

    Use that before running desired command.

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  8. https://support.oracle.com/epmos/faces/SearchDocDisplay?_adf.ctrl-state=1dab2wir99_201&_afrLoop=305930829027924#SYMPTOM

    export _JAVA_OPTIONS="-Djava.io.tmpdir=<local path>"

    Eg:

    export _JAVA_OPTIONS="-Djava.io.tmpdir=/home/user/tmp"
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