Environment Variables for UNIX
A number of configuration parameters can be specified by setting host environment variables.
Environment variables are defined at:
- /etc/profile (UNIX).
A particular version or instance of Reality:
$REALROOT/files/realityrc. The environment variables defined in this file affect all processes using the associated version of Reality.
For a particular user:
$HOME/.realityrc. The Reality environment variables can be overridden for a particular UNIX user by defining them in a .realityrc file in that user's home directory. In particular, you can specify the database, user-id and account to be used.
Note: Environment variables can also be set for specific Windows users, but these will only effect Reality commands entered at the command prompt. Incoming TCP connections to Reality all use the same Windows user-id (Reality User).
For a particular directory:
.realityrc in the directory concerned.
Note: The parameters defined in the .realityrc files may also be defined in .profile (parameters defined in .profile take precedence over those defined in .realityrc).
In the UNIX environment, settings in .profile override those in /etc/profile. Within the Reality environment, once set, a setting cannot be overridden, so those set in the host environment take precedence over those in $REALROOT/files/realityrc. On UNIX hosts, the different files have the following precedence:
- .realityrc in the current directory.
- $HOME/.realityrc.
- $REALROOT/files/realityrc.
- Database configuration parameters for specific parameters.
See Differences between UNIX and Windows for details of how to use the values of host environment variables on UNIX and Windows systems.
Reality Version
The REALROOT and PATH environment variables define the location of the Reality software and therefore define the version of Reality which is run by a user. These variables are set to the live version of Reality when the user logs on, but can be changed to specify a non-live version by running the realroot command.
Database, User-id and Account
On UNIX, environment variables which control entry to Reality may be defined in .realityrc in a user's home directory:
REALDBASE
The default database
-
this can be the database's full pathname or its network name as defined in the
ROUTE-FILE
.
REALUSER The Reality user-id.
REALACC The Reality account.
These are defined as follows:
REALDBASE=database
REALUSER=user-id{,password}
REALACC=account-name{,password}
Caution
If passwords are included in the .realityrc file, ensure that UNIX permissions on the file are set to provide adequate password protection from other UNIX users; that is, owner access only.
It is also recommended that users are not allowed to use the UNIX user-id which was used to create the Reality database (the database owner). If you allow users to log on to the database under the owner's user-id, the security offered by the lockdbase command is no longer effective (unless you use the A option which allows superuser access only).
Notes:
- Parameters defined in .realityrc override SSM settings (SSM is the utility used within Reality to configure database security). For example, if a default account is defined for a user using SSM and the REALACC environment variable is set in .realityrc, the user is logged onto the account defined in .realityrc.
- Settings passed as parameters to the reality command override those defined in .realityrc.