profiles

N/A - As profiles is not a standard standalone command, there is no universal syntax.
Context-specific tools manage different types of profiles.

N/A
    No standard command options exist for 'profiles' as a standalone utility. Parameters would be specific to context-dependent tools (e.g., nmcli, firewall-cmd).

The profiles command is not a standard, standalone utility widely distributed across mainstream Linux distributions. While the term 'profiles' is extensively used within the Linux ecosystem to describe various configurations (e.g., user environment profiles like .bashrc, network connection profiles managed by NetworkManager, security profiles for AppArmor or SELinux, or systemd unit activation profiles), there isn't a single, unified profiles command to manage all of them. Users typically interact with specific tools relevant to the type of profile they are dealing with. For instance, nmcli for network profiles, systemd-analyze for systemd profiles, or direct editing of configuration files for user shell profiles. This entry describes what a hypothetical or context-specific 'profiles' command might encompass, or refers to the general concept of profile management in Linux.

The primary caveat is that profiles is not a standard, universal command in Linux. Users searching for this command may be looking for specific utilities that manage a particular type of profile (e.g., network, security, user environment). Relying on a non-existent generic 'profiles' command will lead to 'command not found' errors. Always refer to the documentation for specific software packages or subsystems (like NetworkManager, firewalld, AppArmor, systemd) when dealing with their respective 'profiles'.

The term 'profile' in Linux refers to various configuration sets tailored for specific purposes:
User Environment Profiles: Files like .bashrc, .profile, .bash_profile in a user's home directory that define shell settings, aliases, and environment variables.
Network Connection Profiles: Configurations managed by tools like NetworkManager (e.g., stored in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/) defining how network interfaces connect to networks.
Security Profiles: Rulesets for Mandatory Access Control (MAC) systems like AppArmor or SELinux that define what processes can and cannot do.
Firewall Zones/Profiles: In firewalld, zones act as profiles defining trusted levels for network connections.
Systemd Unit Activation Profiles: While not explicitly called 'profiles', systemd units are configured to activate under certain conditions, effectively acting as operational profiles.

The concept of 'profiles' in Unix-like systems dates back to early days with user-specific configuration files like .profile and .login, which defined user environments. Over time, as Linux grew more complex, different subsystems introduced their own 'profile' mechanisms: network configurations, security policies, and system services. There's no single historical development of a 'profiles' command because the concept evolved independently within various components. The closest general concept is the the evolution of environment configuration and system-wide policy management.

nmcli(1), firewall-cmd(1), apparmor_parser(8), systemd-analyze(1), useradd(8)