Is there anything in Zsh like .bash_profile?

Question

Everytime I open the terminal, I have to source .bash_profile to enable the $JAVA_HOME or other variables.

Atbara

Answer 1

Yes, it's called ~/.zshenv.

Here's how I have $JAVA_HOME set in ~/.zshenv:

export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home)"

Keep in mind, however, that zsh is not bash, so just 'cause you have to source your .bash_profile every time you open a terminal does not mean that you have to do that with zsh. With zsh, I only have to re-source my ~/.zshenv when I make changes to it, and then only for terminals which are already open: new terminals should have already sourced my new and improved ~/.zshenv.

NOTE

I often find it helpful, when trying to determine which of my zsh startup files I should place things in to consult zsh startup files.

A newer version of the documentation for startup files can be found here.

Commend

Actually, .zprofile is closer in meaning to .bash_profile, in that both are only sourced by their respective shells for login shells. .zshenv is executed for all instances of zsh, whether or not they are login shells. – Zaremski

@Zaremski .zshenv is where all environment variables should be defined. See here – Commend

Agreed; .bash_profile has to do for bash what .zshenv and .zprofile/.zlogin together do for zsh. That link provides good information on what should go where. – Zaremski

@Alexej Problem with defining PATH in .zshenv is that it could later be overridden, say by /etc/profile; see PATH variable in .zshenv or .zshrc. – Vic

@AlexejMagura I used to think that. .zshenv is sourced for all shells, though, including non-interactive shells. I would stick with .zprofile unless you have a very good reason for affecting other scripts. – Zaremski

@ennth Both will be sourced for interactive login shells; use .zprofile for things that should be inherited by non-zsh processes (like PATH or program-specific environment variables); use .zshrc for things specific to zsh itself, like PS1 (which does not need to be exported). – Zaremski

@Zaremski According to the documentation for Zsh, .zprofile/.zlogin should not affect the shell environment at all. – Commend

I disagree with that comment. .zshenv is sourced for any shell (including non-login interactive shells and non-interactive shells), which means it would be used far more often than is necessary for configuring your environment variables. I restrict that file to zsh-specific things, like zstyle commands: things that will not be inherited from a parent process. – Zaremski

@Zaremski All I'm saying is that the documentation (and by extension the developers) don't agree with putting environmental settings in .zprofile/.zlogin. – Commend

It's not in the current man page, though. Note that your link was last updated in 1995. – Zaremski

@Zaremski Ah, fair enough. – Commend

ss64.com/mac/syntax-profile.html – Kepi

Answer 2

I know this is an old question, but I recently upgraded MacOs to Catalina which changed the default shell from bash to zsh.

I ended up doing this:

 echo source ~/.bash_profile > ~/.zshenv && source ~/.zshenv

To have zsh source my original .bash_profile.

Smallish

Use the command like this to ensure that the file is created in the users home directory: echo source ~/.bash_profile > ~/.zshenv – Magnesite

Is the use of echo important here? What does that do? – Uncork

@QASam, echo is a must here, X > Y only pass what X outputted. Without echo, nothing is outputted. – Bode

This works to find my aliases but I still need to source to get the terminal to lad the correct prompt/colors for some reason. – Swore

This worked fine for me. – Curtiscurtiss

Answer 3

Recently, with the upgrade to macOS Catalina, the default shell changed to zsh, which uses ~/.zshrc as the resource file.

We usually had ~/.bash_profile inside user home directory the solution is to simply

1. Open ~/.bash_profile by running vim ~/.bash_profile
2. Open ~/.zshrc by running vim ~/.zshrc
3. Copy the content of ~/.bash_profile into ~/.zshrc

Open a new terminal window and run your previous aliases/scripts, which should work flawlessly.

Evince

You could also add source ~/.bash_profile at the end of the ~/.zshrc. – Wagonette

note that all aliases should also be added at the bottom of ~/.zshrc. – Telluric

Answer 4

There are five separate profile scripts that get executed (in the order given below) when we launch a zsh shell or close it out.

(1) .zshenv --> This is always sourced first but can be overridden by other

(2).zprofile --> This is equivalent for users coming from ksh experience

(3).zshrc --> This is for all of the interactive customizations of zsh

(4).zlogin --> This executes after first three are done

(5).zlogout --> This is executed when we logout of the zsh shell it would be advisable to put your stuff in .zshenv or in .zshrc

It is not mandatory to have any one of these files. But if it is there, it will be sourced from and executed in the above order.

Fosque

Answer 5

Other simple alternative to continue using your .bash_profile is add this file to your .zshrc file:

1. Open your .zhsrc file > vim ~/.zshrc
2. Add this line to your .zshrc file > source ~/.bash_profile

with this simple solution you can continue adding your .bash_prifile if you like zhs.

Adding .bash_profile

Flavourful

could there be some differences between bash and zsh that caused bash_profile not to start properly? see zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l14 – Perry

Answer 6

In Mac Catalina onwards osx versions, the terminal uses zsh. There is a system-wide profile /etc/zprofile.

Output example for cat /etc/zprofile:

# System-wide profile for interactive zsh(1) login shells.

# Setup user specific overrides for this in ~/.zprofile. See zshbuiltins(1)
# and zshoptions(1) for more details.

if [ -x /usr/libexec/path_helper ]; then
    eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s`
fi

it says , if you want to override then create ~/.zprofile.

touch ~/.zprofile.

Bonbon

Answer 7

update: macOS Monterey 12.4

yes - for Zsh, it is the file: .zshrc add there your parameter.

Riffle

This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review – Zoan

Answer 8

In Mac Catalina, terminal uses zsh. Instead of having .bash_profile, good to have .zshenv and write your script there.

When you open terminal next every time, scripts inside .zshenv gets executed.

Egidio

Answer 9

I was running into this issue and I followed Zack and Luke Schoen's answer, but my $PATH didn't look the same as what I had in bash.

This post explains what the different config files do: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/71253/what-should-shouldnt-go-in-zshenv-zshrc-zlogin-zprofile-zlogout

I found that splitting my .bash_profile path exports into .zprofile and my aliases into .zshrc worked best for what I wanted.

I found why Zack and Luke Schoen's answer didn't work for me:

The path exports that I listed in .zshenv were executed first and /usr/libexec/path_helper was executed afterwards, which prepended the paths listed in /etc/paths.

Ulster

Answer 10

I found the profile file under /etc/zprofile location. This will be for zsh

Ultraviolet

Answer 11

yes --> .zshrc is similar to .bash_profile in MAC Ventura

Ovum

This has already been mentioned in other answers. – Paynter