Is there a Bash file that will be always sourced in interactive mode no matter if it is login or non-login?

Question

As far as I know, the interactive shells may be login or not login, and the start up files for them are different.

If interactive + login shell → /etc/profile then the first readable of ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.profile
If interactive + non-login shell → /etc/bash.bashrc then ~/.bashrc

I want to set some variables every time I use an interactive shell regardless whether it is a login shell or not.

possible duplicate of What's the best distro/shell-agnostic way to set environment variables? — strugee, Mar 29 '14 at 23:14
@strugee No, this question isn't about environment variables. — Gilles 'SO- stop being evil', Mar 29 '14 at 23:15
@strugee That's because I went beyond the immediate question and touched on a peripheral topic. One paragraph in one answer doesn't make a duplicate. Questions are only duplicates if they have substantially identical answers, not if one answer happens to contain enough material to answer the second one. — Gilles 'SO- stop being evil', Mar 29 '14 at 23:20

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

11

No, there isn't. Yes, this is a design defect.

Use the following content in ~/.bash_profile:

if [ -e ~/.profile ]; then . ~/.profile; fi
if [[ -e ~/.bashrc && $- = *i* ]]; then . ~/.bashrc; fi

Beware that bash has an even weirder quirk: when it is a non-interactive login shell and the parent process is rshd or sshd, bash sources ~/.bashrc (but not ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile). So you might want to put this at the top of your .bashrc:

if [[ $- != *i* ]]; then return; fi

See also Difference between .bashrc and .bash_profile and Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell?

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

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answered Mar 29 '14 at 23:14

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'

829,060

Those quirks are for security reasons (don't load unexpected files when running in a security-sensitive setting). – vonbrand Mar 30 '14 at 01:41
2

@vonbrand Er, what? No, these quirks have absolutely nothing to do with security. There are no “unexpected files” involved (except that loading .bashrc in a non-interactive setting actually may well count as unexpected), nor any check of any security-sensitive context. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Mar 30 '14 at 01:50
Has this a method to prevent loops? – Braiam Mar 30 '14 at 02:06
1

@Braiam What loops? – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Mar 30 '14 at 02:09

Is there a Bash file that will be always sourced in interactive mode no matter if it is login or non-login?

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