env_vars

Links

SO: Setting environment variables in OS X?
- TL;DR – edit/create /etc/launchd.conf and set them like setenv JAVA_VERSION 1.6
- environment.plist isn't enough – ref Mac OS X Global Environment Variables

Setting path

If you can't / don't want to edit /etc/launchd.conf (since that affects all users in the system), you can get/set the PATH this way. (It only affects the current user and you have to do it on every boot.)

# What PATH does launchctl have?
launchctl getenv PATH

# Set the path for launchctl.
launchctl setenv PATH $PATH

# Show all the environment vars from launchctl
launchctl export

# IMPORTANT:  The changes only affect newly launched apps.
#   To fix apps launched from the Finder or the Dock, you should
killall SystemUIServer  # For apps launched from Spotlight search bar
killall Dock  # For apps launcher from the Dock
killall Finder  # For apps launcher from Finder