command line - How do I show the real current directory in my bash prompt, not the symlink

05
2013-12
  • Wes Miller

    I use the default value of PS1 shipped with Ubuntu:

    \[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$

    which is ok 90% of the time. However, when I cd to a symlink "directory" the name of the symlink, not the value of pwd -P is used.

    How can I change the \w to get the real current directory? And still display with the format presented by \w or \W?

    • Answers
  • hek2mgl

    Use $(pwd -P) instead of \w . Like this:

    PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]$(pwd -P)\[\033[00m\]$ '
  • glenn jackman

    To expand on hek2mgl's answer, to make your prompt "automatic", use the PROMPT_COMMAND variable:

    PROMPT_COMMAND='PS1="\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]$(pwd -P)\[\033[00m\]\$ "'

    From the manual:

    PROMPT_COMMAND

    If set, the value is interpreted as a command to execute before the printing of each primary prompt ($PS1).


    • Related Question

    linux - Show only current directory name (not full path) on bash prompt
  • obvio171

    The way my bash prompt is currently configured, it shows the whole path to the current directory. This is annoying when I'm deep inside a directory tree, as the prompt becomes so long that every command wraps into the next line. How do I make it show only the last part of the path?

    This is what I have in my .bashrc:

    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ '

# If this is an xterm set the title to user@host:dir
case "$TERM" in
xterm*|rxvt*)
    PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033]0;${USER}@${HOSTNAME}: ${PWD/$HOME/~}\007"'
    ;;
*)
    ;;
esac

    • Related Answers
  • quack quixote

    Change the \w (lowercase) to \W (uppercase):

    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\W\[\033[00m\]\$ '
                                                                                       ^^
           this one waaaaaay over here ------------------------------------------------+

    Have a look at the Bash Prompt HOWTO for lots of fun details. example:

    user@host:/usr/local/bin$ echo $PS1
${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;31m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;36m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ 

user@host:/usr/local/bin$ export PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;31m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;36m\]\W\[\033[00m\]\$ '

user@host:bin$

    The PROMPT_COMMAND variable, if set, is a command that gets run before displaying the prompt specified in PS1. In your case, PROMPT_COMMAND runs an echo statement with certain ANSI escape sequences that manipulate the titlebar of an Xterm.

    If you suspect your PROMPT_COMMAND is overriding your PS1 prompt, you can unset it and test things out:

    $ unset PROMPT_COMMAND

    Finally, be sure that you're changing the PS1 definition that actually gets used. Common locations are /etc/bash.bashrc, /etc/profile, ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.profile. The system files are generally (but not always) run before the user files.