Change default shell ubuntu. app, or Konsole) to start fish directly.
Change default shell ubuntu We would first show you how to find out our default shell. bashrc file to start fish from within Bash so that all environment variables are correctly configured. 5 You can change your login shell with the chsh command. This guide explains how to change the default shell in Linux using various methods like the usermod command, chsh utility, or direct editing of the /etc/passwd file, offering flexibility for customizing your shell experience. Possible Duplicate: How do I make Bash my default shell on Ubuntu? I want to change my default shell in Ubuntu to ZSH. I'd like to change it to /bin/bash. The default shell in Linux plays a crucial role in how users interact with the system. Introduction to the chsh Command Aug 24, 2017 · Hold on, it's an LDAP user, there is a setting in LDAP that allows you to change the default shell for the user in them. Sep 25, 2009 · The way I've fixed it on Ubuntu is to edit the gnome-terminal preferences, and set the startup command to be bash -l. Aug 4, 2025 · Key Takeaways ZSH provides significant productivity improvements over default shells through auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and plugin support Installation is straightforward across all major operating systems using package managers Setting ZSH as your default shell requires the chsh command and a session restart The . A shell is basically a command-line interpreter. In this article, we will explore how to use the chsh command to change the default shell on Linux, as well as some important considerations to keep in mind. May 13, 2024 · In this article, we will describe 3 ways to change a user's default shell in Linux using commandline tools such as usermod, chsh, and passwd file. By simply running following command: To set the login shell you can use the chsh command. In /etc/passwd/ I've changed the default shell to /bin/zsh. I read through a couple solutions (here's one), but nothing seems to work so far. Aug 3, 2021 · You can't change settings for the root user without having root access. Dec 19, 2023 · In my old installation I was able to set the "default shell/session/terminal" to be Ubuntu 20. One way to change the default shell on Linux is by using the chsh command. I uninstalled ZSH before I tried changing the default shell. bash_profile is executed when bash About the original question: change the shell opened by a SSH session, I don't think that it is configurable. Is there any way to manually reconfigure Docker to open /bin/bash? Installing Zsh To make the transition, you will first need to install Zsh. Mar 18, 2024 · An interactive shell reads commands from user input on a tty terminal. uml. If you want, you can change this default shell to something of your liking, like Command Prompt or Ubuntu (Linux). Its primary function is to read commands that are typed into a console (i. May 8, 2018 · I cannot change the script to bash as the script comes from the rpm package. com Dec 26, 2024 · Changing the default shell in Linux is a straightforward process with multiple methods to suit different preferences. Hello, I have a problem of installing packages with DockerFile. Steps to set default Terminal in Ubuntu or Debian Linux Well, to change the default Ubuntu Terminal and set some other, we need to have at least one more Terminal emulator app apart from the one which comes with the system. I have used chsh to set another shell as my login shell. What Are Bash and Zsh? A Quick Guide I cannot make zsh the default shell for my user as it's a shared account and the rest of the team aren't as zsh happy as I am - That rules out the 'chsh -s /bin/zsh' option. Mar 19, 2019 · This quick tutorial shows how to check the running shell, available shell in the system and how to change the default shell in Linux. Mar 9, 2020 · Install Fish Shell Before switching from Bash to Fish Shell as your primary terminal Shell, you’ll need to install it on Linux. Mar 9, 2020 · Install Zsh Before using the Zsh shell in place of Bash, you’ll need to install it on your Linux PC. bash_profile (if bash is the current shell), or an equivalent rc file for the current login shell. 1 LTS Desktop Environment (if applicable): GNOME Problem Description: Hello, according to an (older) Ubuntu wiki article, dash was made the default system shell. How did you even learned the root shell was changed if you can't login as root? May 20, 2025 · This tutorial explains how to customize the default Linux shell prompt temporarily and permanently. zshrc configuration file controls all ZSH behavior and customization Oct 7, 2024 · There are 2 methods to change default terminal in Ubuntu: Using update-alternatives Tool, Using gsettings for GNOME Users. Apr 7, 2014 · I'm working on a university remote Linux account, and the default shell is sadly csh without tab completion. This will bring up the dropdown menu. You can change the shell used by the user on the system (chsh, or edit /etc/passwd), or even change the default shell of the machine, but not the SSH shell (I think SSH just opens a regular session with the user's parameters, including shell configuration). sh files Ask Question Asked 5 years, 7 months ago Modified 5 years, 7 months ago Common issues involve various environment variables and initialization functionality which assumes the default login shell is Bash. But I didn't invoke explicitly Bash or any other shell. Let us change the current shell from /bin/dash to /bin/rbash. Feb 5, 2013 · 1 Default system shell /bin/sh in recent Ubuntu releases is configured to be /bin/dash. Some Linux distributions have a list of valid shells located in /etc/shells and will disallow changing the shell until Nu is in the whitelist. It is quite useful when it comes to redirecting output, text processing, changing file ownership, navigation file systems, etc. Nov 4, 2022 · Does anybody know how to change the default shell for an AAD-authentication account on a Linux VM I, and some of the other users at my work, would like to change their default shell to be zsh instead of bash, because we like zsh better for interactive use. May 23, 2016 · I installed ZSH and didn't like it and I want to revert back to bash. While Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is the default shell in most Linux distributions, users often explore alternatives like Zsh, Fish, or Ksh for enhanced features, aesthetics, or Aug 19, 2020 · It is the default shell included within Ubuntu and other Linux distros, and in macOS. So dash is my default shell now. Luckily, its very popular and there are packages of it on pretty much every Linux distribution out there. 04 VM images? And what the right way is to configure it to be bash for new human users, including those created by AadSshLoginForLinux? In our older… To change the default shell for the Windows Subsystem for Linux Open WSL, log in and type the following - after you entered the SUDO command it will request your password. quick answer that worked for me: logging out and then logging back in to the desktop session fixed it for me. , an all-text display mode) or terminal window (an all-text window) in a GUI (graphical user interface) and then execute (i. Change the Default Shell in Windows Terminal There's a code in Windows Terminal's settings file that decides what shell opens the first. Jan 7, 2024 · Set ZSH as your default shell. How to change default shell in terminal ? Currently I am using ElementaryOS as my Linux distribution in that when I open terminal my default shell is bash but what is if I wanted to change it to sh shell how can I do that ? And if I change a shell which that affect my commands ? Archived post. I know that to change your own shell to bash, you would use the command "chsh -s /bin/bash", but how do I automatically Jul 24, 2023 · The chsh utility command also uses the -s or --shell options while changing the default Linux shell. But I haven’t exactly shown how to make it the default shell. The simplest method is to set your terminal emulator (e. However, I want the default command for the ubuntu image to be "/bin/bash -c" Nov 14, 2025 · Conclusion Setting the default shell in Linux is a straightforward process that gives users the flexibility to choose the shell environment that best suits their needs. Nov 12, 2023 · Switching your default shell is actually quite easy on Ubuntu. Through a shell, a user can execute commands that help him/her to interact with the system. ] Oh. I want to change my default terminal from Windows PowerShell to Bash on Ubuntu (on Windows). 😎 But don't worry, it's as simple as hitting up the command line store and grabbing a fresh Bash shell to make your Linux adventures even more awesome. 3. See its configuration and set the program to start to /usr/local/bin/fish (the exact path depends on how you installed fish). ~/. Changing the Default to Ubuntu in Windows Terminal First, click on the downward triangle at the top of the window. Jun 19, 2014 · I downloaded the ubuntu base image from the docker hub. Open up a terminal and enter the command below to install it. A Shell is often referred to as a CLI or Command-line interface. When we start a terminal, the first program to launch is the shell. 04 LTS. Aug 16, 2025 · Ubuntu 25. How can I do that? Change Default From Powershell to Ubuntu in Windows Terminal Instead of Powershell, I would like Windows Terminal to open a WSL tab by default. This means that every time I either clicked "Start local terminal" or the "+"-sign it opened my WSL-Ubuntu shell. As man chsh notes, a normal user can only change the shell for their own account, while root can change the shell for all accounts. 04 instead of the default terminal with "/home/mobaxterm". If you haven’t made changes to configuration then, in all probability Bourne Dec 2, 2010 · Introduction What is a shell? A shell is a program that provides the traditional, text-only user interface for Unix-like operating systems. 04 and 24. If you want to execute zsh instead of bash, just replace /usr/local/bin/bash by the path to the zsh executable. Today we will look at how to change the default login shell safely for one specific user. It’s your interface to the system - whether you’re running scripts, navigating files, managing packages, or interacting with remote servers. Sep 11, 2012 · This guide will help you to change your shell from one to another. I have tried sudo ch Aug 15, 2023 · With chsh, change the default shell for the current or other users. This will be the default shell for all AD users. In this post, I'll show you how to setup Zsh as your default shell. Some people place fish in their ~/. $ sudo chsh --shell /bin/rbash dnyce Change User Shell in Linux Method 3: Using /etc/passwd File Open the /etc/passwd file and edit it to your preferred default Linux shell. as your shell. Nov 3, 2021 · Switching from Bash to Zsh? Getting your terminal on board can be tricky. This is done by changing a bit of code in the settings file. My image is on Ubuntu 20. How can I change my account's default shell to bash? chsh is not available. I uninstalled ZSH and then ran the commands chsh and sudo chsh --s Dec 24, 2011 · How do I set the default program that I use? I have tried to open System Info → Default Program → change my program, but it won't work, Any idea? Or should I use Terminal? I want to replace the Nov 28, 2023 · Learn how to configure and install Zsh Ubuntu 20. Here's what I see when I try to use chsh -s (redacted). In Ubuntu, the default shell is Bourne Again Shell. 04 This is my DockerFile - it is very simple FROM grafana/grafana-oss:9. 10, the default system shell, /bin/sh, was changed to dash (the Debian Almquist Shell); previously it had been bash (the GNU Bourne-Again Shell). I use Laradock which consists of multiple containers. Just using chsh: without sudo should work. app, or Konsole) to start fish directly. See full list on howtogeek. I want to change the default shell of Terminator to zsh. This tells bash to startup as as login shell, which causes it to load the startup scripts as you get when logging in via ssh. Alternatively, you can set fish as May 20, 2022 · Using become to change the default shell for a user is not giving the intended result. Enter the new value to change the shell, or leave the line blank to use the current one. , run) them. edu) - how do I change it?" Answer: The chsh command changes the login shell of your username. Using: - name: Change default shell to zsh shell: sudo chsh -s $(which zsh) $(whoami) /etc/passwd looks like: Oct 13, 2022 · In this tutorial, we discuss how to do that using the update-alternatives command line utility. zsh -l starts zsh as a login shell. By understanding the fundamental concepts, checking the current default shell, and using the appropriate methods to change it, you can customize your Linux experience. Oct 23, 2015 · I am using Ubuntu 14. Ubuntu sudo apt install zsh Debian sudo apt-get install zsh Arch Linux Arch Linux actually uses the Z Shell by Learn how to change your default shell in Linux using the chsh command. You can install ldap-account-manager which gives you an webfrontent for the ldap configuration. In facts, you can’t (not the “offi To install Zsh on Ubuntu 24. What's the command to do this? Sep 2, 2023 · 🐧 Changing Default Shell in Linux: Mastering the Command Line! So you want to switch up your default shell in Linux, huh? That's cool. For reference, this is the same problem when trying to use the fish shell. The easiest way to change the default shell is to set your SHELL user environment variable. Whether using the usermod command, the chsh utility, or manually editing the /etc/passwd file, these techniques provide flexibility for managing user environments. If you use sudo it will change the shell not for your working user but for root. You can manage many shells in a single system. To make ZSH the default shell in Ubuntu, use the “chsh -s $(which zsh)” or “sudo usermod -s /usr/bin/zsh ” commands or edit the “/etc/passwd” file. Mar 20, 2024 · Explains how to change your default shell in Linux using the chsh command, which changes the user login shell permanently. Is there any way to manually reconfigure Docker to open /bin/bash? Apr 26, 2022 · Most Ubuntu systems use bash or dash as their default terminal application. This settings changes the default shell in LXTerminal (the default terminal on L Feb 6, 2025 · This guide shows how to install and configure the Zsh in Ubuntu. Oct 9, 2025 · On Linux a login shell is a shell given to a user upon login into their user account. Dec 1, 2021 · This article explains how to change the default shell in Linux. Well, if you just do exec /usr/local/bin I want to change my default shell from tcsh to bash. 04. I wanted to try zsh out, but since my user doesn't reside in /etc/passwd I found that chsh can't find my user. bashrc to run fish, which works fine, but ubuntu recognizes it as fish running inside bash, which means that wh Jan 11, 2017 · Explains how to set or change shell to bash (Bourne-again shell) on a Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Unix-like OS using the chsh command. We have many Shells and this will help you how to change from one to another Shell by using a command named as chsh For example changing your SHELL from BASH to ZSH you have to follow this : raja@badfox:~$ chsh Password: Changing the login shell for raja Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default Login Shell [/bin/bash Jan 11, 2023 · Change the default terminal in Ubuntu On Debian-based distributions, there is a handy command line utility called update-alternatives that allows you to handle the default applications. Although bash, the default shell on many Nov 30, 2016 · Let's say, I opened a terminal and entered / executed some shell commands. I can extract and repack the rpm package, but there might be many of such scripts. The installation process varies based on your operating system: For Ubuntu or Debian-based systems: sudo apt update sudo apt install zsh For macOS: brew install zsh Having installed Zsh, you can proceed to change your default shell. e. Kinda like picking a new outfit for your terminal experience. Maximize your performance with Z Shell, the best interactive login shell, customization options. 2. Users type commands into a shell to execute scripts and/or run commands and tools to accomplish many tasks. However, when I try /bin/sh and… Apr 30, 2025 · Does anyone know if and why the default shell changed from bash to sh between the Ubuntu 22. What is a path? In Ubuntu, the / tells the root directory. Apr 23, 2021 · When you open Windows Terminal, PowerShell launches as your default shell. To change your default login shell, first, execute the given command: chsh And to change your default shell, enter the following path of Zsh and press enter: /bin/zsh Oct 18, 2021 · Here’s the command to change default shell. We call the interactive shell after a user’s successful login the default shell or login shell. But I haven’t exactly shown how to make it the default… current login shell. Open up a terminal window and enter the command to get it working on your distribution. 🚀 The Default Shell Dilemma By default Jan 7, 2016 · Using PBIS you can define the default shell for all users: #/opt/pbis/bin/config LoginShellTemplate /bin/bash This as to be done as root, there is no possibility to change this setting by user or as an unprivileged user. May 5, 2012 · When running ZSH from within bash it loads up and works fine but I'd like to set it as the default shell. If I select any container and click CLI button, the /bin/sh shell will be opened by default. Read this article and learn to use chsh command in Linux with examples. NOTE: This used to require modifications to the shortcut to access WSL but in newer versions of WSL you can use the following. Changing default shell in the Ubuntu (Linux) operating system is a little tricky. 04 introduced new xdg-terminal-exec command line tool making it easy to switch user’s default terminal. . So I tried and this is what happened: >sudo chsh userid Changing the login shell for userid Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the defa It's now a symlinked file that I can't seem to edit even with sudo due to the symlink. What is chsh? Jul 29, 2024 · To permanently change your default login shell to csh, you can use the chsh (change shell) command. exec COMMAND replaces the current process with COMMAND, so you'll only have to type exit (or press ctrl+d) once. 06 LTS upgrading directly to Ubuntu 8. You can How to Change your Login Shell Question: "My professor wants me to use the Korn shell (ksh), and my login shell is the C Shell (csh - the default shell you received on ce. The only thing you need to ensure is path for each shell should be different. You type your commands at a standard command prompt, which usually displays your username, hostname, and current directory in a predefined color scheme. Aug 2, 2021 · If I select any container and click CLI button, the /bin/sh shell will be opened by default. May 3, 2021 · Not sure if this is actually an issue related to Docker Desktop, but I’m out of ideas where to change following. In this tutorial, we’re going to discuss how to change the default shell of a user. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explain multiple methods to change shells, with tons of examples and tips along the way. So, I discovered you can set a default-shell for tmux (which should follow across to byobu right?). GNOME Terminal, Apple’s Terminal. Ubuntu sudo apt install fish Debian sudo apt-get install fish Arch Linux sudo pacman -S fish Jun 22, 2021 · I wrote an article to show how to get Zsh in WSL on Windows 10. Dec 28, 2024 · By changing the default shell, users can choose a shell that better suits their workflow or preferences. 04 release. May 16, 2025 · p10k configure Change default shell to Zsh on Ubuntu Once you are comfortable with the customizations, you can set the Zsh as your default shell. g. Using this you can set Bash, sh, Zsh, Csh, Fish, etc. Mar 14, 2022 · If you don't have permission to install zsh system wide, a quick fix is to append exec ~/bin/zsh -l to ~/. Jul 30, 2024 · Learn to install the latest version of Fish shell on Ubuntu. Learn how to install zsh and make the default shell in your system. As for why the snippet was written that way, you'd have to ask the person who wrote it. 04 and my default shell is /bin/sh. Feb 28, 2015 · 690 I read that terminal is nothing but shell, and Unix provides different flavors of shells: Bourne shell (sh) C shell (csh) TC shell (tcsh) Korn shell (ksh) Bourne Again shell (bash) Questions: When I open a terminal window, which shell is opened by default? How do I check how many shells are installed? How do I change the shell used from my Jun 8, 2017 · I am using Visual Studio Code on my Windows 10 PC. 0-0 libnss3 libcups2 libdbus-1-3 Jun 7, 2017 · The "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" application always starts, well, bash. Customize your Linux environment and improve your productivity with this step-by-step guide. Can anyone advise how I can chan Feb 21, 2024 · Zsh is an awesome shell for Linux systems. Dec 16, 2017 · In Ubuntu 6. Note that this snippet is specific to csh; if your login shell is not (t)csh, this code in ~/. Now I am trying to build a new image based on the ubuntu image. How do I get WSL to start that shell instead? Jul 28, 2014 · If you want to change the default shell in your image (and during build), use the SHELL Dockerfile instruction that was implemented in Builder shell configuration #22489: SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"] RUN echo I am now using bash! Or, a combination of the above FROM ubuntu RUN echo I am using the default (/bin/sh) Mar 18, 2025 · How many posts have been created over the years demanding Ubuntu change their browser to something else other than FF or vim should be install as the default text editor. See customization options and maximize your performance with Z Shell. 2-ubuntu USER root WORKDIR /usr/share/grafana/ RUN apt update -y RUN apt install -y libx11-6 libx11-xcb1 libxcomposite1 libxcursor1 libxdamage1 libxext6 libxfixes3 libxi6 libxrender1 libxtst6 libglib2. Is there a way to change the shell default to treat #!/bin/sh as bash or anything else, which can handle the [ operator? Do you want to set a different default shell or change shells mid-session? Dec 12, 2023 · Tried another shell and liked it so much that you want to use it all the time by making it the default shell? Here's how you can change the default shell in Linux. I have a Ubuntu Server VPS and I want to use /bin/bash/ as my shell. Apr 17, 2015 · Is there a way to set fish as the default shell in ubuntu netbook remix? I put in my . While, there’s also a request to add graphical option to do the job. This file is queried by chsh when it is invoked. NOTE The only restriction placed on the login shell is that the command name must be listed in /etc/shells, unless the invoker is the superuser, and then any value may be added. Nov 15, 2015 · I use a samba4 domain account to log in on my laptop. The command-line shell is one of the most powerful aspects of Linux. login won't do anything for you. This seems to happen for a lot of files and I don't know if it's home-manager or something I did wrong. The current shell is displayed between a pair of [ ] marks. How can I change my shell? I have root access but I don't work as root. Oct 19, 2021 · In this short tutorial, I’ll show you how to change the default shell to Ubuntu in Windows Terminal with just a few clicks. Jun 25, 2017 · A few months ago, I wrote an article to show how to get Zsh in WSL on Windows 10. EDIT: Thanks to hanswurst862, this worked perfectly. Search for "Edit Environment variables for your account" to bring up the environment variables window, create a new variable named "SHELL" and give it the value "/usr/bin/zsh/". 04, update the system repository, and install Zsh along with its dependencies using the “sudo apt install zsh” command. If this is possible, than I could right-click to open a new terminal from File Explorer, and not have to change directory all the way to where I want to go. [Checks who that was. I have read How do I m Feb 5, 2024 · In this article, we cover how to change the default shell in the Ubuntu 24. How is it possible to change the default shell? The env command currently says: SHELL=/bin/tcsh and I want to change that to Bash. Also learn to make it the default shell instead of bash. -l is short for --login. What shell was used by default? I want every new user from now on to have bash as their shell by default. Mar 23, 2025 · Ubuntu Version: 24. Luckily, as Zsh is one of the most well-known Bash alternatives, getting it is no problem. To increase productivity Apr 9, 2022 · In this article, we would see how we can change default shell in Ubuntu 22. Default Shell ¶ There are multiple ways to switch to fish (or any other shell) as your default. /etc/shells contains the pathnames of valid login shells. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The same change will affect users of Ubuntu 6. This command changes the shell specified in your user account settings. Apr 11, 2020 · Change the default shell to run . Jul 20, 2025 · Enhance your Linux terminal with Zsh and Oh My Zsh! Learn to install, configure, and customize on Debian/Ubuntu with popular themes and plugins. kjhwkdqpfdkcxoxehtvxdlqeyevktemoykrsbqnauafdcxtabuwoqnfwczencjuwfuydtryutap