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

AymDev
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i3wangyi
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11 Answers11

243

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A newer version of the documentation for startup files can be found here.

Alexej Magura
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    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. – chepner Apr 16 '14 at 13:16
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    @chepner `.zshenv` is where all environment variables should be defined. See [here](http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Intro/intro_3.html) – Alexej Magura Apr 16 '14 at 16:55
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    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. – chepner Apr 16 '14 at 17:05
  • @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](https://stackoverflow.com/a/34244862/183120). – legends2k Nov 26 '20 at 13:09
  • @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. – chepner Jun 07 '21 at 12:11
  • @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). – chepner Jun 07 '21 at 12:12
  • @chepner According to the documentation for Zsh, `.zprofile`/`.zlogin` should not affect the shell environment at all. – Alexej Magura Aug 03 '21 at 18:59
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    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. – chepner Aug 03 '21 at 19:17
  • @chepner All I'm saying is that the documentation (and by extension the developers) don't agree with putting environmental settings in `.zprofile`/`.zlogin`. – Alexej Magura Aug 04 '21 at 00:39
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    It's not in the current man page, though. Note that your link was last updated in 1995. – chepner Aug 04 '21 at 11:45
  • @chepner Ah, fair enough. – Alexej Magura Aug 05 '21 at 18:33
79

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.

Luke Schoen
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Zack
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20

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.

kelvin
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Pravin Bansal
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12

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

backdoorman
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  • could there be some differences between bash and zsh that caused bash_profile not to start properly? see http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l14 – framontb May 22 '20 at 16:29
10

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.

Anil Dubey
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5

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.
Alexey Vazhnov
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Hiccup
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3

update: macOS Monterey 12.4

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

Anton
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0

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.

Rajeev Jayaswal
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0

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.

kelvin
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Jacky Li
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0

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

Gampesh
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-1

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

Alisha Irshad
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