The Bash Shell,continued...
Bash Startup File
If you have read the previous guides, you
will know that bash provides
you with some startup files which get run whenever you log into
a bash
shell. The file I am talking about is your profile. This can
be called
.bash_profile, .bash_login, or .profile and is located in your
home directory.
If you don't have this file, then just create
it in your favorite text
editor. Then you can insert any alias commands you want, and
next time you
log in, they will all be active.
Or, you can write the file now and use
the 'source' command to execute
your profile without logging out:
source .profile
(or substitute for ".profile" whatever your profile
is called.)
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You can kill your account -- warning!
Adding things to .profile should be tested ONLY with the
"source
.profile" command!!! And only if you are satisfied
with the result, log out
and login again!!!
Reason: Imagine you wrote an "exit" at
the wrong place (i.e. not
preceding it with a comment-sign), you will never be able to
login!
A solution is to login twice, one shell is good
for testing the other one
for recovering from errors!!! You can login twice with
the command "telnet
localhost". Then if you mess up in this second shell you
will wind up back
in your first shell and can delete the profile file before it
kills your
shell again. This saves the embarrassment of having to
call tech support
and confess to having made a big mess of your account.
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More on the bash shell --->>
