LinuxQuestions.org - What does your shell prompt look like?

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What does your shell prompt look like?

Well we have a thread for screen shots so waht about your shell prompt?

There are lots of examples on the net including ones that show load averages etc so I just wondered what other people used.

I'll start off with my default one:

Code:

rossy - Wed Nov 12 22:57:01

~> cd /usr/src/linux

rossy - Wed Nov 12 22:57:06

/usr/src/linux>

The prompt string is:
PS1="\[\033[0;31m\]\u - \d \t\n\w> \[\033[0m\]"

Please try and include any commands/scripts etc you used to get your prompt.

Mines simple and probably standard:

Code:

drew@trickykid:/etc$

The prompt string is:
PS1='\u@\h:\w\$ '

Here's my prompt string...
PS1="[\u@\h \w]--> "

shows up like this:
[blinky@Spork ~]-->

Code:

|--j@slackmagick bash 2.05b (1) Wed Nov 12 19:26:51

|--~ >>

Code:

PS1='\n|--\u@\h \s \v (\l) \d \t\n|--\w >> '

[[@bunny:17:54:17:root]]

But you dont get the full effect without the color, try it out:

PS1="\[\033[1;30m\]\[\033[0;32m\][\[\033[1;32m\][\[\033[1;35m\]\[\033[1;36m\]@\h
\[\033[1;37m\]:\[\033[1;35m\]\t\[\033[1;37m\]:\[\033[1;36m\]\W\[\033[1;32m\]]\[\
033[0;32m\]]\[\033[1;30m\]]\[\033[0;0m\]"

Make sure you get the line returns out.

This is my firewall:
[@m0rl0ck:22:57:15:root]+>

Some what the same but uses reverse video, heres the $PS1:

PS1="[\[\033[1;36m\]@\[\033[0;45m\]\h:\[\033[1;36m\]\t\[\033[0;44m\]\[\033[1;36m
\]:\W\[\033[0m\]]\[\033[1;31m\]+>\[\033[0m\]"

EDIT: HEY!! I just realized my clocks are either out of sync or it took me 5 hours 3 mins to compose this post :)

I use ctrl+Z alot, so:

0 [321-2]
[Wed Nov 12 22:02:47]
green_dragon37@grndrgn001 / >

PS1 = \j [\!-\#]\n[\d \t]\n\u@\h \W >

For regular users: (I have a rather colorful hostname, so I edited it somewhat for this post)

cerbere@s#|thead:~$
PS1='\u@\h:\w\$ '

For root:

root@s#|thead:~#
PS1='\[\033[1;31m\]\u@\h\[\033[1;33m\]:\w\[\033[0m\]\$ '

This changes the color of 'root@hostname' to bright red, and the color of the pwd to bright yellow. That way I'm less likely to do things as root that I really don't want to do.

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

It depens on the way I've been logged into the system :-D

normal user: me@pts/1 foldername $

root user: root@pts/1 foldername $

and remotely, me@hal9000 foldername $

The title of the xterm / konsole will also display the tty, host, and full path name. (only the last folder is shown in the prompt)

Code:

#!/bin/bash



PS1='\u@\h:\w\$ '



if [ "$TERM" = "xterm" -o "$TERM" = "xrvt" -o "$TERM" = "$SCREEN" ]; then

  ## Only update the title in an xterm.

  PS1_TITLE='\[\e]2;\u@\H:pts/\l \w\a'

# PS1_TITLE='\[\e]2;\u@\H \w\a\e[32;1m\]>\[\e[0m\]'

else

  PS1_TITLE=''

fi





if [ -z "$SSH_CONNECTION" ]; then



  # local, don't display host, but tty device.



  PS1_TTY="`tty | sed -e 's/\/dev\///'`"



  if [ "`id -u`" = "0" ]; then

    # Red root prompt

    PS1_USER='\[\033[1;31m\]\u'

    PS1_AT='\[\033[0;31m\]@'

    PS1_HOST='\[\033[1;31m\]'

  else

    # Green user prompt

    PS1_USER='\[\033[1;32m\]\u'

    PS1_AT='\[\033[0;32m\]@'

    PS1_HOST='\[\033[1;32m\]'

  fi



  PS1_HOST="$PS1_HOST$PS1_TTY"

  unset -v PS1_TTY



else



  # SSH connection, different color and display host.



  if [ "`id -u`" = "0" ]; then

    # Red/gray root prompt

    PS1_USER='\[\033[1;31m\]\u'

    PS1_AT='\[\033[0;31m\]@'

  else

    # green/gray user prompt

    PS1_USER='\[\033[1;32m\]\u'

    PS1_AT='\[\033[0;32m\]@'

  fi

  PS1_HOST='\[\033[1;30m\]\h'

fi



PS1_PATH='\[\033[1;34m\]\W'  # show dir in blue

PS1_RESET='\[\033[0m\]'





# concatenate.



PS1="$PS1_TITLE$PS1_USER$PS1_AT$PS1_HOST$PS1_RESET $PS1_PATH \\$ $PS1_RESET"

unset -v PS1_TITLE PS1_USER PS1_AT PS1_HOST PS1_PATH PS1_RESET



#PS1='\033]2;\w\007\[\033[1;32m\]\u@\h \[\033[1;34m\]\W \$ \[\033[0m\]'





# Other magical prompts:



PS2='> '

PS4='\[\033[0;34m\]+\[\033[0m\] '



export PS1 PS2 PS4

Hey, interested noobs (like me) :D

Note, that PS1 (the control-string for your prompt) can be set at differing places for different users on your system. Here is what I could make out (without actual access to my system):

/etc/bashrc is used to set the prompt for the "true" consoles reached via <Alt><Crtl><Function key 1 through 6>

/root/bashrc is used to set the prompt for root with graphical login (under KDE)

/home/user/bashrc is used to set the prompt for user (your user-id here)

Please note, that some systems place a "." (without the "'s) in leading position of bashrc, thus generating .bashrc (dot-bashrc), which might be hidden in the file manager (activate "show hidden files") and to the ls-command (that's a small "L") so use the -a option (ls -a).

I do not know where PS2, PS3 ... PSN are set and what they are good for, exactly. Any takers? :D

@moderators (and gurus): checking and editing this post directly as necessary for errors and improvements is welcome. :)

PS2 is your secondary prompt, if you enter commands on multiple lines. for example, if statements, or while loops. (they require a 'counterpart'; a command that ends the statement)
PS4 is used if you enable "set -x", which shows all commands being executed.

from the bash manual you'll see what files are used. (just type "G" to skip to the end) files in /etc/ are usually global, and affect everyone using bash. files in your home directory overrule these global settings.

if you run bash from a login session (or bash -l), /etc/profile will be read, and from your home direcory: ~/.bash_profile, or ~/.profile.

In slackware, there is a /etc/profile.d/ directory where all *excutable scripts* are being executed by /etc/profile too. Some distributions don't have this, but you could add a few lines at the end of /etc/profile very easy:

Code:

# Append any additional sh scripts found in /etc/profile.d/:

for file in /etc/profile.d/*.sh ; do

  if [ -x $file ]; then

    source $file

  fi

done

...guess once, by bash prompt color script is located at /etc/profile.d/bash-prompt-color.sh ;) this affects all users.

a script can be made executable with this command:
chmod +x <insert filename here>

For users: <user>@<host>$
and for root: <user>@<host>#

mine is simple :

Code:

[sohail@linux /usr/local]$ echo $PS1

\[\033[37;01m\][\u@\h \w]$ \[\033[00m\]

[sohail@linux /usr/local]$

[17:20:06] slight - slight>

Errr.... this is from memory, so no guarantees if it's wrong (which it probably is):

export PS1="\e[36;1m]\t\e[0m]\u - \w>"

slight

Cool stuff guys, but one quick question...
Mine is the standard pibby@localhost thing and I am wondering how I change the "localhost" part. For instance TrickyKid has drew@trickykid. Local host is so boring, I hope there is a way to change that.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer :)

Well, you could either change your actual hostname, or just use some of these tricks posted here. I am not positive about Mandrake, but I know in Slack there is a HOSTNAME file in /etc that you can edit to change it from localhost. I actually used netconfig, but I think thats a Slack-specific script.

Thanks for the help, I didnt realize that I could type anything in there, thought it had to be something like /h or /w. Thanks again :)

i use the default as well, but i have experimented with a few
C:$PWD>
for instance (not much of a fooler because of the slashes instead of backslashes but still kinda funny)

You're an evil person, frieza. :D It took me awhile to figure out and it's definitely not thoroughly tested, but it seems to work - I had a hard time going about it the wrong way. I set it pretty easily but couldn't get it to persist through 'cd' commands until I completely rethought it.

Try this Fake Working Directory in your ~/.bashrc or wherever. Very funny. *g*

Code:

PS1="C:\$(fwd)>"



function fwd () {

echo $PWD | sed 's/\//\\/g' | tr [:lower:] [:upper:]

}

Code:

(19:51)[darkspy@Orion darkspy]$ cd Downloads/

(19:51)[darkspy@Orion Downloads]$ echo $PS1

($(date +%H:%M))[\u@\h \W]$

(19:51)[darkspy@Orion Downloads]$

this is what my bash prompt looks like:

echo $PS1

Code:

\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;33m\]\j\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;30m\]\t\[\033[0m\]\[\033[31m\]\u\[\033[0m\]@\[\033[1;34m\]\033[37m\]\w$\[\033[0m\]

export PS1="[\u@\h \W]$ "
for normal users

export PS1="[\u@\h \W]# "
for root

[theonekea@Ganymede theonekea]$

But I may change it, after seeing the stuff in this thread.

mine's also pretty basic:
PS1='\[\e[36;1m\]\u@\h:\[\e[34;1m\]\w \$\[\e[0m\]'
PS2=~>

i wanted to add the current directory to the title bar instead, to save space, but it messes things up when in console mode. :(

< /usr/local/games >
[ Sat Nov 29 ¤ 13:34:11 --- fatgod @ odin ]
$ echo $PS1
\n\033[1;33m\] < \w >\n\033[1;32m\][ \d \244 \t --- \u @ \H ]\n \033[1;37m\]$

Which is virtually impossible to see on a light background... but works well enough on darkened tranparent windows. And when I 'su' the username turns red.

I make it easy on myself, at the top I define the colors I use.........

Code:

 # Color Variables for Prompt

GRAD1='\333\262\261\260'

GRAD2='\260\261\262\333'

YLOBRN='\[\033[01;33;43m\]'

WHTBRN='\[\033[01;37;43m\]'

REDBRN='\[\033[01;31;43m\]'

BLUBRN='\[\033[01;34;43m\]'

GRNBRN='\[\033[00;32;43m\]'

REDBLK='\[\033[00;31;40m\]'

PPLBLK='\[\033[01;35;40m\]'

WHTBLK='\[\033[01;37;40m\]'

NONE='\[\033[00m\]'

HBLK='\[\033[00;30;30m\]'

HBLU='\[\033[01;34;34m\]'



BLU='\[\033[01;34m\]'

YEL='\[\033[01;33m\]'

WHT='\[\033[01;37m\]'

PRPL='\[\033[00;35m\]'

RED='\[\033[01;31m\]'

GRN='\[\033[01;32m\]'          

GRAY='\[\033[01;30m\]'

PINK='\[\033[01;35m\]'

NORM='\[\033[01;00;0m\]'

CYAN='\[\033[01;36m\]'





export GRAD1 GRAD2 YLOBRN WHTBRN REDBRN BLUBRN GRNBRN 

REDBLK PPLBLK WHTBLK NONE HBLK HBLU BLU YEL WHT PRPL 

RED GRN GRAY PINK NORM CYAN

my user prompt is this:

Code:

PS1="$GRN\h $RED\w $YEL\$ $NONE$NORM"

Hence:
Chessmaster ~ $

When I'm root: Chessmaster is Red and the working directory is Green

I have a fairly bland command prompt. The only thing that I really like to have is a \n at the front, which puts a blank line between the last output and the new prompt

Glad you guys resurrected this thread. I searched for it a couple of
months ago but could not find it no matter what string I entered...

Quote:

Originally posted by Chinaman
Glad you guys resurrected this thread. I searched for it a couple of
months ago but could not find it no matter what string I entered...

I found it by accident.........I was searching for some info on /etc/profile.d
and came upon it...............hopefully it won't go dead again for awhile...........

[19:11:21][will@hexbox1lnx]$

PS1="[\t][\u@\h\\$ "

Quite simple... ;)

Code:

mary@linux % ~

I'm using zsh, and I have my mary@linux on the left and my present directory on the right.

My prompt?
3 lines long

username on host.domain:/home/username
cmd->

Done as
PS1="
`whoami` on `hostname:\$PWD
cmd-> "

root's is slightly modified as

root on host.domain:/root
Simon Says->

james@poseidon ~ $

james@poseidon is in green
path and $ is in blue

For root
root@poseidon ~ #
root@poseidon in red
path and # is in blue

Code:

# Define some colors first:

red='\033[0;31m'

RED='\033[1;31m'

green='\033[0;32m'

GREEN='\033[1;32m'

yellow='\033[0;33m'

YELLOW='\033[1;33m'

blue='\033[0;34m'

BLUE='\033[;1;34m'

purple='\033[0;35m'

PURPLE='\033[1;35m'

cyan='\033[0;36m'

CYAN='\033[1;36m'

white='\033[0;37m'

WHITE='\033[1;37m'

NC='\033[0m'  # No Color



function MyPrompt {



    case $TERM in

        *term* | rxvt )



PS1="$GREEN\u@\h $BLUE\w \$$NC \[\033]0;\u@\h \w\007\]" ;;

                *)

PS1="\u@\h: \w \$ ";;

    esac

}

fi



MyPrompt

bigrigdriver Mon Oct 18] $ /path/to/working/directory. Red if I su to root; blue otherwise.

I have this in /etc/bashrc;

# bash-specific settings
ROOT_UID=0
if [ "$UID" -eq "$ROOT_UID" ]
then
PS1="\[\033[31;1m\]\u \d] \\$\w\n \[\033[0m\]"
else
PS1="\[\033[34;1m\]\u \d] \\$\w\n \[\033[0m\]"
fi

How do I get my prompt to show instead of ${PWD}, just the last 3 levels of the path ?

7h15 15 ]V[1]\[3

:: fugu@oni-tng /etc ::

Code:

PS1="\[\033[1;30m\]:\[\033[1;33m\]: \[\033[1;30m\]\u@\h \[\033[1;33m\]\w \[\033[1;33m\]:\[\033[1;30m\]:

for regular user:
[Mon Nov 1][user@percentageness]
[~/music]$

for root:
[Mon Nov 1][root@percentageness]
[/etc][YOU ARE ROOT]#

for regular users:
PS1="[\d][\u@percentageness]\n[\w]\$ "

for root
PS1="[\d][\u@percentageness]\n[\w][YOU ARE ROOT]\# "

Quote:

Originally posted by davholla
How do I get my prompt to show instead of ${PWD}, just the last 3 levels of the path ?

Try this:

Code:



PS1="Last 3: \`pwd|awk --field-separator='/' {'print \$(NF-2)\"/\"\$(NF-1)\"/\"\$(NF)'}\` # "

My home prompt is pretty complex:

Code:

\[\033[0;34m\][\[\033[0;35m\]\u\[\033[0;34m\]@\[\033[0;35m\]\h\[\033[0;34m\]]\[\033[1;37m\]:\[\033[0;31m\]\@\[\033[1;37m\]:\[\033[0;31m\]\d\n\[\033[0;34m\][\[\033[0;31m\]\w\[\033[0;34m\]]\[\033[1;37m\]::

Which looks something like this:
[ user@host ] :current time:current date
[ pwd ] ::

While my work prompt is very simple:

Code:

\u@\h:\w\$

Quote:

Originally posted by david_ross
Try this:

Code:

PS1="Last 3: \`pwd|awk --field-separator='/' {'print \$(NF-2)\"/\"\$(NF-1)\"/\"\$(NF)'}\` # "

Now it looks like :-
3: `pwd|awk --field-separator='/' {'print $(NF-2)/$(NF-1)/$(NF)'}` #

By the way this is not Linux it is HP tru 64

echo $PS1
\033[35m\]\nDirectory:\[\033[32m\]\w\n\[\033[1;31m\]\u@\h: \[\033[1;34m\]$(/usr/bin/tty | /bin/sed -e 's:/dev/::'): \[\033[1;36m\]$(/bin/ls -1 | /usr/bin/wc -l | /bin/sed 's: ::g') files \[\033[1;33m\]$(/bin/ls -lah | /bin/grep -m 1 total | /bin/sed 's/total //')b\[\033[0m\] -> \[\033[0m\]
---
Ends Up Lookin Like This

Directory:~
root@localhost: pts/4: 71 files1.1Gb ->

Code:

16:52:49 Sat Mar 26 anisha ~  fortune

"I haven't lost my mind; I know exactly where I left it."

PS1="\e[0;36m\t \d \u \w \e[m "

for me:
[bread@staircase:~]$
and for root:
[root@staircase:~]#

.zshrc

Code:

PS1="[$PR_WHITE%n$PR_NO_COLOR@$PR_NO_COLOR%m%u$PR_NO_COLOR:$PR_NO_COLOR%2c$PR_NO_COLOR]%(!.#.$) "

\o/

Using zsh:
After a successful command:

tobi@dragon ~ :) %

After an unsuccessful command:

tobi@dragon ~ :( %

Code:

PROMPT=$'%n@%m %0(3c,%c,%~) %0(?,%{\e[0;32m%}:%),%{\e[0;31m%}:(%s)%b %# '

Mine is simple: nick@vega:~$

A couple of years ago I posted a script that I created that will truncate the $PWD and format it for use in the prompt.

Since then I've modified it some more and converted it into a function, and I use it like this:

Code:



#Set some color escape sequences.

#================================#

export RESET='\e[0m' #disable any colors



# Regular colors.

export BLACK='\e[0;30m' RED='\e[0;31m' GREEN='\e[0;32m' YELLOW='\e[0;33m'

export BLUE='\e[0;34m' MAGENTA='\e[0;35m' CYAN='\e[0;36m' WHITE='\e[0;37m'



# Bolded colors.

export BBLACK='\e[1;30m' BRED='\e[1;31m' BGREEN='\e[1;32m' BYELLOW='\e[1;33m'

export BBLUE='\e[1;34m' BMAGENTA='\e[1;35m' BCYAN='\e[1;36m' BWHITE='\e[1;37m'



#=========================#

# Command prompt settings #

#=========================#



# Function for setting a nice variable-length shell prompt.

#==========================================================#

function variprompt {



# This function takes the $PWD or other input string and truncates it to a

# set percentage of the terminal width.  It's designed for use in the bash

# $PS1 prompt to keep it from taking up too much space.  There may be minor

# variations in the actual length due to rounding in the arithmetic.



# Set the desired width of the string below as the percentage of the total

# terminal width.  Remember that any other parts you add to the prompt (such as

# username) will take up additional space.  Also be aware that this script is

# designed for reasonable numbers, and may act in unpredictable ways if the

# target and/or terminal width are very small.  Target values under 25 are not

# recommended.  Will use $1 if it exists, or defaults to the set value.



TARGETPCT=${1:-40}



# Get the current directory or input string.  This will $2 if it exists, or else

# It will default to $PWD.  In addition, if the string includes the $HOME

# directory, it will truncate it to "~".  Simply comment out the second line if

# this behavior is unwanted and you always want the full path.



CURRENTDIR="${2:-$PWD}"

CURRENTDIR="${CURRENTDIR/#$HOME/~}"



# Be sure that the shopt option "checkwinsize" is enabled, so that the curent

# shell width (COLUMNS) is available to this function.  If the $COLUMNS variable

# is unavailable, the following line will set it to 100 instead.  Alternatively,

# you can manually set this variable to a fixed value of 100, and the output

# will always be TARGETPCT columns wide.



COLUMNS=${COLUMNS:-100}



# Determine the number of characters in the input string and calculate

# the total target length and the sizes of the starting and ending segments.



CURRENTLENGTH="${#CURRENTDIR}"

TARGETLENGTH="$(( COLUMNS * TARGETPCT / 100 ))"

FIRSTPART="$(( TARGETLENGTH / 3 - 3 ))"

LASTPART="$(( CURRENTLENGTH - ( TARGETLENGTH * 2/3 ) ))"



# Finally we compare the current length of the prompt to the target length

# and print the appropriate output string.



if (( CURRENTLENGTH <= TARGETLENGTH )); then



    # No modifications are necessary. Print the unmodified string.

    echo "$CURRENTDIR"



else



    # Very small target or column values can make "FIRSTPART" zero or less.

    # So test it to avoid throwing out an error, and set it to display only the

    # first two characters of the string in such situations. Otherwise, print

    # the desired truncated string.



    if (( FIRSTPART > 1 )); then

          echo "${CURRENTDIR:0:$FIRSTPART}...${CURRENTDIR:$LASTPART}"

    else

          echo "${CURRENTDIR:0:2}...${CURRENTDIR:$LASTPART}"

    fi



fi



}



# End function.

#==============#



# Set the prompt.

#================#



# Set checkwinsize option, it's needed to ensure COLUMNS variable is read properly.



shopt -s checkwinsize



# Pattern to set the window title portion of the prompt, if in an xterm.

# The formatting pattern goes between '\e]0;' and '\a' (\a = \007).



if [[ "$TERM" =~ xterm ]]; then

    XTITLE='\e]0;\u:$(variprompt 55 2>/dev/null)\a'

else

    unset XTITLE

fi



# Define PS1 for root and regular users.  Must unquote all the variables.

# Escape sequences must be enclosed in \[ and \] brackets.



if (( UID == 0 )); then

    export PS1='\['${XTITLE}$BRED'\]\u:[\['$MAGENTA'\]$(variprompt 2>/dev/null)\['$BRED'\]]##\['$RESET'\] '

else

    export PS1='\['${XTITLE}$BGREEN'\]\u:[\['$BBLUE'\]$(variprompt 2>/dev/null)\['$BGREEN'\]]$\['$RESET'\] '

fi

Yeah, it seems quite long, but it's mostly comments. :)
The result looks something like this:

Code:



david:[~]$ cd /mnt/musicdir/western_artists/Beatles--Albums/08_Sgt_Peppers_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band/

david:[/mnt/musicdi...ppers_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band]$

...but in color. Note also how the window title string can be set to a different length from the prompt itself.

Whoa, haven't seen this thread in awhile. Mine now looks like:

[sean.bitwise: /home/sean]$

It also turns to red when a command fails, back to green under normal conditions.

PHP Code:




export PROMPT_COMMAND='PS1="\`if [[ \$? = "0" ]]; then echo "\\[\\033[32m\\]"; else echo "\\[\\033[31m\\]"; fi\`[\u.\h: \`if [[ `pwd|wc -c|tr -d " "` > 18 ]]; then echo "\\W"; else echo "\\w"; fi\`]\$\[\033[0m\] "; echo -ne "\033]0;`hostname -s`:`pwd`\007"'

mine looks like this:

┌─[18:04:17]──[bret]──[Ziggy]:~$
└──(28 files, 3.5Gb)>>

Code:

PS1="\[\e[01;37m\]┌─[\t]──[\[\e[01;37m\u\e[01;37m\]]──[\[\e[00;37m\]${HOSTNAME%%.*}\[\e[01;37m\]]:\w$\[\e[01;37m\]\n\[\e[01;37m\]└──\[\e[01;37m\](\[\e[32;1m\]\$(/bin/ls -1 | /usr/bin/wc -l | /bin/sed 's: ::g') files, \$(/bin/ls -lah | /bin/grep -m 1 total | /bin/sed 's/total //')b\[\e[01;37m\])>>\[\e[0m\]"

Quote:

Originally Posted by bret381 (Post 4308998)

mine looks like this:

┌─[18:04:17]──[bret]──[Ziggy]:~$
└──(28 files, 3.5Gb)>>

What is the way to type that special character there? The starting character I mean.

Quote:

What is the way to type that special character there? The starting character I mean.

I don't have a clue. haha, I used the archbang default prompt (which has that character) and added some stuff.