Appendix H. Important Files
startup files
These files contain the aliases and environmental variables made available to Bash running as a user
shell and to all Bash scripts invoked after system initialization.
/etc/profile
Systemwide defaults, mostly setting the environment (all Bourne-type shells, not just Bash [146])
/etc/bashrc
systemwide functions and aliases for Bash
$HOME/.bash_profile
user-specific Bash environmental default settings, found in each user's home directory (the local counterpart to
/etc/profile
)
$HOME/.bashrc
user-specific Bash init file, found in each user's home directory (the local counterpart to
/etc/bashrc
). Only interactive shells and user scripts read this file. See Appendix M for a sample
.bashrc
file.
logout file
$HOME/.bash_logout
user-specific instruction file, found in each user's home directory. Upon exit from a login (Bash) shell, the commands in this file execute.
data files
/etc/passwd
A listing of all the user accounts on the system, their identities, their home directories, the groups they belong to, and their default shell. Note that the user passwords are not stored in this file, [147] but in
/etc/shadow
in encrypted form.
system configuration files
/etc/sysconfig/hwconf
Listing and description of attached hardware devices. This information is in text form and can be extracted and parsed.
bash$
grep -A 5 AUDIO /etc/sysconfig/hwconf
class: AUDIO
bus: PCI
detached: 0
driver: snd-intel8x0
desc: "Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller"
vendorId: 8086
This file is present on Red Hat and Fedora Core installations, but may be missing from other distros.
Appendix H. Important Files 808
