Reload bash's .profile without logging out and back in again

Question

Is it possible to coerce bash to reload the .profile file without logging out and back in again?

dessert · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-16 12:10:34Z

157

This should work for the current terminal:

. ~/.profile

. is a bash builtin and a synonym for source, see man bash:

. filename [arguments]
source filename [arguments]
Read and execute commands from filename in the current shell environment (…).

dessert

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answered Aug 29, 2011 at 14:11

Lukas Stejskal

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30

It will be effective only in the current terminal.
– enzotib
Aug 29, 2011 at 14:14
2

@enzotib Is there a way to work around that?
– Matty
Aug 29, 2011 at 14:20
17

@Matty: no, to make the changes visible to the whole graphical environment, you can only restart the session
– enzotib
Aug 29, 2011 at 14:22
4

The only issue with this is if you remove something from path it would not take effect until you restart
– Aras
Sep 12, 2016 at 19:44
5

@Aras makes an IMPORTANT POINT that deserves expansion: If something is removed from ~/.profile, that change will not take effect after . ~/.profile reload. For example, add a function to ~/.profile: function externalip () { curl http://ipecho.net/plain; echo; }, then ~/.profile - IT WORKS. Now remove that function from ~/.profile, then . ~/.profile again. The function is still available - only restarting (log out & in) will remove it.
– Seamus
Mar 26, 2019 at 1:17

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muru · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-31 21:58:13Z

16

If you don't want to start a new shell but execute the script in the current shell, you source it:

source script_name.sh

source = .

The Bash source built-in is a synonym for the Bourne shell . (dot) command.

muru

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answered Aug 29, 2011 at 14:23

Amey Jah

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