creating log in script for a specific user

[rgfirefly24]

ok i need to create a startup script to run when this user logs in that would set the term variable to vt100 and export it. it will also echo hello, $logname at the command prompt.

i have created a .profile with this in it

export $TERM = "vt100"
echo Hello, $LOGNAME

however, when i log in the user it does not do the echo.

[Thrillhouse]

rgfirefly24, I posted this in your other thread but I'll put it here too in case you missed it.

Try changing the first line to:

export TERM=vt100

[vsemaska]

Is bash the login shell for the account? If so the bash manpage says:

When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as a non-inter-
active shell with the --login option, it first reads and executes com-
mands from the file /etc/profile, if that file exists. After reading
that file, it looks for ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.pro-
file, in that order, and reads and executes commands from the first
one that exists and is readable.

So if .bash_profile or .bash_login exists then your .profile won't be executed.

[i92guboj]

Is bash the login shell for the account? If so the bash manpage says:

When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as a non-inter-
active shell with the --login option, it first reads and executes com-
mands from the file /etc/profile, if that file exists. After reading
that file, it looks for ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.pro-
file, in that order, and reads and executes commands from the first
one that exists and is readable.

So if .bash_profile or .bash_login exists then your .profile won't be executed.

Note also that it's only for *login* shells. Which means that this will not be run on an xterm unless you explicitly pass the --login option. In those cases, the right file is ~/.bashrc.

With some exceptions, most stuff under ~/.bash_profile will not be problematic on ~/.bashrc, so, some people just created one of these files, and symlink it to the other.