Export is defined in POSIX as The shell shall give the export attribute to the variables corresponding to the specified names, which shall cause them to be in the environment of subsequently executed commands. If the name of a variable is followed by = word, then the value of that variable shall be set to the word.

How does export command work?

The export command is fairly simple to use as it has straightforward syntax with only three available command options. In general, the export command marks an environment variable to be exported with any newly forked child processes and thus it allows a child process to inherit all marked variables.

What does export do in Shell?

Export is a built-in command of the Bash shell. It is used to mark variables and functions to be passed to child processes. Basically, a variable will be included in child process environments without affecting other environments.