Chris Tyler - Fedora Linux

The default ~/.bash_profile looks like this:

# .bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions

if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then

. ~/.bashrc

fi

# User specific environment and startup programs

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin

export PATH

You can edit /etc/profile to change the login process for all users, or ~/.bash_profile to change just your login process. One useful change that I make to every Fedora system I install is to comment out the if statements for path manipulation in /etc/profile so that every user has the superuser binary directories in his path:

# Path manipulation

#if [ "$EUID" = "0" ]; then

pathmunge /sbin

pathmunge /usr/sbin

pathmunge /usr/local/sbin

#fi

bash comments start with # and are not executed so commenting out code means adding # at the start of selected lines to disable them

Environment variables are inherited by child processes, so any environment variables set up during the login process are accessible to all shells (and other programs) you start. bash also supports the use of aliases , or nicknames, for commands, but since these are not inherited by child processes, they are instead placed in the file ~/.bashrc , which is executed each time a shell starts. If you log in once and then start three shells, ~/.bash_profile is executed once at login and ~/.bashrc is executed three times, once for each shell that starts.

This is the default ~/.bashrc :

# .bashrc

# Source global definitions

if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then

. /etc/bashrc

fi

# User-specific aliases and functions

As you can see, there aren't any alias definitions in there (but you can add them). The file /etc/bashrc is invoked by this script, and it contains common aliases made available to all users:

# System-wide functions and aliases

# Environment stuff goes in /etc/profile

# By default, we want this to get set.

# Even for noninteractive, nonlogin shells.

umask 022

# Are we an interactive shell?

if [ "$PS1" ]; then

case $TERM in

xterm*)

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-xterm ]; then

PROMPT_COMMAND=/etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-xterm

else

PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne ↵

"\033]0;${USER}@${HOSTNAME%%.*}:${PWD/#$HOME/~}";

echo -ne "\007"'

fi

;;

screen)

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-screen ]; then

PROMPT_COMMAND=/etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-screen

else

PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033_${USER}@${HOSTNAME%%.*}:${PWD/#$HOME/~}"; echo -ne "\033\\"'

fi

;;

*)

[ -e /etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-default ] && PROMPT_COMMAND=/etc/sysconfig/bash-prompt-default

;;

esac

# Turn on checkwinsize

shopt -s checkwinsize

[ "$PS1" = "\\s-\\v\\\$ " ] && PS1="[\u@\h \W]\\$ "

fi

if ! shopt -q login_shell ; then # We're not a login shell

# Need to redefine pathmunge, it get's undefined at the end of /etc/profile

pathmunge ( ) {

if ! echo $PATH | /bin/egrep -q "(^|:)$1($|:)" ; then

if [ "$2" = "after" ] ; then

PATH=$PATH:$1

else

PATH=$1:$PATH

fi

fi

}

for i in /etc/profile.d/*.sh; do

if [ -r "$i" ]; then

. $i

fi

done

unset i

unset pathmunge

fi

# vim:ts=4:sw=4

This script sets up the umask , configures a command that will be executed before the display of each prompt (which sets the terminal-window title to show the user, host, and current directory), and then executes each of the files in /etc/profile.d that end in .sh .

Packages installed on your Fedora system can include files that are placed in /etc/profile.d , providing a simple way for each package to globally add aliases or other shell configuration options. There are a few command aliases defined in these script files, including:

alias l.='ls -d .* --color=tty'

alias ll='ls -l --color=tty'

alias ls='ls --color=tty'

alias vi='vim'

If you type llat a command prompt, ls -l will be executed, due to the alias highlighted in the preceding listing:

$ ll /

total 138

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 17 08:08 bin

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 1024 Jul 15 11:16 boot

drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 3900 Jul 19 07:56 dev

drwxr-xr-x 102 root root 12288 Jul 18 18:14 etc

drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Jul 16 22:51 home

drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 4096 Jul 17 07:58 lib

drwx------ 2 root root 16384 Jun 9 19:34 lost+found

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jul 18 18:14 media

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jul 18 11:48 misc

drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Jul 15 11:38 mnt

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jul 18 11:48 net

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 12 04:48 opt

dr-xr-xr-x 126 root root 0 Jul 18 11:46 proc

drwxr-x--- 9 root root 4096 Jul 18 00:18 root

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 12288 Jul 17 08:08 sbin

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 0 Jul 18 11:46 selinux

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 12 04:48 srv

drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 0 Jul 18 11:46 sys

drwxrwxrwt 98 root root 4096 Jul 19 11:04 tmp

drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Jul 14 04:17 usr

drwxr-xr-x 26 root root 4096 Jul 14 04:17 var

Similarly, if you type vithe shell will execute vim .

You can create your own aliases using the alias command; for example, I like to use l for ls -l , sometimes use cls to clear the screen, and like to have machine report the hostname (old habits):

$ alias l='ls -l

$ alias cls='clear'

$ alias machine='hostname'

Adding the same lines to ~/.bashrc will make them available every time you start a new shell; adding them to ~/.bashrc will make them available to all users.

You can see the currently defined aliases by typing aliasalone as a command:

$ alias

alias cls='clear'

alias l='ll'

alias l.='ls -d .* --color=tty'

alias ll='ls -l --color=tty'

alias ls='ls --color=tty'

alias machine='hostname'

alias vi='vim'

To destroy an alias, use the unalias command:

$ unalias machine