What Is Profile File in Linux?
Contents

profile or . bash_profile files in your home directory. These files are used to set environmental items for a users shell. Items such as umask, and variables such as PS1 or PATH . The /etc/profile file is not very different however it is used to set system wide environmental variables on users shells.

What is a profile file?

A profile file is a start-up file of an UNIX user, like the autoexec. bat file of DOS. When a UNIX user tries to login to his account, the operating system executes a lot of system files to set up the user account before returning the prompt to the user. … This file is called profile file.

Where is the .profile file in Linux?

The . profile file is located in the user-specific folder called /home/<username>. So, the . profile file for notroot user is located in /home/notroot.

James H. Sterling

James H. Sterling

Environmental Science & Climate Journalist

James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.

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