bash_aliases.md

Setting up aliases in bash

1. open a new terminal window, confirm that it is in your home directory by typing cd
2. look for the following two (hidden) files in your home directory: .bashrc or .bash_profile. If they don't both exist, create them: touch ~/.bashrc ~/.bash_profile²
3. open the .bashrc file with the command vi ~/.bashrc
4. press I to enter insert mode, and copy the following block into the file: [[ -s ~/.bash_aliases ]] && source ~/.bash_aliases
5. press esc to enter command mode, then type :wq and press enter to save and exit.
6. open the .bash_profile file in the same way: vi .bash_profile
7. press I to enter insert mode, and copy the following block into the file: [[ -s ~/.bashrc ]] && source ~/.bashrc
8. again, press esc to enter command mode, then type :wq and press enter to save and exit.
9. create the .bash_aliases file with the following command: touch ~/.bash_aliases
10. open the file with vi: vi ~/.bash_aliases
11. press I to enter insert mode, and paste in the large block of text below.
12. save and exit, <esc> :wq <enter>
13. finally, type source .bash_profile to load all the aliases.
14. confirm the aliases load when you start a terminal by exiting your terminal and restarting. Type alias and press enter, and you should see the list below.

#
# directory aliases
#

alias ll='ls -l'
alias lla='ls -la'
alias cd..='cd ..'


#
# git aliases
#

alias ga='git add'
alias gc='git commit -m'
alias gpo='git push origin'
alias gs='git status'


#
# class-centric aliases
#
# change this to the full directory where your Code 201 classwork exists

alias 201='cd ~/Documents/Code201/labwork'

#
# bash management aliases
#

alias edbash='vi ~/.bashrc'
alias edal='vi ~/.bash_aliases'
alias newdot='source ~/.bashrc'

footnotes

1. touch is a utility that creates a file if it doesn't exist.