On Sat, May 01, 2004 at 05:59:36PM -0600, Bob Proulx wrote: > Markus Lindstr�m wrote: > > Bob Proulx wrote: > > > Please be specific. What does "activated" mean? Does it mean that > > > you have this following alias in your ~/.bashrc file? > > > > > > eval `dircolors -b` > > > alias ls='ls --color=auto' > > > > Yes, that's the behavior I'm trying to obtain. > > Does your ~/.bash_profile source your ~/.bashrc file? The default > skeleton contains the following commented out. Uncomment it. > > # include .bashrc if it exists > if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then > source ~/.bashrc > fi > > That will cause your login shell to source your .bashrc file. > Otherwise it won't be loaded at login time. I think that is the part > you are missing. > > > I need to identify the config file that bash uses in the virtual > > consoles. Any ideas on this? > > Let me repeat snippets from the bash manual in the "INVOCATION" > section. I will annotate. > > : INVOCATION > : A login shell is one whose first character of argument > : zero is a -, or one started with the --login option. > > On the virtual consoles my shells are login shells. > > echo $0 > -bash > > As login shells the rules concerning them apply. This is in contrast > to xterm et al windows which are usually not login shells. > > : When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as > : a non-interactive shell with the --login option, it first > : reads and executes commands from the file /etc/profile, if > : that file exists. After reading that file, it looks for > : ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.profile, in that > : order, and reads and executes commands from the first one > : that exists and is readable. The --noprofile option may > : be used when the shell is started to inhibit this behav� > : ior. > > The virtual console invokes 'getty' which invokes 'login' which > launches '-bash' which looks at itself and sees the leading '-' and so > knows it is a login shell. It reads /etc/profile, one of > ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bash_login or ~/.profile. > > Notice that ~/.bashrc is not sourced in the above. I guess the > rationale goes that a user might want one thing one place and another > thing another place. But typically you will always want the .bashrc > sourced and will therefore need the following in your .bash_profile. > > # include .bashrc if it exists > if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then > source ~/.bashrc > fi > > That is part of the skeleton but commented out. You will need to > uncomment it in order to get your .bashrc filed when you log into your > account with a login shell. This also applies to logging in with ssh > and other network transports. > > : When an interactive shell that is not a login shell is > : started, bash reads and executes commands from ~/.bashrc, > : if that file exists. This may be inhibited by using the > : --norc option. > > Shells that are started by the window manager are not login shells > normally. However it is possible to specify them to be. I have seen > people be confused trying getting their .profile sourced and will > specify the terminal to start up login shells as one method. Better > to set up ~/.xsession to do this instead. > > Shells that are not login shells will source ~/.bashrc file while > login shells will not unless specifically told to do so. However you > will almost always tell bash to source the ~/.bashrc file explicitly > in your ~/.bash_profile unless you really have a special purpose in > mind. I don't know why it is not the default in the skel file. But > since your ~/ is yours you can customize your ~/ files to do this > easily. > > : When bash is started non-interactively, to run a shell > : script, for example, it looks for the variable BASH_ENV in > : the environment, expands its value if it appears there, > : and uses the expanded value as the name of a file to read > : and execute. Bash behaves as if the following command > : were executed: > : if [ -n "$BASH_ENV" ]; then . "$BASH_ENV"; fi > : but the value of the PATH variable is not used to search > : for the file name. > > Never set BASH_ENV. It is most often a source of breakage for > scripts. > > : When bash is started in posix mode, as with the --posix > : command line option, it follows the POSIX standard for > : startup files. In this mode, interactive shells expand > : the ENV variable and commands are read and executed from > : the file whose name is the expanded value. No other > : startup files are read. > > Never set ENV either for similar reasons. But ENV is required for ksh > users and sometimes follows ksh user's environment over when they > switch to bash. An easy mistake to make. But bash does not need it. > > : Bash attempts to determine when it is being run by the > : remote shell daemon, usually rshd. If bash determines it > : is being run by rshd, it reads and executes commands from > : ~/.bashrc, if that file exists and is readable. > > This is tricky to use and can get people in trouble. But the intent > is to make aliased commands and other environment available the same > as if you had logged in directly and run the command interactively. > For example a typical alias is 'alias ls=ll'. With that in place the > following works both locally and remotely. > > ll > ssh example.com ll > > The last piece of the puzzle is the ~/.xsession file. This controls > your graphical login. The best way to have your graphical terminal > shells load your environment is to have your .xsession file be invoked > as a login shell. > > #!/bin/bash --login > exec x-session-manager > > Make sure it is executable or it will have no effect. > > chmod a+x $HOME/.xsession > > With that in place your xsession will be invoked as a login shell so > /etc/profile and ~/.bash_profile will be sourced as illustrated above. > The shells started with each terminal window will source the ~/.bashrc > files and the environment will load exactly as one expects. > > When you log into the xdm, kdm, gdm graphical login managers you have > a choice of selecting 'default' or of selecting a particular sesssion > such as 'kde', 'gnome', fvwm, etc. Make sure you select 'default' if > you want your envionment sourced. Selecting 'default' executes your > ~/.xsession and the rest follows. Selecting a specific window manager > avoids ~/.xsession and sources only that window manager's files. That > is useful for when you have an error in your files which are > preventing you from logging into the system. But it can lead to > confusion. > > Hope that helps. > > Bob
Tremendously. I have been following the thread with interest. Good dissertation Bob, thanks again. AR -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
