Missing environment variable

Oct 13, 2025 by wbrum.org 56 views

**Error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING : cannot open display: A Common Issue in Ubuntu 14.04

As a user of Ubuntu 14.04, you may have encountered the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" when trying to open a text file with Sublime Text 2 using the sudo sublime command. This error can be frustrating, especially if you are not familiar with the underlying causes. In this article, we will discuss the possible reasons for this error and provide solutions to resolve it.

The error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" is a common issue in Ubuntu 14.04. The error message indicates that the environment variable XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set, which is required by the GTK+ library to open a display. GTK+ is a cross-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, and it is used by Sublime Text 2 to display its interface.

There are several possible causes for this error:

Missing environment variable: The XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable is not set in the system.
Incorrect permissions: The user running the sudo sublime command does not have the necessary permissions to open the display.
Conflicting packages: There are conflicting packages installed on the system that are causing the issue.

To resolve the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:", you can try the following solutions:

1. Set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable

You can set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable by running the following command in the terminal:

export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/runtime-$USER

This will set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable to /tmp/runtime-$USER, where $USER is your username.

2. Use gksudo instead of sudo

Instead of using sudo sublime, you can use gksudo sublime to open the text file. gksudo is a command that allows you to run a command with superuser privileges, but it also sets the necessary environment variables to open the display.

3. Install the gnome-session package

If you are using Ubuntu 14.04, you may need to install the gnome-session package to resolve the issue. You can install it by running the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install gnome-session

4. Remove conflicting packages

If you have installed conflicting packages on your system, you may need to remove them to resolve the issue. You can use the apt-get command to remove packages:

sudo apt-get remove package-name

Replace package-name with the name of the package you want to remove.

The error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" is a common issue in Ubuntu 14.04. By understanding the possible causes and trying the solutions outlined in this article, you should be able to resolve the issue and open text files with Sublime Text 2 using the sudo sublime command.

If you are still experiencing issues after trying the solutions outlined in this article, here are some additional troubleshooting tips:

Check the system logs: You can check the system logs to see if there are any error messages related to the issue.
Try a different command: You can try running a different command, such as sudo gnome-terminal, to see if the issue is specific to Sublime Text 2.
Check the package list: You can check the package list to see if there are any conflicting packages installed on your system.

If you are experiencing issues with Sublime Text 2, here are some related issues you may want to check:

Sublime Text 2 not opening: If Sublime Text 2 is not opening, you may want to check the system logs to see if there are any error messages related to the issue.
Sublime Text 2 not responding: If Sublime Text 2 is not responding, you may want to try closing and reopening the application.
Sublime Text 2 crashing: If Sublime Text 2 is crashing, you may want to try reinstalling the application.

If you are still experiencing issues with Sublime Text 2, here are some additional resources you may want to check:

Sublime Text 2 documentation: You can check the Sublime Text 2 documentation to see if there are any known issues or solutions related to the issue.
Sublime Text 2 forums: You can check the Sublime Text 2 forums to see if other users are experiencing similar issues.
Ubuntu forums: You can check the Ubuntu forums to see if other users are experiencing similar issues.
**Q&A: Error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING : cannot open display:

We have received many questions from users who are experiencing the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" when trying to open a text file with Sublime Text 2 using the sudo sublime command. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers:

A: The XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable is a directory that is used by the GTK+ library to store runtime data. It is typically set to /run/user/$USER, where $USER is the username of the user running the application.

A: The XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable may not be set for a variety of reasons, including:

The user running the application does not have the necessary permissions to set the environment variable.
The environment variable is not set in the system.
There are conflicting packages installed on the system that are causing the issue.

A: You can set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable by running the following command in the terminal:

export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/runtime-$USER

This will set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable to /tmp/runtime-$USER, where $USER is your username.

A: sudo is a command that allows you to run a command with superuser privileges, but it does not set the necessary environment variables to open the display. gksudo, on the other hand, is a command that allows you to run a command with superuser privileges and sets the necessary environment variables to open the display.

A: You can use gksudo to open a text file with Sublime Text 2 by running the following command in the terminal:

gksudo sublime

This will open the text file with Sublime Text 2 using the gksudo command, which sets the necessary environment variables to open the display.

A: Some common causes of the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" include:

Missing environment variable
Incorrect permissions
Conflicting packages

A: To troubleshoot the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:", you can try the following steps:

Check the system logs to see if there are any error messages related to the issue.
Try running a different command, such as sudo gnome-terminal, to see if the issue is specific to Sublime Text 2.
Check the package list to see if there are any conflicting packages installed on your system.

A: Some related issues that you may want to check if you are experiencing the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" include:

Sublime Text 2 not opening
Sublime Text 2 not responding
Sublime Text 2 crashing

A: You can find additional resources to help you troubleshoot the error "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment. Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:" by checking the following resources:

Sublime Text 2 documentation
Sublime Text 2 forums
Ubuntu forums