Moving bash files to relevant directory

salmanahmed · 07-02-2020, 08:16 AM

Hi
My home directory contains following bash related files:

Code:

.bash_aliases          .bash_functions  .bash_logout   .bashrc
.bash_eternal_history  .bash_history    .bash_profile  .bash_variables

I want to move all these files in a directory (~/.bash). I know how to move all these files and make relevant changes in .bashrc file. When I login, my bash loads ~/.bash_profile file and by making following changes in the contents of ~/.bash_profile I can move ~/.bashrc and other files to ~/.bash:

Code:

# ~/.bash_profile
#

[[ -f ~/.bash/.bashrc ]] && . ~/.bash/.bashrc

But I don't know how can I move ~/.bash_profile itself, as it is the first file which bash looks for after login. So where should I make changes so that bash looks in ~/.bash directory for .bash_profile?
Thanks

dugan · 07-02-2020, 08:35 AM

You can't. BASH is hardcoded to look for .bash_profile in the root of your home directory.

From the bash-5.0 source code (all indentation preserved):

Code:

      /* Execute /etc/profile and one of the personal login shell
	 initialization files. */
      if (no_profile == 0)
	{
	  maybe_execute_file (SYS_PROFILE, 1);

	  if (act_like_sh)	/* sh */
	    maybe_execute_file ("~/.profile", 1);
	  else if ((maybe_execute_file ("~/.bash_profile", 1) == 0) &&
		   (maybe_execute_file ("~/.bash_login", 1) == 0))	/* bash */
	    maybe_execute_file ("~/.profile", 1);
	}

pan64 · 07-02-2020, 09:09 AM

yes, those files should be there, the location (and name) is hardcoded. Even .bashrc has a default name and location (which can be modified), but easier to keep it as is.

shruggy · 07-02-2020, 09:14 AM

But nothing prevents you from

Code:

mkdir ~/.bash
for f in aliases functions variables
do mv ~/.bash_$f ~/.bash/$f
done
sed -Ei 's,\.bash_(aliases|functions|variables),.bash/\1,g' ~/.bashrc

salmanahmed · 07-02-2020, 09:54 AM

Thanks a lot.
I was thinking that it can be done by /etc/profile.

salmanahmed · 07-02-2020, 10:13 AM

I have moved all ~/.bash* files except ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bashrc.
Initially, I had also moved ~/.bashrc to ~/.bash.d/.bashrc and adjust ~/.bash_profile as follows:

Code:

# ~/.bash_profile
#

[[ -f ~/.bash.d/.bashrc ]] && . ~/.bash.d/.bashrc

But bash did not recognize ~/.bash.d/.bashrc. So it looks like that ~/.bashrc is also hardcoded!

pan64 · 07-02-2020, 11:52 AM

you need to read the man page of bash and you will see how and when will these files be processed (look for invocation).

ondoho · 07-03-2020, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmanahmed

Thanks a lot.
I was thinking that it can be done by /etc/profile.

Why did you not include this thought in your original question?
It's possible, but fragile:
- does it really apply to all users?
- what if any of the files bash wants to source automagically is present?