I frequently edited the .bashrc file to export new environment variables.
Rather than close the console and start a new one to refresh the env variables, is there a convenient way to refresh?
asked Dec 13, 2011 at 5:41
5 Answers
Within the same window, you can simply type bash to start a new one. This is equivalent to closing the window and re-opening a new one.
Alternatively, you can type source ~/.bashrc to source the .bashrc file.
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9
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3also there is no need to type long word
source. you can just type dot instead of it:. ~/.bashrc.– rushDec 13, 2011 at 6:31 -
7@Rush typing
sourceshows the user which command is called. I don't believe in showing the shorthanded commands to new users until they understand what the code is doing.– n0peDec 13, 2011 at 6:34 -
16note that merely sourcing bashrc is not necessarily equal to a restart of bash. defined variables are not automatically undefined. shell options are not automatically unset. sourcing bashrc only executes what is written in bashrc. it does not rollback any other changes in the environment. starting a new bash session inside the old is also not necessarily equal to a restart of bash, as the new process inherits the environment from the old.– LesmanaDec 13, 2011 at 20:57
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4@MaxMackie Considering how
sourceis a bashism that is longer to type yet offers no advantages over its portable across all shells equivalent,., I don't see the point of encouraging anyone, new or experienced, to use it.– jw013Dec 15, 2011 at 2:27
Just use
source ~/.bashrc
or
. ~/.bashrc
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2this is not right, as the objects you may already have defined in your session but that are not redefined in the bashrc file (or unset) will stay defined May 25, 2021 at 0:57
In addition to what others have suggested, I have found out that source won't unset the previously assigned environment variables. So, if you want to unset environment variables, you have to do it manually using unset <var>.
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Great idea! But this exposes what I hate the most about Linux mindset. They make tools to do a half-assed job and then someone has to come around and clean up the mess. Mutating the state of your system is NOT FUNDAMENTAL. Refreshing an environment by starting from a known good state is a fundamental concept in computer science and yet the UNIX developer mindset chooses to ignore this. The state of the system needs to be a guarantee! Not just merely an afterthought.– RyanJul 3, 2020 at 7:48
Adding to another answer, I find it's helpful to define the following alias:
alias refreshenv="bash;exit"
Doing this will ensure that the parent bash instance will be killed as soon as you exit the child bash instance and so on. Avoids you having to type exit multiple times, as you'd have to do with just typing bash.
Since this question comes up on Google when you search for how to reload the environment inside a shell script, here's one:
If you're inside a Bash script and need to re-load environment variables afresh:
Spawn a login shell with an empty environment and then examine its state:
eval "$(exec /usr/bin/env -i "${SHELL}" -l -c "export")"
Note that this will not consider non-exported variables. I would suggest set -o posix && set for that instead, but it has the problem that it can break, as you can't just write every variable in Bash. Parsing its output is not easy either, so I wouldn't recommend it. It's unlikely it's what you want though.
answered Apr 22, 2020 at 4:43
.profile, not.bashrc. The.profileis sourced when you login (e.g. via a display manager) and also takes effect for programs that aren't started from your shell (e.g. via your desktop environment). This makes it, AFAICT, basically impossible to modify it without logging out though. Then only solution to change the environment after login I'm aware of is the fish shell with their universal variables. This shell is not well supported in display managers though (yet?).