title: Set an ENV variable for APP_ENV to development
body: <p>I am trying to set a global variable for my environment so that <code>APP_ENV</code> is globally defined as <code>development</code>.</p>
  
  <p>I am using zsh and specifically the oh-my-zsh dotfiles on Mac OS X Mavericks.</p>
  
  <p>I am unsure how to do this. I know it is possible to set the environment in httpd-vhosts.conf, but I am using apache dynamic multiple hosts, so my httpd-vhosts.conf looks like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>#
  # Virtual Hosts
  #
  # If you want to maintain multiple domains/hostnames on your
  # machine you can setup VirtualHost containers for them. Most configurations
  # use only name-based virtual hosts so the server doesn't need to worry about
  # IP addresses. This is indicated by the asterisks in the directives below.
  #
  # Please see the documentation at
  # &lt;URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/vhosts/&gt;
  # for further details before you try to setup virtual hosts.
  #
  # You may use the command line option '-S' to verify your virtual host
  # configuration.
  
  #
  # Use name-based virtual hosting.
  #
  NameVirtualHost *:80
  
  #
  # VirtualHost example:
  # Almost any Apache directive may go into a VirtualHost container.
  # The first VirtualHost section is used for all requests that do not
  # match a ServerName or ServerAlias in any &lt;VirtualHost&gt; block.
  #
  
  #allow access to the Hosts directory where your sites are
  &lt;Directory "/Volumes/site/%1"&gt;
      Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
      AllowOverride All
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
  &lt;/Directory&gt;
  
  #get the server name from the Host: header
  UseCanonicalName Off
  VirtualDocumentRoot /Volumes/site/%0/public/
  ServerAdmin user@example.com
  ServerName vhosts.dev
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Moreover, I also develop some apps using laravel and spawn a virtual server using <code>php artisan serve</code> which wouldn't take a APP_ENV directive from the apache httpd-vhosts.conf file.</p>
  
  <p>I would like to set it as part of my overall shell or system-wide on the machine.</p>
  
  <p>Any advice?</p>