Shell Aliases

Maybe you always run ls with the same flags. You can make a shortcut for them:

alias ll="ls -la"

This creates a temporary alias for the current shell session. Until you close the shell, ll will run ls -la.

Running alias without any arguments lists all the active aliases in your current session.

You can remove an alias with unalias:

unalias ll

That removes ll from the current session.

If you want your alias to still work the next time you open your shell, you can add it to your shell configuration file.

Add an alias to your config file.

1. Open the config file you used in the previous lesson:

   nano ~/.bashrc
   # or, if you're using zsh:
   nano ~/.zshrc
   

2. Add the alias that matches your shell to the bottom:

   alias reload='source ~/.bashrc'
   # or:
   alias reload='source ~/.zshrc'
   

3. Ironically, source your config file to load the new alias:

   . ~/.bashrc
   # or:
   . ~/.zshrc
   

4. List your current aliases:

   alias
   

Paste the line that shows the reload alias and submit it.