Question

When I create an new bash process, the prompt defaults to a very simple one.
I know I can edit .bashrc etc to change this, but is there a way of passing the prompt with the bash command?

thanks!

Answer 1

The prompt is defined by the PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 environment variables. So, e.g. the following will start a new bash with the prompt set to “foo: “:

PS1="foo: " bash --norc

The --norc is required to suppress processing of the initialization files, which would override the PS1 variable.