UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I have a Sun OS and at the moment the prompt is # and i want to change it to:

root@server #

can you help me please. thanks in advance.

Depends somewhat on the shell. In Bourne-compatible shells, the variable PS1 determines the primary prompt. There's also PS2 and PS4 (sic) for secondary and tertiary prompts. See the manual page for your shell for more information.

Code:

PS1='root@server # '

The secondary prompt is what you see when you leave a quote open and continue on the next line. It is usually set to "> " by default.

Code:

# echo "hello
> world"

If your shell is csh or tcsh, those are not Bourne-compatible (but have a manual page, too).

To avoid the need to repeat era's notation each time you logon.
Add similar to your .profile (if Sun OS uses a .profile) ... I use ksh on HP-UX.

Code:

export PS1='
['`uname -n`':${PWD}]
$ '

Which looks like the following when I logon ...

Code:

[mdirect:/home/cameron]
$

Hello,

PS1=`whoami`@`hostname`:\${PWD}\>

causes a promt like :

user@host:current.working.dir>

Regards

Hi.

As era wrote, it depends on the shell. Here is an article that tells you how to change the prompt in most shells, including color, etc. I usually make the prompt red for root to reinforce the idea that I'm in a powerful situation ... cheers, drl

HOWTO: Change your Shell Prompt