Bash prompt and aliases

Changing the bash prompt colours

find and uncomment the line: "force_color_prompt=yes"

Here are my example colours - using light blue user and time, dk gray >, light gray working dir, and normal input text.. edit the 'PS1' line to read: with a space at the end before the closing quote mark.

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/

And for root user, to set the prompt colours when you switch to root user (su)..
su to root, then open root's bashrc file, (first I needed to copy everything from "force....." to the line "unset...." in my user .bashrc to the root .bashrc)

edit 'PS1' line (I use light green user and time, dk gray >, light gray working dir, cyan input)

Bash aliases

With a bash alias we can issue shortcuts at the prompt that trigger commands. Example make a new file for aliases: add this and save, then open a new terminal and type "e" and Enter - and the terminal closes.

look at the examples here http://www.cyberciti.biz/... and search for whatever you might need elsewhere.
you could glean many useful bash functions from here http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/sample-bashrc.html

There are endless possibilities, but be careful not to take over a real command name with an alias, and try to make them memorable (my advice).

OK, here's my alias list, and the 1st one will print the .bash_aliases file contents to remind you of what you can use!

alias al='cat ~/.bash_aliases'            #prints your .bash_aliases file to terminal
alias apt='grep apt ~/.bash_aliases'          #prints only the apt aliases of .bash_aliases
alias dp='grep dpkg ~/.bash_aliases'        #prints only the dpkg aliases of .bash_aliases
alias ht='htop'                                 #decent terminal task manager
alias rr='ranger'                              #ranger, the very capable bash dir browser
alias lf='geany'
alias slf='sudo geany'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias cd2='cd `yad --title="Cd to" --file --directory --height=400 --width=500`'
alias cs2='cs `yad --title="Cd to and list" --file --directory --height=400 --width=500`'      
                                             #cs is a function to cd to dir then list dir/files -see below
alias h='history'
alias e='exit'

alias ls='ls --color=auto --group-directories-first'    #list dir/files horizontally
                                                      #shows dir/file list with permissions, owner, file size, date modified
alias ll='ls -lh --color=auto --group-directories-first'
alias lt='ls -alhrt'                              #shows dir/file list sorted recently modified first
alias la='ls -alh'                               #shows dir/file list including hidden
alias l.='ls -d .* --color=auto'                  #shows only hidden files
alias ll.='ls -lhd .* --color=auto'
alias lr='ls -Rh'                                  #shows files recursively
alias lsb='lsblk'                                #list devices with mount points

alias m10='ps auxf | sort -nr -k 4 | head -10'       #lists top ten memory-using processes 
alias f10m='~/scripts/find10m'                           #scripts to list files over 10m or 100m
alias f100m='~/scripts/find100m'

alias a-u='sudo apt update'
alias a-udif='sudo apt update -o Acquire::Pdiffs=true'
alias a-i='sudo apt install'
alias a-r='sudo apt remove'
alias a-rp='sudo apt remove --purge'
alias a-if='sudo apt -f install'
alias at-i='sudo aptitude install'
alias a-a='sudo apt autoremove'
alias a-ud='sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade'
alias a-ug='sudo apt upgrade'
alias a-du='sudo apt dist-upgrade'
alias ap-du='sudo aptitude dist-upgrade'
alias a-c='sudo apt autoclean'
alias a-clean='sudo apt clean'
alias a-s='apt-cache search'        #enter name/part of name of package 2 c available versions   
alias ahi='apt-history install'       #need apt-history
alias ahu='apt-history upgrade'
alias ahr='apt-history remove'
alias dpk='sudo dpkg -i'            #install deb
alias dpkr='sudo dpkg -r'            #uninstall deb

alias a-s='apt-cache search'   #enter name/part of name of package 2 c available pkgs
alias a-v='apt-cache showpkg'   #enter name of package 2 c available versions
alias a-d='apt-cache depends'   #enter name of package 2 list dependencies  
alias dpl='dpkg -l | grep' 			#enter name/part of name of package to see installed
alias dpv='dpkg -s' 	               #enter pkg name to c version
alias dpq='dpkg-query -l'           #same
alias dpc='dpkg -S'	                 #enter command to c what package it belongs to

alias visu='EDITOR=nano sudo visudo'

alias power0='sudo shutdown -h now'
alias boot0='sudo reboot'

alias mnt='sudo mount'
alias umnt='sudo umount'

alias chownme='sudo chown -R $USER'      #type file or dir after
alias addme='sudo adduser $USER'          #type group name after
alias addgrp='sudo groupadd'                #type group name after

alias bkp-s='sudo sh ~/scripts/bkpsys'     #these two scripts are tar backups found on my system backup page
alias bkp-h='sh ~/scripts/bkphome'
alias frac='sudo refractasnapshot'
alias al='cat ~/.bash_aliases'
alias ala='grep apt ~/.bash_aliases'
alias dp='grep dpkg ~/.bash_aliases'
alias c='clear'
alias e='exit'

alias ht='htop'
alias rr='ranger'
alias ..='cd ..'
###   cs already in bashrc =cd then ls
alias cdz='cd `yad --file-selection --directory`'
alias csz='cs `yad --file-selection --directory`'
alias h='history'
       
alias ls='ls --color=auto --group-directories-first'    #list dir/files horizontally
                    #shows dir/file list with permissions, owner, file size, date modified
alias ll='ls -lh --color=auto --group-directories-first'
alias lt='ls -alhrt'      #shows dir/file list sorted recently modified first
alias la='ls -alh'                     #shows dir/file list including hidden
alias l.='ls -d .* --color=auto'                 #shows only hidden files
alias ll.='ls -lhd .* --color=auto'
alias lr='ls -Rh'                   #shows files recursively
alias du='du -ch'		#disk usage at current dir
alias lsb='lsblk'            #list devices with mount points
	  
alias m10='ps auxf | sort -nr -k 4 | head -10'       #lists top ten memory-using processes 
alias f10m='~/scripts/find10m'
alias f100m='~/scripts/find100m'

alias a-sr='sudo apt edit-sources'
alias a-u='sudo apt-get update'
alias a-up='sudo apt-get update -o Acquire::Pdiffs=true'
alias a-i='sudo apt-get install'
alias ap-i='sudo aptitude install'
alias a-r='sudo apt-get remove'
alias a-rp='sudo apt-get remove --purge'
alias a-if='sudo apt-get -f install'
alias at-i='sudo aptitude install'
alias a-a='sudo apt-get autoremove'
alias a-ud='sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade'
alias a-ug='sudo apt-get upgrade'
alias a-du='sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'
alias ap-du='sudo aptitude dist-upgrade'
alias a-c='sudo apt-get autoclean'
alias a-clean='sudo apt-get clean'
alias dpk='sudo dpkg -i'
alias dpkr='sudo dpkg -r'

alias a-s='apt-cache search'   #enter name/part of name of package 2 c available pkgs
alias a-v='apt-cache showpkg'   #enter name of package 2 c available versions
alias a-d='apt-cache depends'   #enter name of package 2 list dependencies
alias dpl='dpkg -l | grep' 	#enter name/part of name of package to see installed
alias dpv='dpkg -s' 	#enter pkg name to c version installed
alias dpq='dpkg-query -l'   #same
alias dpc='dpkg -S'	#enter command to c what package it belongs to
alias ap-npg='sudo aptitude show "~c" |grep Package'    #show removed but not purged
alias ap-pg='sudo aptitude purge  "~c" '                              #purge removed but not purged

alias ahi='apt-history install'
alias ahu='apt-history upgrade'
alias ahr='apt-history remove'

alias visu='EDITOR=nano sudo visudo'

alias pm='pmount'
alias pum='pumount'
alias pw0='sudo halt'
alias bt0='sudo reboot'

alias c-me='sudo chown -R $USER'
alias me2g='sudo adduser $USER'     #type group name after
alias addgrp='sudo groupadd'        #type group name after

alias frac='sudo refractasnapshot'
alias fracusb='refracta2usb'

alias b1='sh ~/scripts/bashfileoption'
alias b2='sh ~/scripts/bashcommands'
alias go='sh ~/scripts/bashgo'

alias web='elinks'

find10m script line find100m script line

Bash cd to dir and list files

add this to your .bashrc file to make "cs" cd to a dir and list all files there

Bash aliases for root user

You may want to make a simpler bash alias file and save it in /root so that when you su to root in a terminal, you can use certain aliases, like e for exit, which is quite handy. You'll need to sudo cp the file to /root or open Thunar as root user (but be careful). You'll have to edit /root/.bashrc again and add the bash_aliases to it so it will look up the file, i.e the ~/ will not point to you home dir, but it will point to /root as it is opened by root user.
plus you can add the "function cs " code above.

Bash numbered selection

And here's a nice way to open config files, using a number selection
add this to .bash_aliases: which calls this script:

#!/bin/bash
#this part will display in the terminal, its your options when you hit "b1" and enter
echo "Select a file to open  
	1) /etc/apt/sources.list
	2) /etc/fstab 
	3) /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf 
	4) ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart
	5) ~/.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml
        6) ~/.config/openbox/menu.xml
        7) ~/.config/openbox/menu-utility.xml

30) ~/.bashrc
	31) ~/.bash_aliases
	32) ~/scripts/bashfileoption
	33) ~/scripts/bashcommands
	
#this part contains the commands that are run by each option
read n
case $n in
    1) gksu geany /etc/apt/sources.list;;
    2) gksu geany /etc/fstab;;
    3) gksu geany /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf;;
    4) nano ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart &;;
    5) geany ~/.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml &;;
    6) geany ~/.config/openbox/menu.xml &;;
    7) geany ~/.config/openbox/menu-utility.xml &;;
    30) geany ~/.bashrc &;;
    31) geany ~/.bash_aliases &;;
    32) geany ~/scripts/bashfileoption &;;
    33) geany ~/scripts/bashcommands &;;    
    *) invalid option;;
esac

With plain OB, you need ~/.config/openbox/autostart and ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml

Note: you use &;; at the end of each command line so that the bash terminal does not wait for you to close the file before giving the prompt back, i.e. it opens the file and the process is done. Without that the process is still going while file is open -which is not a bad idea for system files opened with gksu.

Actually you can do any process you can think of with other scripts like this.

So how about one for common bash commands... add to bash_aliases something like,

Easier navigating directories

Tired of using cd coupled with tab auto-completion of file names? Is there a way to display a directory's contents and then select a sub-dir or file to navigate to, using keys?

1. You can use zenity or yad, which is very adaptable, e.g.
2. You can use Ranger, a fully functioning x-terminal based file browser/manager which uses simple cursor keys to travel down and up the dir tree, some native commands to yank and paste files and so forth, plus key mapping to any bash command you like, inline preview of images, pdf files, and archive contents, details of video and audio files and lots more... see my ranger page.

Next page:

Xterm - configure the x-tools