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Home Bash Guide for Beginners The Bash environment Configuration Individual user configuration files
See also: Home Directories and Users, System-wide configuration files 
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Individual user configuration files

Note I don't have these files?!
 

These files might not be in your home directory by default; create them if needed.

~/.bash_profile

This is the preferred configuration file for configuring user environments individually. In this file, users can add extra configuration options or change default settings:

franky~> cat .bash_profile
#################################################################
#                                                               #
#   .bash_profile file                                          #
#                                                               #
#   Executed from the bash shell when you log in.               #
#                                                               #
#################################################################

source ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bash_login
case "$OS" in
  IRIX)
    stty sane dec
    stty erase
    ;;
#  SunOS)
#    stty erase
#    ;;
  *)
    stty sane
    ;;
esac

This user configures the backspace character for login on different operating systems. Apart from that, the user's .bashrc and .bash_login are read.

~/.bash_login

This file contains specific settings that are normally only executed when you log in to the system. In the example, we use it to configure the umask value and to show a list of connected users upon login. This user also gets the calendar for the current month:

#######################################################################
#                                                                     #
#   Bash_login file                                                   #
#                                                                     #
#   commands to perform from the bash shell at login time             #
#   (sourced from .bash_profile)                                      #
#                                                                     #
#######################################################################
#   file protection
umask 002       # all to me, read to group and others
#   miscellaneous
w
cal `date +"%m"` `date +"%Y"`

In the absence of ~/.bash_profile, this file will be read.

~/.profile

In the absence of ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bash_login, ~/.profile is read. It can hold the same configurations, which are then also accessible by other shells. Mind that other shells might not understand the Bash syntax.

~/.bashrc

Today, it is more common to use a non-login shell, for instance when logged in graphically using X terminal windows. Upon opening such a window, the user does not have to provide a user name or password; no authentication is done. Bash searches for ~/.bashrc when this happens, so it is referred to in the files read upon login as well, which means you don't have to enter the same settings in multiple files.

In this user's .bashrc a couple of aliases are defined and variables for specific programs are set after the system-wide /etc/bashrc is read:

franky ~> cat .bashrc
# /home/franky/.bashrc

# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
       . /etc/bashrc

fi

# shell options

set -o noclobber

# my shell variables

export PS1="\[\033[1;44m\]\u \w\[\033[0m\] "
export PATH="$PATH:~/bin:~/scripts"

# my aliases

alias cdrecord='cdrecord -dev 0,0,0 -speed=8'
alias ss='ssh octarine'
alias ll='ls -la'

# mozilla fix

MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/mozilla
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/mozilla:/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
MOZ_DIST_BIN=/usr/lib/mozilla
MOZ_PROGRAM=/usr/lib/mozilla/mozilla-bin
export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME LD_LIBRARY_PATH MOZ_DIST_BIN MOZ_PROGRAM

# font fix
alias xt='xterm -bg black -fg white &'

# BitchX settings
export IRCNAME="frnk"

# THE END
franky ~>

More examples can be found in the Bash package. Remember that sample files might need changes in order to work in your environment.

Aliases are discussed in Section 3.5.

~/.bash_logout

This file contains specific instructions for the logout procedure. In the example, the terminal window is cleared upon logout. This is useful for remote connections, which will leave a clean window after closing them.

franky ~> cat .bash_logout
#######################################################################
#                                                                     #
#   Bash_logout file                                                  #
#                                                                     #
#   commands to perform from the bash shell at logout time            #
#                                                                     #
#######################################################################
clear
franky ~>

Home Bash Guide for Beginners The Bash environment Configuration Individual user configuration files

Last Update: 2010-12-16