Move environment APIs into shared minipal by am11 · Pull Request #137144 · dotnet/runtime

am11 · 2026-11-07T22:28:06Z

and delete coreclr-pal layer and tests.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

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setenv is not safe while other threads read the environment, so the runtime's native setters (diagnostics server, profiler) now update a private copy, as the PAL did. corerun goes back to libc setenv since it runs before the runtime starts, and child processes are launched with the copy. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

On CoreCLR and NativeAOT, Environment.Get/SetEnvironmentVariable and GetEnvironmentVariables now use QCalls backed by the minipal environment copy, so changes made by ICorProfilerInfo11::SetEnvironmentVariable or the diagnostic server are visible to managed code and vice versa. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

minipal environment APIs are now stateless. The lock-protected copy lives in src/coreclr/runtime/ProcessEnvironment.cpp and is used only by the profiler and diagnostic server environment APIs, managed Environment, runtime configuration and the createdump child environment. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com> # Conflicts: # src/coreclr/hosts/corerun/corerun.hpp # src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/windows/PalMinWin.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/src/init/pal.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/environ.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/CMakeLists.txt # src/coreclr/tools/superpmi/superpmi-shared/spmiutil.cpp # src/coreclr/tools/superpmi/superpmi/jithost.cpp

…e/minipal-environ

Copilot

🟡 Changes recommended

An unresolved Windows environment-read race can return an uninitialized, potentially unterminated buffer when a variable is deleted between lookups.

6 open issues

What changed in this PR

Moves environment access out of CoreCLR’s legacy PAL into shared minipal helpers and a runtime-owned environment store used by CoreCLR and NativeAOT.

Changes:

Adds shared environment readers and a synchronized Unix environment copy, exposed to managed code through QCalls.
Migrates runtime configuration, diagnostics, hosts, and tools to the new helpers.
Removes the legacy PAL implementation, declarations, and associated tests.

Review was source-based; no builds or tests were run.

File	Description
src/native/minipal/environ.h	Defines shared environment APIs and ownership contracts.
src/native/minipal/environ.c	Implements environment lookup and snapshots.
src/native/minipal/CMakeLists.txt	Builds the new environment implementation.
src/libraries/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/Environment.Variables.Native.cs	Adds QCall-backed managed environment access.
src/libraries/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System.Private.CoreLib.Shared.projitems	Selects environment implementations by runtime.
src/coreclr/vm/wasm/wasi/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp	Updates WASI environment QCall bindings.
src/coreclr/vm/wasm/browser/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp	Updates browser environment QCall bindings.
src/coreclr/vm/qcallentrypoints.cpp	Registers replacement environment QCalls.
src/coreclr/vm/proftoeeinterfaceimpl.cpp	Routes profiler operations through ProcessEnvironment.
src/coreclr/vm/perfmap.cpp	Removes the PAL-specific configuration callback.
src/coreclr/vm/gdbjit.cpp	Uses minipal for debugger configuration lookup.
src/coreclr/vm/eventing/eventpipe/ep-rt-coreclr.h	Reads runtime-owned environment snapshots.
src/coreclr/vm/eventing/eventpipe/ds-rt-coreclr.h	Migrates diagnostic environment operations.
src/coreclr/vm/CMakeLists.txt	Builds ProcessEnvironment into CoreCLR.
src/coreclr/utilcode/longfilepathwrappers.cpp	Adapts environment wrappers to minipal.
src/coreclr/utilcode/executableallocator.cpp	Uses an owned environment-value copy.
src/coreclr/utilcode/clrconfig.cpp	Adds runtime environment callbacks.
src/coreclr/tools/superpmi/superpmi/parallelsuperpmi.cpp	Migrates temporary-directory lookup.
src/coreclr/tools/superpmi/superpmi/jithost.cpp	Migrates prefixed environment lookup.
src/coreclr/tools/superpmi/superpmi-shared/spmiutil.cpp	Migrates buffer-based lookups; clarifies a comment.
src/coreclr/runtime/ProcessEnvironment.h	Declares the runtime environment abstraction.
src/coreclr/runtime/ProcessEnvironment.cpp	Implements runtime-owned Unix environment storage.
src/coreclr/runtime/MiscNativeHelpers.h	Declares environment QCalls.
src/coreclr/runtime/MiscNativeHelpers.cpp	Implements managed environment bridges.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/paltestlist.txt	Removes legacy environment test registrations.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test4/test4.cpp	Removes the Windows case-handling test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test3/test3.cpp	Removes the Unix case-handling test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test2/test.cpp	Removes null-input and deletion tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test1/test.cpp	Removes wide-value mutation tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableA/test4/test4.cpp	Removes the Windows case-handling test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableA/test3/test3.cpp	Removes the Unix case-handling test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableA/test2/test2.cpp	Removes null-input and deletion tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableA/test1/test1.cpp	Removes narrow-value mutation tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test6/test6.cpp	Removes the Windows case-insensitive lookup test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test5/test5.cpp	Removes the Unix case-sensitive lookup test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test4/test.cpp	Removes the wide-value retrieval test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test3/test.cpp	Removes missing/null-name lookup tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test2/test.cpp	Removes the undersized wide-buffer test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test1/test.cpp	Removes the wide-buffer sizing test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test6/test6.cpp	Removes the Windows case-insensitive lookup test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test5/test5.cpp	Removes the Unix case-sensitive lookup test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test4/test.cpp	Removes the narrow-value retrieval test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test3/test.cpp	Removes missing/null-name lookup tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test2/test.cpp	Removes the undersized narrow-buffer test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableA/test1/test.cpp	Removes the narrow-buffer sizing test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentStringsW/test1/test.cpp	Removes the environment enumeration test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/FreeEnvironmentStringsW/test2/test.cpp	Removes permissive environment-block freeing tests.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/FreeEnvironmentStringsW/test1/test.cpp	Removes the snapshot cleanup test.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/compilableTests.txt	Removes deleted tests from the compilation list.
src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/CMakeLists.txt	Removes deleted test sources.
src/coreclr/pal/src/thread/thread.cpp	Drops the obsolete environment header.
src/coreclr/pal/src/thread/process.cpp	Adds createdump environment callbacks and minipal lookup.
src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/perfjitdump.cpp	Migrates timestamp-option lookup.
src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/environ.cpp	Deletes the legacy PAL environment implementation.
src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/dbgmsg.cpp	Migrates debug settings to owned minipal values.
src/coreclr/pal/src/loader/module.cpp	Drops the obsolete environment header.
src/coreclr/pal/src/init/pal.cpp	Removes PAL environment initialization.
src/coreclr/pal/src/include/pal/environ.h	Deletes internal PAL environment declarations.
src/coreclr/pal/src/exception/machmessage.h	Uses libc for the tracing flag.
src/coreclr/pal/src/exception/machmessage.cpp	Drops the obsolete environment header.
src/coreclr/pal/src/exception/machexception.cpp	Migrates exception-mode lookup.
src/coreclr/pal/src/debug/debug.cpp	Migrates settings and constructs debugger child environments.
src/coreclr/pal/src/configure.cmake	Removes obsolete environment capability checks.
src/coreclr/pal/src/config.h.in	Removes obsolete environment configuration macros.
src/coreclr/pal/src/CMakeLists.txt	Stops building the deleted implementation.
src/coreclr/pal/inc/palprivate.h	Removes narrow PAL environment declarations.
src/coreclr/pal/inc/pal.h	Removes legacy APIs and adds the createdump callback.
src/coreclr/pal/inc/pal_error.h	Removes the environment-initialization error constant.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/windows/PalMinWin.cpp	Delegates Windows lookup to minipal.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/unix/PalUnix.cpp	Reads the runtime-owned environment.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/unix/PalCreateDump.cpp	Passes runtime environment data to createdump.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/eventpipe/ep-rt-aot.h	Migrates temporary-directory lookup and cleanup.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/eventpipe/ep-rt-aot.cpp	Uses shared runtime environment snapshots.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/eventpipe/ds-rt-aot.cpp	Routes diagnostic mutations through ProcessEnvironment.
src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/CMakeLists.txt	Builds ProcessEnvironment into NativeAOT.
src/coreclr/minipal/Unix/mapping.cpp	Migrates mapping-option lookup.
src/coreclr/inc/clrconfig.h	Declares environment configuration callbacks.
src/coreclr/hosts/coreshim/CoreShim.cpp	Migrates host environment lookup.
src/coreclr/hosts/coreshim/CMakeLists.txt	Links CoreShim with minipal.
src/coreclr/hosts/corerun/corerun.hpp	Migrates Windows host environment helpers.
src/coreclr/dlls/mscoree/exports.cpp	Installs runtime environment callbacks during startup.
src/coreclr/dlls/mscordac/mscordac_unixexports.src	Removes commented legacy environment export entries.
src/coreclr/debug/di/process.cpp	Migrates debugger test-option lookup.
src/coreclr/debug/daccess/daccess.cpp	Migrates DAC debug-mode lookup.
src/coreclr/debug/createdump/shared/createdumpunixcore.cpp	Migrates pagemap-option lookup and cleanup.
src/coreclr/debug/createdump/createdumpmain.cpp	Migrates dump-directory lookup and cleanup.

_{Review effort: Balanced}

- Report presence and length from a single lookup so empty values are distinguished from missing ones in the profiler API and the QCall. - Read PerfMapJitDumpPath from the runtime's environment copy, as main did with PAL_getenv. - Drop inherited PAL_EXE_PID/PAL_EXE_NAME before adding the new values. - Handle a variable removed between the probe and the read on Windows. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com> # Conflicts: # src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/dbgmsg.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/src/misc/environ.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentStringsW/test1/test.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test4/test.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test5/test5.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/GetEnvironmentVariableW/test6/test6.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test1/test.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test3/test3.cpp # src/coreclr/pal/tests/palsuite/miscellaneous/SetEnvironmentVariableW/test4/test4.cpp

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Copilot

🟡 Changes recommended

The retry path can return the same pooled array twice if the next Rent throws, potentially allowing unrelated callers to rent the same storage.

1 open issue

Clear array ownership before returning it to the pool · New

4 resolved since last review

_{Review effort: Balanced}

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Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Copilot

🟡 Changes recommended

An empty inherited environment entry prematurely terminates the copied block, causing managed GetEnvironmentVariables() to omit subsequent valid variables.

1 open issue

Skip empty entries when building the environment block · New

1 resolved since last review

Clear array ownership before returning it to the pool

_{Review effort: Balanced}

Skip empty environment variable entries during copy. Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com> # Conflicts: # src/coreclr/vm/runtimehelpers.cpp # src/coreclr/vm/wasm/browser/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp # src/coreclr/vm/wasm/wasi/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Move environment APIs into shared minipal

7cd9fd5

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

am11 requested a review from MichalStrehovsky as a code owner November 7, 2026 22:28

am11 requested a review from jkotas November 7, 2026 22:28

github-actions Bot added the area-PAL-coreclr only for closed issues label Nov 7, 2026

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Comment thread src/native/minipal/environ.c Resolved

Fix wasm build

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am11 force-pushed the chore/minipal-environ branch from a3a0a9f to 7ca2c4b Compare November 8, 2026 00:00

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"We stopped hearing from agent Azure Pipelines 32. Verify the agent machine is running and has a healthy network connection" dotnet/dnceng#1886

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am11 and others added 2 commits November 8, 2026 13:52

Merge branch 'main' into chore/minipal-environ

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[browser] Wasm.Build.Tests timeout - Timed out after 10s waiting for 'WASM EXIT' #116697

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Comment thread src/native/minipal/environ.c Resolved

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Merge branch 'main' into chore/minipal-environ

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Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/chore/minipal-environ' into chor…

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Formatting

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Comment thread src/coreclr/nativeaot/Runtime/eventpipe/ep-rt-aot.h Resolved

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Comment thread src/coreclr/pal/inc/pal.h Resolved

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Address CR feedback

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Merge remote-tracking branch 'dotnet/main' into chore/minipal-environ

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Comment thread src/libraries/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/Environment.Variables.Native.cs Resolved

Report invalid arguments from SetEnvironmentVariable

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xharness-event-processor: Android APP_CRASH (exit 80) retry+reboot turns deterministic product crashes into dead-lettered work items dotnet/arcade#17786

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Comment thread src/libraries/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/Environment.Variables.Native.cs Resolved

Fix memory return logic for rented array

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Comment thread src/coreclr/debug/createdump/shared/createdumpunixcore.cpp Resolved

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Comment thread src/native/minipal/environ.c Resolved

Address CR feedback

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[ci-scan] Test failure: System.Net.WebSockets.Tests.WebSocketKeepAliveTests.WebSocketServer_NoUserReadOrWrite_SendsPingAndReadsPongResponse #133374

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Merge branch 'main' into chore/minipal-environ

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Comment thread src/coreclr/runtime/ProcessEnvironment.cpp Resolved

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Handle empty environment variables in ProcessEnvironment

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Skip empty environment variable entries during copy. Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Merge branch 'main' into chore/minipal-environ

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Runtime_133587 SIGSEGV in mono #133910

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Merge remote-tracking branch 'dotnet/main' into chore/minipal-environ

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Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com> # Conflicts: # src/coreclr/vm/runtimehelpers.cpp # src/coreclr/vm/wasm/browser/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp # src/coreclr/vm/wasm/wasi/callhelpers-pinvoke.cpp

Address CR feedback

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Include gcenv.base.h only on Unix

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Match the generated WebAssembly call helper signature

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This was referenced Nov 13, 2026

AF: *(_UNCHECKED_OBJECTREF *)handle == NULL (HndCreateHandle called by getJitHandleForObject) #117138

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[ci-scan] Test failure: Wasm.Build.Tests.PInvokeTableGeneratorTests.UnusedCoreLibEntryPointsAreTrimmed #137492

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