Why doesn't removing .bash_history get rid of history?

dggoldst · 04-05-2007, 03:37 AM

This must be an incredibly simple question. I'm logged in as root.

Code:

root[~]# cd ~
root[~]# pwd
/root
root[~]# history -c
root[~]# touch a 
root[~]# touch b
root[~]# touch c
root[~]# rm .bash_history
rm: cannot remove `.bash_history': No such file or directory
root[~]# history
    1  touch a 
    2  touch b
    3  touch c
    4  rm .bash_history
    5  history

Where is the history being stored? I usually disable history by symbolic linking it to /dev/null but that only works if you know where this history file is

Here's what I'm running (Zenwalk 4.4)

Code:

root[~]# grep root /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0::/root:/bin/bash
root[~]# /bin/sh -version
GNU bash, version 3.1.17(2)-release (i486-slackware-linux-gnu)

puffinman · 04-05-2007, 04:20 AM

The history is not dumped to file until after bash exits; until then, it's in memory. You can disable the history dumping to file with the HISTFILE environment variable. From the bash man page:

Code:

       HISTFILE
              The name of the file in which command history is saved (see HISTORY below).  The default value  is  ~/.bash_his-
              tory.  If unset, the command history is not saved when an interactive shell exits.

There are actually a lot of ways to customize the history: how many lines are saved, where they are saved, which commands to ignore, etc.