How do I restart my Unix session (re-source my initialization files)?

To restart a Unix session, you first need to know which shell you're using. To find out, enter: echo $SHELL

The name of your shell is the last part of what you see (e.g., if you see /usr/bin/ksh, then your shell is ksh).

If your shell is csh or tcsh, enter: source .cshrc; source .login

If your shell is ksh or bash, enter: . .profile

If your shell is bash, and you have created a .bashrc file, you should also enter: . .bashrc

Note that, in bash, the source command is the same thing as the dot command ( . ); you can use them interchangeably, depending on which makes more sense to you.

At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

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