reference/HAWQEnvironmentVariables.html.md.erb

---
title: Environment Variables
---

This topic contains a reference of the environment variables that you set for HAWQ.

Set these in your user’s startup shell profile (such as `~/.bashrc` or `~/.bash_profile`), or in `/etc/profile`, if you want to set them for all users.

## <a id="requiredenvironmentvariables"></a>Required Environment Variables

**Note:** `GPHOME`, `PATH` and `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` can be set by sourcing the `greenplum_path.sh` file from your HAWQ installation directory.

### <a id="gphome"></a>GPHOME

This is the installed location of your HAWQ software. For example:

``` pre
GPHOME=/usr/local/hawq  
export GPHOME
```

### <a id="path"></a>PATH

Your `PATH` environment variable should point to the location of the HAWQ bin directory. For example:

``` pre
PATH=$GPHOME/bin:$PATH
export PATH 
```

### <a id="ld_library_path"></a>LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH

The `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` environment variable should point to the location of the `HAWQ/PostgreSQL` library files. For example:

``` pre
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$GPHOME/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
```

## <a id="optionalenvironmentvariables"></a>Optional Environment Variables

The following are HAWQ environment variables. You may want to add the connection-related environment variables to your profile, for convenience. That way, you do not have to type so many options on the command line for client connections. Note that these environment variables should be set on the HAWQ master host only.


### <a id="pgappname"></a>PGAPPNAME

This is the name of the application that is usually set by an application when it connects to the server. This name is displayed in the activity view and in log entries. The `PGAPPNAME` environmental variable behaves the same as the `application_name` connection parameter. The default value for `application_name` is `psql`. The name cannot be longer than 63 characters.

### <a id="pgdatabase"></a>PGDATABASE

The name of the default database to use when connecting.

### <a id="pghost"></a>PGHOST

The HAWQ master host name.

### <a id="pghostaddr"></a>PGHOSTADDR

The numeric IP address of the master host. This can be set instead of, or in addition to, `PGHOST`, to avoid DNS lookup overhead.

### <a id="pgpassword"></a>PGPASSWORD

The password used if the server demands password authentication. Use of this environment variable is not recommended, for security reasons (some operating systems allow non-root users to see process environment variables via ps). Instead, consider using the `~/.pgpass` file.

### <a id="pgpassfile"></a>PGPASSFILE

The name of the password file to use for lookups. If not set, it defaults to `~/.pgpass`.

See The Password File under [Configuring Client Authentication](../clientaccess/client_auth.html).

### <a id="pgoptions"></a>PGOPTIONS

Sets additional configuration parameters for the HAWQ master server.

### <a id="pgport"></a>PGPORT

The port number of the HAWQ server on the master host. The default port is 5432.

### <a id="pguser"></a>PGUSER

The HAWQ user name used to connect.

### <a id="pgdatestyle"></a>PGDATESTYLE

Sets the default style of date/time representation for a session. (Equivalent to `SET datestyle TO....`)

### <a id="pgtz"></a>PGTZ

Sets the default time zone for a session. (Equivalent to `SET timezone                   TO....`)

### <a id="pgclientencoding"></a>PGCLIENTENCODING

Sets the default client character set encoding for a session. (Equivalent to `SET client_encoding TO....`)