Question

6

Why do I need to run source command for making .bash_profile alias available?

rated 0 times [ 6] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 13088 / 3 Years ago, wed, october 20, 2021, 8:18:04

My .bash_profile is like below:

alias l='ls -l'

alias p='pwd'

alias sites='cd /home/caveman/sites'

alias time_card='cd /home/caveman/sites/time-card/time-card'

alias ping='ping google.com'

alias bash_profile='gedit /home/caveman/.bash_profile'

alias webroot='cd /var/www'

every time I log into my machine I need to run the source .bash_profile to make all the alias available.

Can you guys figure out where is the problem is?

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eballxeye

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2 Years ago

answered 3 Years ago otputler · Accepted Answer

The ~/.bash_profile is only read in login session.

Also, having a ~/.bash_profile prevents the sourcing of ~/.profile, that is the preferred file to use for login shell in the bash configuration for Ubuntu.

When you log in the Display Manager (I suppose GDM), the ~/.profile is read by default (I don't know if GDM follows bash rules and read ~/.bash_profile instead, if exists).

Even if ~/.bash_profile were read from GDM, aliases are not inherited, so
the shell you have in a graphics terminal (that is not a login shell) cannot see them.

The solution is: put your aliases in ~/.bashrc, and use aliases only for very simple things, otherwise use functions.

The file ~/.bashrc is read by non-login interactive shells, and is sourced in ~/.profile, so that its content is also available in login shells.