Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer.
| %ALLUSERSPROFILE% | Returns the location of the All Users Profile |
| %APPDATA% | Returns the location where applications store data by default. |
| %CD% | Returns the current directory string |
| %CMDCMDLINE% | Returns the exact command line used to start the current cmd.exe |
| %CMDEXTVERSION% | Returns the version number of the current Command Processor Extensions |
| %COMPUTERNAME% | Returns the name of the computer |
| %COMSPEC% | Returns the exact path to the command shell executable |
| %DATE% | Returns the current date. |
| %ERRORLEVEL% | Returns the error code of the most recently used command |
| %HOMEDRIVE% | Returns which local workstation drive letter is connected to the user’s home directory |
| %HOMEPATH% | Returns the full path of the user’s home directory |
| %HOMESHARE% | Returns the network path to the user’s shared home directory |
| %LOGONSERVER% | Returns the name of the domain controller that validated the current logon session |
| %NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS% | Returns the number of processors installed on the computer |
| %OS% | Returns the OS name. |
| %PATH% | Returns the search path for executable files |
| %PATHEXT% | Returns a list of the file extensions that the OS considers to be executable |
| %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE% | Returns the processor’s chip architecture |
| %PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER% | Returns a description of the processor |
| %PROCESSOR_LEVEL% | Returns the model number of the computer’s processor |
| %PROCESSOR_REVISION% | Returns the revision number of the processor |
| %PROGRAMFILES% | Returns the location of the default install directory for applications |
| %PROMPT% | Returns the command-prompt settings for the current interpreter |
| %RANDOM% | Returns a random decimal number between 0 and 32767 |
| %SYSTEMDRIVE% | Returns the drive containing the Windows root directory |
| %SYSTEMROOT% | Returns the location of the Windows root directory |
| %TEMP% | Return the default tem dir for apps that are available to users who are currently logged on |
| %TMP% | Return the default tem dir for apps that are available to users who are currently logged on |
| %TIME% | Returns the current time |
| %USERDOMAIN% | Returns the name of the domain that contains the user’s account |
| %USERNAME% | Returns the name of the user currently logged on |
| %USERPROFILE% | Returns the location of the profile for the current user |
| %WINDIR% | Returns the location of the OS directory |
You can use these in either batch files or enter these straight into the Command Prompt.
C:\Documents and Settings\administrator> echo %DATE%
26/07/2009
Rick Donato is a Network Automation Architect/Evangelist and the founder of Packet Coders.
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