Changing Your Command Prompt

The syntax you use to change your command prompt depends on what shell you are using.

Bourne, Bourne Again, Korn, and Z Shells

In the Bourne, Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells, use the PS1 command to redefine your command prompt. The following are three examples:

• To set the prompt to a colon (:), followed by a space, type the following command.

  PS1=": "

• To create a prompt that consists of your machine name, followed by a colon and a space, type the following command.

  PS1="`hostname`: "

• To set the prompt to your machine name, followed by your login name in braces {}, a colon, and a space, type the following command

  PS1="`hostname`{`logname`}: "

Type any of the previous examples to change your current command prompt. This change applies until you change your command prompt again or log out.

If you want to make your changes more permanent, add one of the previous examples (or a prompt of your own creation) to your user profile file. If you follow this guideline, the prompt you specify appears each time you log in in or start a new shell.

C and TC Shells

For the C and TC shells, you personalize your command prompt with the set prompt command. The following are three examples:

• To set the prompt to a percent sign followed by a space, type the following command.

  example% set prompt="% "

• To create a prompt that consists of your machine name, followed by the history number of the command (hostname1, hostname2, hostname3, and so on), followed by a colon, type the following command.

  example% set prompt="`hostname`\!: "

• To set the prompt to your machine name, followed by your login name in braces, a colon, and a space, type the following command.

  example% set prompt="`hostname`{`logname`}: "

Type any of the previous examples to change your current command prompt. This change applies until you change your command prompt again or log out.

If you want to make your changes more permanent, add one of the previous examples (or a prompt of your own creation) to your user profile file. If you follow this procedure, the prompt you specify appears each time you log in or start a new shell.