Shell Specifics

Prompt

The prompt provides information to the user and means the shell is waiting for a command. On Palmetto, your prompt might look like this:

[username@login001 ~]$

The prompt in a bash shell usually consists of a dollar ($) sign and may also contain other information: this prompt tells you your username and which node you are connected to - login001 is the “login” node. It also tells you your current directory, i.e., ~, which, as you will learn shortly, is short for your home directory. We will mostly refer to the prompt as just $, i.e.,

$

To execute a command, type it into the prompt and press Enter. When the command completes you be returned to the prompt.