Different color prompts for different machines when using terminal/ssh?

Posted by bcrawl on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by bcrawl
Published on 2011-01-11T13:37:48Z Indexed on 2012/09/09 3:40 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 492

Filed under:

bash

|

command-prompt

I have 5 machines I constantly ssh into to do work. Its getting increasingly frustrating when I am issuing wrong commands on wrong boxes. Luckily I havent done anything bad yet. I wanted to know if there is any hack which I can hardcode which will display my prompt in different colors based on the machine I am ssh into? Such as blue for desktop1, purple for laptop, red for server etc? Is this possible?

Currently I am using this command export PS1="\e[0;31m[\u@\h \W]\$ \e[m " taken from here http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/bash-shell-change-the-color-of-my-shell-prompt-under-linux-or-unix/ but it obviously doesnt work across ssh.

Also, if you have any other cool bash tips for helping me ease my sight will be wonderful. I got this tip which colors the man pages.

http://linuxtidbits.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/less-colors-for-man-pages/

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about bash

launching a program from bash causes bash to go to new prompt

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
When I run a program from the console, e.g. me@box:~$ firefox I expect the console to log error messages (I think this is std out or std err?) and other items from the program, firefox in this case. But today I notice that bash just opens the program and goes to a new prompt, e.g. me@box:~$… >>> More
How to debug a .bash_profile

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I was updating my .bash_profile, and unfortunetly I made a few updates and now I am getting: env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory -bash: tar: command… >>> More
Every command fails with "command not found" after changing .bash_profile?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I was updating my .bash_profile, and unfortunetly I made a few updates and now I am getting: env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory env: bash: No such file or directory -bash: tar: command… >>> More
Is there any fundamental difference between piping in mac and linux?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
ps -e | grep bash sample output from a linux machine: 1128 pts/14 00:00:00 bash 7491 pts/7 00:00:00 bash 12651 pts/14 00:00:00 bash 16145 pts/2 00:00:00 bash sample output from a mac machine: 58352 ttys000 0:00.09 login -pfl username /bin/bash -c exec -la bash /bin/bash 58353 ttys000… >>> More
why is $0 set to -bash?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
First login process name seems to be set to "-bash", but if I subshell then it becomes "bash". for example: root@nowere:~# echo $0 -bash root@nowere:~# bash root@nowere:~# echo $0 bash -bash is causing some scripts to fail, such as . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule exec /usr/share/debconf/frontend… >>> More

Related posts about command-prompt

The Command Prompt is Outdated: 2 Command Prompt Replacements for Windows

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
The Command Prompt window included with Windows is outdated. The command line itself isn’t outdated – the Command Prompt just lacks modern features like tabs, transparency, support for other shells, easy selection of text, and other modern Windows features. If you spend any time at all with the Command… >>> More
DOS/Command Prompt Power Mode

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
from where can i get a Bootable or Executable Power Mode DOS/Command Prompt. >>> More
Add Command prompt in VS 2008 Express Edition manually

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi all, To add the Command prompt in VS 2008 express edition, i have done the following steps: Tools-ExternalTools-Click on Add- Then I have entered the following information. Title: Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt Command: cmd.exe Arguments: %comspec% /k ""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual… >>> More
How To Personalize the Windows Command Prompt

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
Command line interfaces can be downright boring, and always seem to miss out on the fresh coats of paint liberally applied to the rest of Windows. Here’s how to add a splash of color to Command Prompt and make it unique. By default, Windows Command Prompt is white text on a black background… >>> More
Vboxheadless without a command prompt (VirtualBox)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm trying to run VirtualBox VM's in the background from a service. I'm having trouble starting a process the way I desire. I'd like to start the virtualbox guest in headless mode as a separate process and show nothing as far as GUI. Here's what I've tried: From command line: start vboxheadless… >>> More