# How to create Bash aliases in Fedora

Creating your own [Bash aliases](https://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/aliases.html) is a relatively easy process. That said, I recently switched my desktop linux distribution from [Debian](https://debian.org) to [Fedora](https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/) and there are subtle differences. On Debian, the default `.bashrc` file has the following entry:

```
# Alias definitions.
# You may want to put all your additions into a separate file like
# ~/.bash_aliases, instead of adding them here directly.
# See /usr/share/doc/bash-doc/examples in the bash-doc package.

if [ -f ~/.bash_aliases ]; then
    . ~/.bash_aliases
fi
```

The above tests as to whether or not the `.bash_aliases` file exists in the user's home directory and if it does exists, it loads any aliases held within it. I like the simplicity of this.

It works slightly differently with Fedora, where the default <code>.bashrc</code> file has this entry:

```
# User specific aliases and functions
if [ -d ~/.bashrc.d ]; then
	for rc in ~/.bashrc.d/*; do
		if [ -f "$rc" ]; then
			. "$rc"
		fi
	done
fi
```

The above tests for the existence of the `.bashrc.d` directory within the user's home directory, before attempting to load every file within that directory. I like this approach too.

So, to create a Bash alias under Fedora, first create the `.bashrc.d` directory in your home directory (_it does not exist by default_) and then create a new file in that directory. The file can be named anything, but you probably want to call it something relative, like `aliases`. This can be achieved with the following command.

```
mkdir -p ~/.bashrc.d && touch $_/aliases
```

Edit the newly created aliases file and write your aliases as required.

None of this is super important as you can edit your `.bashrc` file to load your aliases however you want, I just find these little nuances between Linux distros quite interesting.