gistfile1.txt

[mhermans@web314 ~]$ cat setvar.sh
#!/bin/bash
export CUSTOMVAR=test_env_var
[mhermans@web314 ~]$ cat readvar.py
#!/usr/bin/env python
import os
print os.environ['CUSTOMVAR']
[mhermans@web314 ~]$ env | grep CUSTOMVAR
[mhermans@web314 ~]$ source setvar.sh
[mhermans@web314 ~]$ env | grep CUSTOMVAR
CUSTOMVAR=test_env_var
[mhermans@web314 ~]$ ./readvar.py
test_env_var
[mhermans@web314 ~]$