How can I tell which Unix shell I am using?

Question

Is there an easy way by which I can tell which type of Unix shell I am in?

A command that shows whether I am in a Bash, C shell, KornShell (ksh), tcsh, or Z shell (zsh)?

E.g.,

whatshellisthis

score 135 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 28 '10 at 02:10

135

Try:

echo $0

This often works across a range of shells.

answered Jul 28 '10 at 02:10

ggg

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Doesn't work with fish – rominf Sep 12 '14 at 18:52
@rominf: with `fish` just type `$` and then `tab`. You'll see a bunch of `$__fish` and `$fish` variables defined – Sandy Chapman Mar 15 '15 at 13:15
This also doesn't work from within a sourced file. – Steve Dec 28 '17 at 23:04

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 05 '21 at 17:32

21

Mac

ps

  PID TTY           TIME CMD
  223 ttys000    0:00.33 -bash

OpenBSD

ps

  PID TT  STAT       TIME COMMAND
20038 p0  Ss      0:00.01 -ksh (ksh)
22251 p0  R+      0:00.00 ps

Or just echo $SHELL.

edited Nov 05 '21 at 17:32

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 28 '10 at 02:01

Nikolai Fetissov

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I think `$SHELL` is the default shell for the system (or user), which is usually (but not necessarily) the shell that is actually being used at any given moment. – David Z Jul 28 '10 at 02:22

score 12 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 20 '13 at 04:35

12

The echo $SHELL command will give you your shell name relative to root.

edited Mar 20 '13 at 04:35

Javier

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answered Mar 20 '13 at 04:16

a.saurabh

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SHELL is not guaranteed to be set. For instance, my login shell is bash, but is I run /bin/sh at the command line, SHELL is still /bin/bash even though /bin/sh ls dash. – Mark Evans May 12 '14 at 03:12
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$SHELL is the login shell. If your login shell is bash and you start tcsh, then $SHELL will still be bash even tough the shell you are running is tcsh. – Ole Tange Jul 18 '14 at 13:23
check out # ps -p $$ | tail -1 | awk '{print $4}' – Ranjithkumar T Oct 15 '14 at 05:27

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 03 '10 at 18:14

8

Every shell I know of sets the $ variable ($$) to its pid. So...

ps | grep $$

answered Aug 03 '10 at 18:14

pra

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Fish is the exception. You need to use %self – rominf Sep 12 '14 at 18:51
Sometimes I feel like fish should not be counted among "unix shells". We're very comfortable in our pile of spaghetti, please don't straighten all the noodles. – pra Sep 03 '21 at 03:19

score 6 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 05 '21 at 17:34

6

If you are using the OS X terminal, then the shell is specified in the Terminal's title bar when you launch it - like so: Terminal - ShellName - 80x24

edited Nov 05 '21 at 17:34

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 01 '11 at 19:15

Alex

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I think this is this correct answer. – Camilo Sanchez Nov 29 '15 at 01:51

How can I tell which Unix shell I am using?

5 Answers5

Mac

OpenBSD

Linked