Selecting a Default Shell

The login shell is the command interpreter that runs when you are logged in. The Solaris 7 operating environment offers three shells:

• Bourne shell, the default shell (/bin/sh)

• C shell (/bin/csh)

• Korn shell (/bin/ksh)

If you use the shell often, you may prefer to use the C shell or the Korn shell because of their interactive capabilities. Table 6-1 lists the features of all three shells.

Table 6-1 Basic Features of the Bourne, C, and Korn Shells

Feature	Bourne	C	Korn
Syntax compatible with sh	Yes	No	Yes
Job control	Yes	Yes	Yes
History list	No	Yes	Yes
Command-line editing	No	Yes	Yes
Aliases	No	Yes	Yes
Single-character abbreviation for login directory	No	Yes	Yes
Protect files from overwriting (noclobber)	No	Yes	Yes
Ignore Control-D (ignoreeof)	No	Yes	Yes
Enhanced cd	No	Yes	Yes
Initialization file separate from .profile	No	Yes	Yes
Logout file	No	Yes	No

To change from one shell to another, use one of the following methods:

• Method 1 - Edit the information in the last field of the line in the /etc/passwd file that begins with your login name. If this entry is blank or sh, the login shell is the Bourne shell. If the entry is csh, the login shell is the C shell. If the entry is ksh, the login shell is the Korn shell.

• Method 2 - In a windows environment, use Admintool. See OpenWindows Advanced User's Guide for information.

After you change to a new shell, log out and log in again to activate the shell.