Where is my .profile file in Snow Leopard?

Question

I am setting up Apache Tomcat on my OS X 10.6.2 and need to know where my .profile file is, for setting environment variables. I thought it was in the root of my home directory, but I cannot find it.

Answer 1

The .profile file isn't created by default.

To set the environment variables make a file called .profile in the root of your home directory (/Users/<yourshortname>/ or ~/ for short) and put the necessary variables in it. Tomcat will find it automatically based on the name.

Answer 2

Users don't get a profile by default -- they use the systemwide shell at /etc/profile.

Answer 3

It may not be created, but should source successfully if you create a new file at ~/.profile. Try a simple alias or something similar and see if it works.

Answer 4

Old but still relevant: bash on Mac OS X - O'Reilly Media