3.1.1.2. /etc/bashrc

On systems offering multiple types of shells, it might be better to put Bash-specific configurations in this file, since /etc/profile is also read by other shells, such as the Bourne shell. Errors generated by shells that don't understand the Bash syntax are prevented by splitting the configuration files for the different types of shells. In such cases, the user's ~/.bashrc might point to /etc/bashrc in order to include it in the shell initialization process upon login.

You might also find that /etc/profile on your system only holds shell environment and program startup settings, while /etc/bashrc contains system-wide definitions for shell functions and aliases. The /etc/bashrc file might be referred to in /etc/profile or in individual user shell initialization files.

The source contains sample bashrc files, or you might find a copy in /usr/share/doc/bash-2.05b/startup-files. This is part of the bashrc that comes with the Bash documentation:

alias ll='ls -l'
alias dir='ls -ba'
alias c='clear'
alias ls='ls --color'

alias mroe='more'
alias pdw='pwd'
alias sl='ls --color'

pskill()
{
        local pid

        pid=$(ps -ax | grep $1 | grep -v grep | gawk '{ print $1 }')
        echo -n "killing $1 (process $pid)..."
        kill -9 $pid
        echo "slaughtered."
}

Apart from general aliases, it contains useful aliases which make commands work even if you misspell them. We will discuss aliases in Section 3.5.2. This file contains a function, pskill; functions will be studied in detail in Chapter 11.

Next: Individual user configuration files Previous: /etc/profile