Cannot edit bash_profile on Mac OsX

Question

I am using MacOSX Snow Leopard 10.6.8.... I am the only user on this machine and I should be admin.

I trying to edit my bash_profile to give it this simple alias:

alias server=' open http://localhost:8000 && python -m SimpleHTTPServer'

however when I use the terminal and type: vim ~/. bash_profile and paste in this alias I get message saying I cant save due to permissions.

So then I show all hidden files and go to fix the permissions on this file but the file is all grayed out.... I cant change anything. What can I do??

Solution

You need to open it with sudo.

sudo vim ~/.bash_profile

The file appears greyed-out when you show hidden files because Mac OS X displays hidden files as greyed out so you can differentiate them from non-hidden files. You should still be able to edit the permissions on the file (you don't need to, though).

If you want to be able to edit without being root, you can change the owner of the file.

sudo chown your_user_name ~/.bash_profile