3.23. Files

• /etc/profile

  systemwide defaults, mostly setting the environment (all shells, not just Bash)

• /etc/bashrc

  systemwide functions and 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 C for a sample .bashrc file.

These are the startup files for Bash. They contain the aliases (see Section 3.20) and environmental variables made available to Bash running as a user shell and to all Bash scripts invoked after system initialization.