Fixing "declare -x" Environment Dump on Bash Startup

🧠 Bash Debugging Case Study: Why Does My Terminal Print All declare -x Environment Variables?

🕵️‍♂️ The Symptom

Every time I opened a new terminal in Elementary OS 7.1 (based on Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS), my shell printed dozens of lines like:

declare -x CLUTTER_IM_MODULE="ibus"
declare -x COLORTERM="truecolor"
declare -x DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus"
...

It looked like a full dump of all environment variables. It happened every single time I opened the terminal, and even after a system reboot.

🧠 Root Cause (TL;DR)

I had this line in my ~/.bashrc file:

export

This command, when run on its own, prints all current exported environment variables in the format:

declare -x VAR="value"

So every time Bash read that file (e.g., on terminal launch), it executed the export line and printed the entire environment — unintentionally.

🧪 How It Got There

Most likely I ran:

export

in the terminal at some point, and maybe copy-pasted or redirected output without realizing. Later, it might have been appended to .bashrc by mistake (especially if running something like history >> ~/.bashrc or manually editing).

🛠️ How I Fixed It

Step 1: Open .bashrc for editing

nano ~/.bashrc

Step 2: Look for a standalone export command

export       # ← THIS is the problem
export DATABASE_PASSWORD="halo2587"  # ← This one is fine (but may be insecure)

Step 3: Delete or comment the problematic line

# export       ← commented or removed

Step 4: Save and exit

  • Ctrl+O → Save
  • Enter → Confirm filename
  • Ctrl+X → Exit

Step 5: Reload or reopen your terminal

source ~/.bashrc

Now everything runs clean — no more declare -x spam.

🧯 Bonus: Preventing It in the Future

  • Never leave export alone in your config files.

  • Use grep to quickly check:

    grep -E '^export\s*$' ~/.bashrc

  • If you see export with no variable name → it’s wrong.

  • Keep secrets (like DATABASE_PASSWORD) out of .bashrc. Use a .env file or a secrets manager instead.

🧘 Final Thoughts

This was a great debugging session involving:

  • bash -ix to trace shell execution.
  • strace to track which files Bash loads.
  • grep and detective-level digging into shell behavior.

If your terminal suddenly prints too much, especially declare -x, remember: look for an orphaned export.