profile(4)                                                profile(4)


       NAME
             profile - setting up an environment at login time

       SYNOPSIS
             /etc/profile
             $HOME/.profile

       DESCRIPTION
             All users who have the shell, sh(1), as their login command
             have the commands in these files executed as part of their
             login sequence.

             /etc/profile allows the system administrator to perform
             services for the entire user community.  Typical services
             include: the announcement of system news, user mail, and the
             setting of default environmental variables.  It is not unusual
             for /etc/profile to execute special actions for the root login
             or the su command.  Computers running outside the U.S. Eastern
             time zone should have the line

                   . /etc/TIMEZONE

             included early in /etc/profile [see timezone(4)].

             The file $HOME/.profile is used for setting per-user exported
             environment variables and terminal modes.  The following
             example is typical (except for the comments):

                   # Make some environment variables global
                   export MAIL PATH TERM
                   # Set file creation mask
                   umask 022
                   # Tell me when new mail comes in
                   MAIL=/var/mail/$LOGNAME
                   # Add my bin directory to the shell search sequence
                   PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
                   # Set terminal type
                   TERM=${L0:-u/n/k/n/o/w/n}
                   while :
                   do
                         if [ -f ${TERMINFO:-/usr/share/lib/terminfo}/?/$TERM ]
                         then break
                         elif [ -f /usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/$TERM ]
                         then break
                         else echo "invalid term $TERM" 1>&2
                         fi


                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      profile(4)                                                profile(4)


                        echo "terminal: \c"
                        read TERM
                  done
                  # Set the erase character to backspace
                  stty erase '^H' echoe

      FILES
            /etc/TIMEZONE    timezone environment
            $HOME/.profile   user-specific environment
            /etc/profile     system-wide environment

      REFERENCES
            env(1), environ(5), login(1), mail(1), sh(1), stty(1), su(1M),
            term(5), terminfo(4), timezone(4), tput(1)

      NOTICES
            Care must be taken in providing system-wide services in
            /etc/profile.  Personal .profile files are better for serving
            all but the most global needs.





























                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2