Passing environment variables to debugger: 'env' or 'environment'? #22

nebjamin99 · 2016-04-20T16:52:17Z

The documentation and examples for launch.json show the use of an object list (key/value pairs in {}) called 'env' for passing environment variables to a debugging session.

But on my version which I installed yesterday, it's an array ([]) called environment. Hovering over it to get Intellisense gives a description that corresponds with above.

How can I pass environment variables to the debugger?

delmyers · 2016-04-20T17:23:48Z

What OS are you using?

We could be clearer in the examples. The key/value pairs should go inside the array. So, something like this:

[{"name":"value", "name2":"value2"}]

Also, it looks like setting environment variables isn't working on mac.

nebjamin99 · 2016-04-20T17:27:03Z

Ubuntu 16.04 beta 2. Thanks for clarifying. That sorted it! Works great!

nebjamin99 · 2016-04-28T15:39:42Z

I reopened this issue because I was mistaken when I said that sorted it.

When specifying anything in the 'environment' tag vscode reports the following error:

error while processing request 'launch' (exception: Required property 'Value' not found in JSON. Path 'environment[0]', line 15, position 6.)

My debug launch script looks like this:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "C++ Launch (GDB)",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "launchOptionType": "Local",
            "miDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb",
            "targetArchitecture": "x64",
            "program": "/home/ben/git/server/core/build/debug/src/libcored/vca-cored-cxx-unit-tests",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "/home/ben/git/tool-chain/rootfs/host/ubuntu/16.04/opt/company/lib64",
            "environment": [{"name":"value"}],
        },
        {
            "name": "C++ Attach (GDB)",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "launchOptionType": "Local",
            "miDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb",
            "targetArchitecture": "x64",
            "program": "enter program name, for example ${workspaceRoot}/a.out",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "environment": [],
            "processId": "enter program's process ID"
        }
    ]
}

If I remove the contents of environment it loads the process fine (I just can't debug it as I need to pass LD_LIBRARY_PATH for some shared lib dependencies).

krworks · 2016-05-26T23:22:36Z

The correct format for this environment object is:

"environment":[{"name":"name_of_var", "value":"value_of_var"}, {"name":"var2", "value": "var2_value"}]

pieandcakes · 2016-07-23T00:24:05Z

Closing as it looks like @krworks comment solves the problem

NewProggie · 2016-08-31T13:29:29Z

Hey,

I have the same error on OS X (running 10.11.6), running Code Version 1.4.0. Even though I'm passing environemnt variables to the debugger (in launch.json) with

"environment": [
    {
        "name": "DYLD_FRAMEWORK_PATH",
        "value": "/my/path/here"
    },
    {
        "name": "A_VARIABLE",
        "value": "/other/stuff/here"
    }
]

it seems that the executable is run without those variable set beforehand.

Edit: My bad, it seems that in OS X lldb is started without any environment variables set, due to system protection. However, is there any way, using Visual Studio Code, to pass specific commands to the debugger, once it has been started?

For instance, on the command line I would do:

$ lldb my_executable
(lldb) env DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/my/foo/bar
(lldb) r

How would I achieve this, using Visual Studio Code?

Thanks in advance

dhiraj113 · 2017-04-07T22:14:57Z

This issue still seems to exist. I am unable to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable in Ubuntu 16.04.

pieandcakes · 2017-04-10T18:14:59Z

@nebjamin99 You can pass additional commands in the launch.json using "setupCommands". You can find more info at: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-cpptools/blob/master/launch.md

@dhiraj113 I noticed you opened another issue, #616. Please update that issue with the information requested.

codermannn · 2019-01-10T22:58:42Z

The correct format for this environment object is:
"environment":[{"name":"name_of_var", "value":"value_of_var"}, {"name":"var2", "value": "var2_value"}]

This doesnt seem to work on mac. Property environment is not allowed.

pieandcakes · 2019-01-10T23:20:52Z

@lohiarahul Can you confirm that your type field in your launch.json is showing "type": "cppdbg" ? According to the package.json schema, there doesn't seem to be a restriction for Mac and I can't duplicate the error.

codermannn · 2019-01-10T23:40:25Z

't seem to be a restriction for Mac and I can't duplicate the error.

The debugging type is different. Its node. I guess it might have a different format.

pieandcakes · 2019-01-11T00:10:27Z

@lohiarahul Yea, This extension provides the types of cppdbg and cppvsdbg. You probably need to find the issues page for the node extension.

dcsan · 2019-04-23T15:52:20Z

anyone who's looking for a node example, this worked for me.

{
  // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
  // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
  // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
  // APPNAME=rap2 PORT=31000 DEBUG=*,-engine*,-socket.io*,-snapdragon*,-send,-express*,-nodemon*,-superagent,-AmpMetrics,-body-parser* nodemon server.js

  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "Launch Program",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/server",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/server/server.js",
      "env":
        {
          "APPNAME": "rap2",
          "PORT": "31000"
        }
    }
  ]
}

it's not very well documented here:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging#_launch-configurations

dcsan · 2019-04-23T15:53:25Z

also useful for node folks
https://techbrij.com/visual-studio-code-tasks-debugging

abser · 2019-05-08T03:39:58Z

  "env":
   {
     "APPNAME": "rap2",
     "PORT": "31000"
 }

For my Java App on Mac also works like this configuration.

dcsan · 2019-08-13T13:59:32Z

they should really document this, I find my way back here every time I try messing around with the debugger before usually giving up anyway.

pieandcakes · 2019-08-13T14:49:02Z

@dcsan If you are using node and continually running into this problem, I would suggest you file an issue in the VS Code repository as this one is for the C/C++ extension. We don't have any control over the node extension or its documentation.

947942434 · 2020-12-29T07:04:20Z

windows ? $env:path+=/xx/xx;/xxxx/xxx
set path=%path%;/xx/xx;/xxx/xxx
"environment":[{“name”:"path","value":"${path};/xx/xx;/xxx/xxx"}] ?

GPhilo · 2021-04-22T09:11:00Z

Could you please make it more explicit in the documentation that the expected format is to pass the name of the env variable and its value as values of the respective "name" and "value" keys in the json object?

The "natural" way to describe the env var to me is {"my_env_var_name": "my_value"}, not {"name": "my_env_var_name", "value": "my_value"} and using the first causes a very cryptic error message instead of something like "name key not found in environment variable specification" or something of the sort.

As suggested by microsoft/vscode-cpptools#22 (comment)

sean-mcmanus · 2021-04-23T20:17:12Z

@GPhilo Like this microsoft/vscode-docs#4492 and #7417 ?

GPhilo · 2021-04-25T20:30:41Z

@sean-mcmanus That's much clearer now, thank you for the quick update!

mkamyab · 2021-07-26T17:26:15Z

This works for python as well.

anyone who's looking for a node example, this worked for me.

{
  // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
  // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
  // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
  // APPNAME=rap2 PORT=31000 DEBUG=*,-engine*,-socket.io*,-snapdragon*,-send,-express*,-nodemon*,-superagent,-AmpMetrics,-body-parser* nodemon server.js

  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "Launch Program",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/server",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/server/server.js",
      "env":
        {
          "APPNAME": "rap2",
          "PORT": "31000"
        }
    }
  ]
}

it's not very well documented here:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging#_launch-configurations

bartekpacia · 2021-11-06T17:35:42Z

How can I reference the env var from "env" in my "args"?

rafaeldsousa · 2021-11-15T05:40:07Z

@bartekpacia also want to know if we can actually do this. The usage of ${env:VARNAME} as suggested in docs for args doesn't seem to work. I want to be able to use ENV vars from ENV file, so that I can commit this to my repo and don't expose any sensitive information.

bartekpacia · 2021-11-15T14:17:05Z

@rafaeldsousa Apparently this is not possible. You can take a look at this issue.

rafaeldsousa · 2021-11-15T19:46:53Z

@bartekpacia I believe I was able to use a combination of envFile + some non sensitive info on env.

"envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
"env": {
.
.
.
}

delmyers added the debugger label Apr 20, 2016

nebjamin99 closed this as completed Apr 20, 2016

johnkemnetz added the question label Apr 21, 2016

nebjamin99 reopened this Apr 28, 2016

delmyers added bug and removed question labels May 10, 2016

pieandcakes closed this as completed Jul 23, 2016

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sean-mcmanus added a commit to sean-mcmanus/vscode-docs that referenced this issue Apr 23, 2021

Update launch-json-reference.md

1c73c30

As suggested by microsoft/vscode-cpptools#22 (comment)

This was referenced Apr 23, 2021

Update launch-json-reference.md microsoft/vscode-docs#4492

Merged

Update environment description. #7417

Merged

ronen-fr mentioned this issue Sep 4, 2023

cpptools crash - The language server crashed. Restarting... #11401

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SemenAntonov mentioned this issue Mar 14, 2024

cpptools crash - The language server crashed. Restarting... #10651

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Passing environment variables to debugger: 'env' or 'environment'? #22

Passing environment variables to debugger: 'env' or 'environment'? #22

nebjamin99 commented Apr 20, 2016

delmyers commented Apr 20, 2016

nebjamin99 commented Apr 20, 2016 •

edited

nebjamin99 commented Apr 28, 2016

krworks commented May 26, 2016 •

edited

pieandcakes commented Jul 23, 2016

NewProggie commented Aug 31, 2016 •

edited

dhiraj113 commented Apr 7, 2017

pieandcakes commented Apr 10, 2017

codermannn commented Jan 10, 2019

pieandcakes commented Jan 10, 2019

codermannn commented Jan 10, 2019

pieandcakes commented Jan 11, 2019

dcsan commented Apr 23, 2019 •

edited

dcsan commented Apr 23, 2019

abser commented May 8, 2019 •

edited

dcsan commented Aug 13, 2019

pieandcakes commented Aug 13, 2019

947942434 commented Dec 29, 2020

GPhilo commented Apr 22, 2021

sean-mcmanus commented Apr 23, 2021

GPhilo commented Apr 25, 2021

mkamyab commented Jul 26, 2021

bartekpacia commented Nov 6, 2021

rafaeldsousa commented Nov 15, 2021 •

edited

bartekpacia commented Nov 15, 2021

rafaeldsousa commented Nov 15, 2021

Passing environment variables to debugger: 'env' or 'environment'? #22

Passing environment variables to debugger: 'env' or 'environment'? #22

Comments

nebjamin99 commented Apr 20, 2016

delmyers commented Apr 20, 2016

nebjamin99 commented Apr 20, 2016 • edited

nebjamin99 commented Apr 28, 2016

krworks commented May 26, 2016 • edited

pieandcakes commented Jul 23, 2016

NewProggie commented Aug 31, 2016 • edited

dhiraj113 commented Apr 7, 2017

pieandcakes commented Apr 10, 2017

codermannn commented Jan 10, 2019

pieandcakes commented Jan 10, 2019

codermannn commented Jan 10, 2019

pieandcakes commented Jan 11, 2019

dcsan commented Apr 23, 2019 • edited

dcsan commented Apr 23, 2019

abser commented May 8, 2019 • edited

dcsan commented Aug 13, 2019

pieandcakes commented Aug 13, 2019

947942434 commented Dec 29, 2020

GPhilo commented Apr 22, 2021

sean-mcmanus commented Apr 23, 2021

GPhilo commented Apr 25, 2021

mkamyab commented Jul 26, 2021

bartekpacia commented Nov 6, 2021

rafaeldsousa commented Nov 15, 2021 • edited

bartekpacia commented Nov 15, 2021

rafaeldsousa commented Nov 15, 2021

nebjamin99 commented Apr 20, 2016 •

edited

krworks commented May 26, 2016 •

edited

NewProggie commented Aug 31, 2016 •

edited

dcsan commented Apr 23, 2019 •

edited

abser commented May 8, 2019 •

edited

rafaeldsousa commented Nov 15, 2021 •

edited