You can use the bash command
source to apply the settings in your .bashrc to your current bash session -
source ~/.bashrc. Try it. If it does work, but your settings aren't applied in new terminals or when logging in through ssh (or equivalent), make sure your ~/.bashrc is parsed every time you log in. Do this by adding this to your ~/.bash_profile:
Code:
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]
then
source ~/.bashrc
fi
This will ensure that your settings in .bashrc are applied to all types of logins.
Håkan