export PKG_PATH

[betweendayandnight]

I logged in as root and wished to add the following line:

export PKG_PATH=http://my.preferred.mirror/pub/OpenBSD/`uname -a`/packages/`uname -m`/

and discovered there were actually TWO .profile files: one is .profile and the other is /.profile

Which .profile file should I use?

You should use pkg.conf(5).

[jggimi]

The reason for dot files in the root partition is for error recovery. In the event a user logs in and the $HOME directory is not available -- file system not mounted, or other storage problems -- the system will assign the root directory as a temporary $HOME. With dot files there, it is possible to have a functional shell.

[ocicat]

Unix lore tends to promote minimal customization of the root account in order to promote more actions in non-root accounts. Judging whether adding a single export statement constitutes "heavy" customization is a personal choice.

However, an alternative would be to add your export statement to your non-root ~/.profile, & execute pkg_add(1) through either sudo(1) (in OpenBSD versions prior to 5.8...), or doas(1) (introduced in OpenBSD 5.8...).

[ibara]

Originally Posted by Scarletts

You should use pkg.conf(5).

This. As a bonus, if you install the sets with bsd.rd over http, it gets filled in for you.