Customizing Shell Prompt with “export PS1=” Command in Bash

Customizing your shell prompt can significantly enhance your productivity and user experience. This article will guide you through the process of customizing your shell prompt using the export PS1= command in Bash.

What is PS1 in Bash?

In Bash, PS1 is an environment variable that defines the primary prompt string. It is the string of characters that your shell displays whenever it’s ready to execute a command. By default, the PS1 variable is set to display the username, hostname, and current directory.

Customizing PS1

To customize your shell prompt, you can change the value of the PS1 variable. You can do this by using the export command, which is used to define environment variables in Linux.

For example, if you want to change your prompt to display the current time, you can use the following command:

export PS1="\t \$ "

In this command, \t is an escape sequence that represents the current time, and \$ represents the prompt symbol. After running this command, your prompt will display the current time followed by a dollar sign.

Using Escape Sequences

Bash supports a variety of escape sequences that you can use to customize your prompt. Here are a few examples:

• \u represents the username.
• \h represents the hostname.
• \w represents the current directory.
• \d represents the date.

You can combine these escape sequences to create a custom prompt. For example, the following command will set your prompt to display the username, hostname, and current directory:

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

Changing the Color of the Prompt

You can also change the color of your prompt by using ANSI escape codes. Each escape code begins with \033[ and ends with m. The numbers in between define the color and style of the text.

For example, the following command will set your prompt to display green text:

export PS1="\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h: \w \$ \[\033[00m\]"

In this command, 01;32 represents bold green text, and 00 resets the color back to the default.

For a complete list of ANSI escape codes, you can refer to this guide: Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.

Saving Your Custom Prompt

To save your custom prompt, you need to add the export PS1= command to your ~/.bashrc file. This file is a script that Bash runs every time you open a new terminal window.

To add the command to your ~/.bashrc file, you can use a text editor like nano:

nano ~/.bashrc

Then, add the export PS1= command to the end of the file, save your changes, and exit the editor. The next time you open a new terminal window, your custom prompt will be displayed.

In conclusion, customizing your shell prompt using the export PS1= command in Bash can greatly enhance your command line experience. With a little creativity, you can create a prompt that displays all the information you need and reflects your personal style.