HISTSIZE
The maximum number of commands to remember on the history list.
If the value is 0,
**commands are not saved** in the history list.
Numeric values less than zero result in
every command being saved on the history list (there is no limit).
So for an infinite history list, make:
HISTSIZE=(some number less than 0)
HISTFILESIZE
The maximum number of lines contained in the history file.
When this variable is assigned a value,
the history file is truncated, if necessary,
to contain no more than that number of lines
by removing the oldest entries.
The history file is also truncated to this size after
writing it when a shell exits.
If the value is 0,
**the history file is truncated to zero size.**
Non-numeric values and numeric values less than zero
inhibit truncation.
So for an infinite .bash_history
history file, make:
HISTFILESIZE=(some number less than 0)
export HISEFILESIZE=10000
(although it seems you didn't in your.profile
if the echos worked). Just in case someone looks at it here, it should beHISTFILESIZE