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I run zsh on my server and I want to alias the exit command, because whenever I try to terminate my SSH session I must exit from zsh and exit from bash.

I tried alias exit='exit;exit' to no avail.

I don't want to change how I start zsh but I think it's not a very good solution. I've appended zsh to /etc/profile.

How can avoid to type exit twice to terminate my SSH session?

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Try pressing ctrl+d twice, it should log you out of a terminal as well. – Thom Wiggers Nov 30 '11 at 22:45
2  
To clarify, bash is your login shell and you run zsh by manually starting it? Have you considered making zsh your login shell or running it using the exec built-in, replacing the bash process? – Daniel Beck♦ Nov 30 '11 at 22:46
When I want to change how to start zsh do I have to append zsh to ~/.bashrc? How can I completley replace bash? – phpdna Nov 30 '11 at 22:49
@Daniel: How can I do that? – phpdna Nov 30 '11 at 22:50

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

bash is the default login shell of your account on that system. To change it, do what @KevinPanko suggests. Then bash won't start, only zsh. Given that, through /etc/profile, you're always starting zsh at the moment (and not just sometimes), that would probably the best way to do it.

Alternatively, you can use the exec built-in command of bash to replace your bash process. man bash states:

exec ... [command [arguments]]

If command is specified, it replaces the shell. No new process is created. The arguments become the arguments to command.

So you can run zsh like this:

exec zsh

Afterwards, if you exit zsh, you exit the only shell you're running, and quit immediately.

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When I use chsh can I break something? Can I start a SSH session when I break something, I mean when bash or zsh and both doesn't load anymore? Is there a failsafe to SSH? – phpdna Nov 30 '11 at 23:13
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You can give SSH a command to run: ssh -t hostname /bin/bash – Kevin Panko Nov 30 '11 at 23:20
@jitamaro direct access to the machine or log in as a different user is your fail safe. If you actually manage to mess up your shell binary, you'll have been making stupid mistakes as root and deserve to restore from backup ;) – Daniel Beck♦ Nov 30 '11 at 23:21
@Dainiel: I don't have physical access to that box and I have only one user (root). It's a good practise to create another user or give SSH a command to run? – phpdna Nov 30 '11 at 23:26
@jitamaro do not run as root unless you absolutely have to and know what you're doing. No offence, but it sounds like you might profit from reading a tutorial or two about Linux use..? That'll explain why multiple users are a good thing, – Daniel Beck♦ Nov 30 '11 at 23:32
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up vote 2 down vote

The chsh command lets you change the login shell on your account.

You might need to add /bin/zsh to your /etc/shells file if it is not there already.

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If the server you connect to uses LDAP or similar, you'll have to use the ypchsh command instead. – Erik Dec 6 '12 at 22:59

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