How can I reference a file for variables using Bash?

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The short answer

Use the source command.

An example using source

For example:

config.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
production="liveschool_joe"
playschool="playschool_joe"
echo $playschool

script.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
source config.sh
echo $production

Note that the output from sh ./script.sh in this example is: 

~$ sh ./script.sh 
playschool_joe
liveschool_joe

This is because the source command actually runs the program. Everything in config.sh is executed.

Another way

You could use the built-in export command and getting and setting “environment variables” can also accomplish this.

Running export and echo $ENV should be all you need to know about accessing variables. Accessing environment variables is done the same way as a local variable.

To set them, say:

export variable=value

at the command line. All scripts will be able to access this value.

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