RefrEnv - Refresh the Environment

Reload environment variables inside CMD, Bash, Powershell or Zsh every time you want environment changes to propagate, so you do not need to restart them after setting a new variable with setx or after installing a new app which adds new variables.

This is a better alternative to the chocolatey refreshenv for cmd (and works for bash and zsh too (cygwin, Msys2 and GitBash)), which solves several problems in the chocolatey refreshenv, like:

• The Chocolatey refreshenv act bad if the variable have some cmd meta-characters, see this test:

  add this to the path in HKCU\Environment: test & echo baaaaaaaaaad, and run the chocolatey refreshenv you will see that it prints baaaaaaaaaad which is very bad, and the new path is not added to your path variable.

  RefrEnv solve this and you can test it with any meta-character, even something so bad like:

  ; & % ' ( ) ~ + @ # $ { } [ ] , ` ! ^ | > < \ / " : ? * = . - _ & echo baaaad
  

• refreshenv adds only system and user environment variables, but CMD adds volatile variables too (HKCU\Volatile Environment). RefrEnv will merge all the three and remove any duplicates.

• refreshenv reset your PATH. RefrEnv append the new path to the old path of the parent script which called RefrEnv. It is better than overwriting the old path, otherwise it will delete any newly added path by the parent script.

• RefrEnv solve this problem described in a comment here by @Gene Mayevsky:

  refreshenv modifies env variables TEMP and TMP replacing them with values stored in HKCU\Environment. In my case I run the script to update env variables modified by Jenkins job on a slave that's running under SYSTEM account, so TEMP and TMP get substituted by %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp instead of C:\Windows\Temp. This breaks build because linker cannot open system profile's Temp folder.

more info

Usage:

git clone https://github.com/badrelmers/RefrEnv
cd RefrEnv

cmd

Works in all windows versions xp+

call refrenv.bat

Powershell

. .\refrenv.ps1

bash:

source refrenv.sh

Zsh:

source refrenvz.sh

Opciones for RefrEnv in bash and zsh

SYNOPSIS
    source refrenv.sh
    source refrenvz.sh

DESCRIPTION
    By default with no arguments, RefrEnv will do a full 
    refresh (refresh all non critical variables*, and refresh the PATH).

    use can use the following variables to change some behaviours:
    
    RefrEnv_StrictRefresh=yes   Strict mode (secure refresh). this prevent refreshing a
                                variable if it is already defined in the actual bash/zsh session. 
                                The PATH will be refreshed.
                                
    RefrEnv_ResetPath=yes       Reset the actual PATH inside bash/zsh, then refresh it with a new PATH.
                                this will delete any PATH added by the script who called RefrEnv. 
                                it is equivalent to running a new bash/zsh session.

    RefrEnv_debug=yes           Debug what RefrEnv do. The folder containing the 
                                files used to set the variables will be open, then see 
                                _NewEnv.sh this is the file which run inside your script
                                to setup the new variables, you can also revise the 
                                intermediate .txt files.
                              
    RefrEnv_help=yes            Print the help.

    *critical variables: are the built-in variables which belong to bash/zsh or windows and should 
    not be refreshed normally like:
    - windows vars: ALLUSERSPROFILE APPDATA CommonProgramFiles ...
    - bash/zsh vars: BASH BASHOPTS BASHPID BASH_ALIASES BASH_ARGC ...
    
    
    RefrEnv support the so called bash Strict Mode like: "set -eEu -o pipefail ; shopt -s inherit_errexit"
    you can use the Strict Mode safely in your parent script without worry.