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

Question

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.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/192426/6622 – poige May 01 '17 at 17:13 — poige, May 01 '17 at 17:13

score 20 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 10 '21 at 00:12

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.

I wouldn't put the cleanup into .bash_logout at all - what happens if they open up two sessions and log out of one? Use tmpwatch. :) — MikeyB, Oct 10 '09 at 04:19
That is a much better cleanup solution, thanks for adding that. :) — TrueDuality, Oct 16 '09 at 12:34
NB: the `tmpwatch` command does not exists on BSD (e.g. OSX) version of unix, for anyone going for portability. My CentOS boxes have it though. :) — Cometsong, Nov 29 '18 at 14:44

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:59

10

The file you are looking for is:

/etc/environment

You have to set the TEMP variable like:

TEMP=/home/user/tmp

answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:59

cstamas

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6

And even `export TEMP=/home/user/tmp` – Fedir RYKHTIK Jun 27 '14 at 15:06
@Fedir that is in the shell, yes. – cstamas Jul 02 '14 at 19:33

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 13 '09 at 02:06

4

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

answered Oct 13 '09 at 02:06

Teddy

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nyxee · Answer 4 · 2022-03-03T07:32:20.360

1

export TMPDIR=/path/to/desired/tmp

Use that before running desired command.

edited Mar 03 '22 at 07:32

answered Feb 25 '22 at 11:43

nyxee

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4

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This will only print the text `TMPDIR=/path/to/desired/tmp`. Nothing else. – Gerald Schneider Feb 25 '22 at 14:16
Sorry about that. Had to be `export` not `echo`. It really saved me a ot of pain. Some process was writing extremely large files to /tmp and I didn't want to allocate the space just for it. Or, reboot. – nyxee Mar 03 '22 at 07:34

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:51

1

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.

answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:51

Kyle Brandt

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This assumes he is the one developing the application – TrueDuality Oct 09 '09 at 15:00
TrueDuality: Ah, my mistake – Kyle Brandt Oct 09 '09 at 15:17
1

Java has `java.io.File.createTempFile`. Now with added secure RNG. – Tom Hawtin - tackline Oct 13 '09 at 00:20

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 13 '09 at 00:19

1

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.

answered Oct 13 '09 at 00:19

Tom Hawtin - tackline

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score 1 · Answer 7 · edited May 01 '17 at 18:13

1

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.

edited May 01 '17 at 18:13

chicks

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answered May 01 '17 at 16:55

sajan

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score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Nov 05 '19 at 18:14

0

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"

edited Nov 05 '19 at 18:14

RalfFriedl

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answered Nov 05 '19 at 17:51

scf617

1

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

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