# MSI Environment Aliases and Variables

Included on this page are some of the useful environment variables that can be used in Slurm shell scripts or for quick navigation on Tier 1 storage.


## Built-in Aliases

Users may type any of these commands to perform the described action.

| Alias | Navigate to ... | Example path |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `cd` | User home directory | `/users/[0-9]/<UMN InternetID>/` |
| `msiproject` | MSI project root directory | `/projects/standard/<project name>/` |
| `shared` | MSI shared directory | `/projects/standard/<project name>/shared/`|
| `oldhome` | Old home directory| `/projects/standard/<project name>/<UMN InternetID>/`|
| `scratch` `scratch.global` | Scratch global | `/scratch.global/` |
| `scratch.local` | Scratch local | `/scratch.local/`|


## Environment Variables

| Variable | Expands to ... |
| --- | --- |
| `$HOME` | `/users/[0-9]/<UMN InternetID>/` |
| `$MSIPROJECT` | `/projects/standard/<project name>/` |
| `$OLDHOME` | `/projects/standard/<project name>/<UMN InternetID>/` |
| `$SHARED` | `/projects/standard/<project name>/shared` |
| `$PUBLIC` | `/projects/standard/<project name>/public` |
| `$SCRATCH` `$SCRATCH_GLOBAL` | `/scratch.global/` |
| `$SCRATCH_LOCAL` | `/scratch.local/` |
| `$USER` | `<UMN InternetID>` |


**Note** Users that join MSI before September 2024 will have an old home directory. Users since then can create their own home directory in the shared space using the command `mkdir -v $SHARED/$USER`.

[See the New Home Directories knowledge base article for migration details](https://msi.umn.edu/our-resources/knowledge-base/new-home-directories)

## Slurm Environment Variables

While a job is running, there are more variables that can be referenced.

- [ Input Variables ](https://slurm.schedmd.com/sbatch.html#SECTION_INPUT-ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES) - These variables can be set to override the defaults when calling `sbatch`.
- [ Output Variables ](https://slurm.schedmd.com/sbatch.html#SECTION_OUTPUT-ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES) - Environment variables with information about the running job.