What is the correct way to unset a linux environment variable in python?

user_319618 0
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From the documentation:

If the platform supports the unsetenv() function, you can delete items in this mapping to unset environment variables. unsetenv() will be called automatically when an item is deleted from os.environ, and when one of the pop() or clear() methods is called.

However I want something that will work regardless of the availability of unsetenv(). How do I delete items from the mapping if it's not available? os.environ['MYVAR'] = None?

environment-variables python
5 Answers

For those who search for an elegant way to unset environment variable without errors if the variable does not exist:

os.environ.pop('MYVAR', None)

That works exactly as:

if 'MYVAR' in os.environ:
    del os.environ['MYVAR']

But if you need to deal with the exception, do what other users suggested: del os.environ['MYVAR'] or os.environ.pop('MYVAR').

user_34676980

I use os.unsetenv("MYVAR")

user_154394450

Try this if you need a valid method, such as in TestCase.addCleanup()

os.environ.pop('MYVAR')
user_6226620
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