Your Login Files

There are three files that affect your environment when you log in to a Unix computer:

(1) /etc/cshrc
(2) .cshrc    (in your home directory)
(3) .login    (in your home directory)

These files allow you to customize your C shell environment.

/etc/cshrc

This file is created and maintained by your system administrator. It is read each time you start a new C shell.

.cshrc

The .cshrc file is also read each time you start a new csh shell. You are allowed to modify this file. This file is read after the /etc/cshrc file.

.login

The .login file is read only once, when you log in to your Unix system. It is read after the /etc/cshrc and .cshrc files.

These files let you:

1. Customize your environment
2. Save your customization changes to standard files, so that each time you log in to your system, your environment will be customized to your liking.

Once these files are created and saved, these changes will be in effect for you when you log out and then back in again. That way, once you've created aliases, set up your path, your terminal type, etc., your changes will take affect automatically each time you log onto the system in the future.