On Mac ~/.profile file went suddenly missing

Question

And with it all my class paths, env vars and aliases. Is this something that can be recovered?

Answer 1

If you have a backup (like Time Capsule), you can recover the file.

Answer 2

On a Side note. Using .profile is not the best option. Using .bash_profile or .bashrc is much better for you in the long run.

Place this in .bash_profile or .bashrc and place your exports, functions and aliases in the following.

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

Place this function which Backs up .bash* files in you .bash_functions and all you have to do us run backup_bashfile in the terminal and there we go.

function backup_bashfiles()
{
   ARCHIVE="$HOME/bash_dotfiles_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz";
   cd ~
   tar -czvf $ARCHIVE .bash_profile .bashrc .bash_functions .bash_aliases .bash_prompt
   echo "All backed up in $ARCHIVE";
 }

Using Time Machine is a great solution yet get you bashes in the right place and back them up, they will be with you for a long time.