Target file of sys.setenv()

[reactive]

I have been reading about the differences between these files but can't find even in the sys.setenv() documentation which of these files the function is intended to modify? I know it can modify both the .Rprofile and .Renviron so how do we specify which of the two?

[nrohr]

Great question! There are several places where you can set environment variables, especially when running R on a server. This allows you to set environment variables for specific projects, users, or all users on a server.

This article provides a great explanation and links to more detailed documentation, but here's a quick visual summary:

You can also read more about the differences between the various startup files here.

[rstub]

In addition to above: Please not that Sys.setenv() does alter neither .Rprofile nor .Renviron. It only changes the environment variable for the running process.