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I would like to display current path in sh prompt (not bash shell), which currently just shows "#", I tried with introducing this

env PS1="$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)"

and 

set PS1="$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)"

in /etc/profile.

But as obvious this does not refresh when the the directory is changed or user changes. Please suggest a way to make this dynamic.

mpy
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Bleamer
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    Note that each `$()` runs a separate program; it would be faster to use environment variables, such as `$LOGNAME`, `$HOSTNAME` and `$PWD` instead. – u1686_grawity May 29 '13 at 12:00
  • One answer was to use single quotes instead of double quotes, however, that's quite the full correct answer. What you really want to do is defer evaluation of the code inside your prompt until the prompt is used. – MaasSql Oct 27 '14 at 14:40
  • All you need is to use export "PS1="$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd) >" then edit /etc/profile and append this line at the end. – SDsolar Mar 29 '17 at 19:25

8 Answers8

94

Command substitutions in double quotes " get expanded immediately. That is not what you want for your prompt. Single quotes ' will preserve the substitutions in $PS1 which then get only expanded when displaying the prompt. Hence this should work:

export PS1='$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)'

If you want the usual dollar sign and a space at the end of your prompt, simply add $ at the end (no escaping necessary): export PS1='$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)$ '

mpy
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    Worked like a charm after changing 'set' to 'export' in your answer `export PS1='$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)$'` I saved the change s to `/etc/profile`. Thank you. – Bleamer May 29 '13 at 10:22
  • @Bleamer: `set` worked for me (but I didn't had a native `sh`). But I'll change it to `export` to comply with your setup. – mpy May 29 '13 at 11:01
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    Is there any way to make this permanent? Currently I have to do it each time I log in. Thanks! – the.ufon Sep 02 '14 at 07:07
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    You have put this line to `/etc/profile` (see question) or `~/.profile`?! – mpy Sep 02 '14 at 16:39
  • +1, this would need some delimiter at the end, though. As is, you get something like `foo@localhost:/home/fools -la` when using `ls -la`. – phresnel Jan 06 '15 at 10:00
  • Yes, add this to /etc/profile for system-wide, or ~/.profile for a single user. All you need is to use export "PS1="$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd) $" then edit /etc/profile and append this line at the end. – SDsolar Mar 29 '17 at 19:26
16
sh-4.2$ export PS1="\u@\h:\w>"
jenny@serenity:~>cd /usr/local
jenny@serenity:/usr/local>
Jenny D
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    I am afraid that works for bash shell not for sh, when i do this I get `\u@\h:\w>` as my command prompt – Bleamer May 29 '13 at 10:11
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    Must be a different sh version; as you can see from the first line, it worked for me in sh 4.2. – Jenny D May 29 '13 at 10:12
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    That may be the case. This shell is from Busy Box. Thank you. Appreciate your help though. – Bleamer May 29 '13 at 10:25
  • @Bleamer, it works for me with `BusyBox v1.19.4 built-in shell (ash)`. – cjm Sep 11 '13 at 04:26
  • Thank you for response @cjm, though I'll avoid digging further into this. – Bleamer Sep 27 '13 at 09:34
  • This should be the accepted answer as it shows `~` instead of the full path. I doubt many people want to look at `/home/username/` or `/User/username/` all the time. – rioted Apr 15 '21 at 09:03
9

This command works for me. 

export PS1="\u@\h: \W:$"

Where
\u = username
\h = hostname
\W Name of present folder (not full path)

High Performance Rangsiman
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6

One might consider to pimp the prompt by adding some colors. For instance:

export PS1='\[\e[0;36m\]\u\[\e[0m\]@\[\e[0;33m\]\h\[\e[0m\]:\[\e[0;35m\]\w\[\e[0m\]\$ '
Arvid
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2

One answer was to use single quotes instead of double quotes, however, that's not quite the full correct answer. What you really want to do is defer evaluation of the code inside your prompt until the prompt is used. 

set PS1="$(pwd)"

sets the prompt to the working directory as of the set command. 

set PS1="\$(pwd)"

does NOT expand $(pwd). Instead, PS1 is set to the literal value of $(pwd).

Test / Understand this by running: 

echo $PS1

. If you see the string : $pwd, your prompt works. If you see the literal path, the prompt is broken because it has been statically set

MaasSql
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1

Try this colorful MULTILINE prompt Add this line

export PS1="[\e[1;33m\u\e[m@\e[1;36m\h\e[m] [\$(date +%k:%M:%S)]\n\e[0;32m[\w]\e[m \n\$ "

Prompt will be:

[yourusername@hostname] [17:34:13]
~   <----- this will be your working directory
>
Toto
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Patis
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1

Use the below command to set is like in the cpanel.

export PS1='$(whoami)@${HOSTNAME%%.*} [$(pwd)]# '

Milan
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  • Thanks! None of the other options above worked. This one did. Was driving me crazy. Thanks for saving my sanity. HA! – Lee_Str Jun 14 '16 at 12:57
0
  1. vim ~/.bashrc
  2. add following lines:
# notice the tailing space
export PS1='$(whoami)@$(hostname):$(pwd)# '
  1. open a new termal and you will find :
root@6e5efa720515:/opt/myapp#
Siwei
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