In Linux, when does the “bash” command source a ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile file?

Question

I am currently using ssh to access a linux computer. I use the command:

ssh -t user@hostaddress 'cd ~/Desktop && bash'

When I get there, I see that neither ~/.bash_profile nor ~/.profile are sourced. What are the rules surrounding when these are sourced in? The reason I call bash is because I am able to get terminal colors when I do bash (blue folders, etc) that I otherwise cannot get just by using ssh user@hostaddress .

Answer 1

You're not running bash as a login shell -- using bash -l should source .bash_profile . Otherwise you can use .bashrc .