.bash_profile and how to permenantly set environment variables on mac

If you’re not familiar with a .bash_profile file, this is a startup file that is read whenever you open a new Terminal window. It’s a special configuration file, and it needs to be placed in your home directory. For instance, on my MacBook Pro, this file is located as /Users/bowen.li/.bash_profile.

As you can see from my sample file shown below, the .bash_profile file can contain any legal Unix command, including Unix alias definitions, Unix export and PATH statements, and other commands to set up your Bash prompt.

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# aliases
alias cd..="cd .."

# Setting PATH for Python 3.5
# The original version is saved in .bash_profile.pysave
PATH="/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/bin:${PATH}"
export PATH


export SNOWFLAKE_USER_ENV="xxx"
export SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD_ENV="xxxx"

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echo $YOUR_KEY

it prints current path value.

Then do

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vim ~/.bash_profile

and write

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export YOUR_KEY=YOUR_VALUE

then do

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source ~/.bash_profile

this will execute it and add the path

then again check with

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echo $YOUR_KEY