I think setting it in apache is the easiest route You could refactor all your apps' environment (or other global) variables into one module and then source that at the beginning of each script. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Can you further explain why you prefer setting it via perl instead of apache?

Here's my stab at trying to figure out the best approach.

	Advantage	Disadvantage
Via Perl	no need for apache admin access, ability to change on the fly, no need to stop/start apache on changes	annoying code to keep track of meta data - especially if it never changes
Via Apache	Set it once and forget it, nothing special to do in code, meta data stays separated from code	Need to stop/start apache when it changes, gives devs a "how the heck does that work" headache if unaware of apache conf settings

-derby