How to Setup Bash

Configuring Bash Consists of 4 main elements

Entrypoint
Environment Vars
Aliases
Path

The Environment Variabls can be set with a global variable BASH_ENV that will source this file everytime the terminal starts.

You can use .bash_profile to source env files at startup too!

**Use export so all commands and sub shells inherit the variables, otherwise they can only be used in the file or shell they are being ran in.

New Env File -- $HOME/bash/env.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash

## Local Shell/file only
LOCAL_VAR='This is local'

## Exported Variable available in all Shells/SubShells
export GLOBAL_VAR='This is Global'

In your bash_profile you would source it at the top like this

Bash Entrypoint -- $HOME/.bash_profile
#!/usr/bin/env bash
source $HOME/bash/env.sh

Bash Alias are ways for you to make shortcuts and combine multiple commands together. You can also use functions!

Here are a few

New Alias File -- $HOME/bash/alias.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash

alias c="clear"
alias ll="ls -la"

function sb(){
  echo "Reloading .bash_profile to update env...."
  source ~/.bash_profile
}

function showPath(){
  if [[ -z "$1" ]]; then
    echo -e $(echo -e $PATH | sed 's/:/\\n/g');
  else
    echo -e $(echo -e $PATH | sed 's/:/\\n/g') | grep $1
  fi
}

function findFile(){
  find . -type f -iname "*$1*"
}

function encode(){
  echo -n "$1" | base64
  echo ""
}
function decode(){
  echo -n "$1" | base64 -d
  echo ""
}

In your bash_profile you would source it at the top like this

tip

source env files first so you can use them in alias commands

Bash Entrypoint -- $HOME/.bash_profile
#!/usr/bin/env bash
source $HOME/bash/env.sh
source $HOME/bash/alias.sh

Add a folder we can drop exe files in and access them in our bash terminal, Lets call it bin

mkdir -p $HOME/bin

Now we need to add it to the shells path using the PATH variable.

Bash Entrypoint -- $HOME/.bash_profile
#!/usr/bin/env bash
source $HOME/bash/env.sh
source $HOME/bash/alias.sh

export PATH=$HOME/bin:${PATH}

# Can also source other locations
export PATH=$HOME/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python312/Scripts:${PATH}

info

Can also make a path.sh file if you want to organize it like that.

Bash Path File -- $HOME/bash/path.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash

export PATH=$HOME/bin:${PATH}
export PATH=$HOME/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python312/Scripts:${PATH}

Bash Entrypoint -- $HOME/.bash_profile
#!/usr/bin/env bash
source $HOME/bash/env.sh
source $HOME/bash/path.sh
source $HOME/bash/alias.sh

...

Configuration Items