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Q: How can I get a new copy of my dotfiles?
Answer
There are two kinds of dotfiles: The system-wide dotfiles that came with your account, and user-created dotfiles. If you're experiencing a problem logging in to Athena, the problem could be caused by either category of dotfiles.
System-wide dotfiles
You can obtain a new copy of the system-wide dotfiles from /usr/prototype_user. If you know which one you need (see below), you can copy it individually. Alternatively, you can restore all of the system-wide dotfiles with this command:
With the exception of ".logout" and ".mh_profile", you should never change or alter any of these files. Your login sequence can be customized using other means. For more information see Dotfiles on Athena.
These are the files you can obtain from the /usr/prototype_user directory:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| .bash_login | Commands run at login time for terminal-mode (e.g. ssh) sessions (Bash users) |
| .bashrc | Commands run with each new shell (Bash users) |
| .cshrc | Commands run with each new shell (tcsh users) |
| .login | Commands run at login time for terminal-mode (e.g. ssh) sessions (tcsh users) |
| .logout | Commands run at logout time for all users |
| .mh_profile | mail handler (MH) configuration file |
User-created dotfiles
The following dotfiles also control your login sequence, however they do not exist by default in new accounts. If you got a new copy of the system dotfiles (see above) and you're still having problems, try deleting or renaming these files:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| .bashrc.mine | Commands run with each new shell (Bash users) |
| .cshrc.mine | Commands run with each new shell (tcsh users) |
| .environment | Commands run once per login session (tcsh users) |
| .bash_environment | Commands run once per login session (Bash users) |
| .startup.tty | Commands run only in tty (e.g. ssh) sessions |
| .startup.X | Commands run only in graphical sessions (e.g. sitting at a workstation) |
| .xsession | Provides you with an alternative X session. The use of this file is not encouraged except by very advanced users. |
| .dmrc | Controls your session type on Debathena; can cause problems if you migrate from very old versions of Debathena |
1 Comment
comments.show.hideAug 29, 2014
Richard Matthew McCutchen
I was curious about the process for populating new user home directories (including copying in the system-wide dotfiles) and researched it a bit with bbaren of the SIPB. It is actually done by afs_create.pl. Some items (primarily the ones with special AFS permissions) are hard-coded there, while others are copied from /moira/dotfiles on the Moira server. We're not sure exactly what's in /moira/dotfiles: we have no way to access it directly and could not confirm that it is a mirror of some other source. It can't simply be a mirror of /usr/prototype_user, because that wouldn't explain where ~/index.html (the dummy file that prevents http://web.mit.edu/USERNAME/ from being listed) comes from. Researching this part further is left as an exercise for the interested reader.