The following table shows what files are sourced by bash depending on how it
was invoked. Order is top to bottom, x meaning not sourced, yes meaning
sourced.
| . | ... | L.. | .I. | LI. | ..S | L.S | .IS | LIS | comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/etc/profile |
x | yes | x | yes | x | yes | x | yes | - |
~/.bash_profile |
x | yes | x | yes | x | x | x | x | - |
~/.bash_login |
x | yes | x | yes | x | x | x | x | only if ~/.bash_profile is not found |
~./profile |
x | yes | x | yes | x | yes | x | yes | only if none of ~/.bash_profile and ~./bash_login are found |
~/.bashrc |
yes | yes | yes | yes | x | x | x | x | - |
BASHENV |
yes | yes | x | x | x | x | x | x | BASHENV cannot use PATH while expansion |
ENV |
x | x | x | x | x | x | yes | yes | ENV cannot use PATH while expansion |
~/.bash_logout |
x | yes | x | yes | x | x | x | x | only when exiting |
L means login-shell, I means interactive shell and S means stared as
sh. So, L.. means non-interactive Login-shell normally run, .I. means
non-login Interactive shell. LIS means Login-interactive shell in POSIX mode.
Do remember: Environment variables that are exported will be passed to
any subshells, so subshells get any environment variables created in their
parent shell even if the subshell does not source the file where the
environment variable was defined.
bashman page in sectionINVOCATION