How can I get iTerm to use the newer version of bash that brew shows? Change a user's shell on OSX
bash --version
(or bash -version
) will NOT report the CURRENT shell's version, but the version of the bash
executable that comes FIRST IN THE $PATH
.
[Note: OSX 10.10 (Yosemite) is the first OSX version where /usr/local/bin
is placed BEFORE system paths such as /bin
in the $PATH
. Up to 10.9, system paths came first. Thus, at the time the OP asked his question, bash --version
reported the SYSTEM's bash's version (/bin/bash
), not the Homebrew-installed version (/usr/local/bin/bash
)]
If you want to know the current Bash shell's version, use:
echo $BASH_VERSION
In other words: your shell may well have been changed successfully - your test was flawed.
You can use chsh
to change the current user's shell, as follows:
[Update: Switched to using /usr/local/bin/bash
rather than a specific, versioned path in /usr/local/Cellar/bash/<version>/bin/bash
, as Homebrew will automatically keep the symlink at /usr/local/bin/bash
pointed to the most recent installed version. Tip of the hat to @drevicko.]
# First, add the new shell to the list of allowed shells.
sudo bash -c 'echo /usr/local/bin/bash >> /etc/shells'
# Change to the new shell.
chsh -s /usr/local/bin/bash
Note that you'll be prompted for your password.
Any terminal tab/window you create from that point on will already use the new shell.
Bonus tip from @bmike: If you want to replace the current shell instance with an instance of the new shell right away, run:
exec su - $USER # instantly replaces current shell with an instance of the new shell
Note that you'll be prompted for your password again.
Alternatively, use dscl
- the OSX Directory Services CLI - to change the current user's shell; this is more cumbersome, however.
To examine the current user's shell, use:
dscl . -read /Users/$USER UserShell # e.g. (default): 'UserShell: /bin/bash'
or, more simply, echo $SHELL
, which outputs only the file path (e.g., /bin/bash
).
To change the current user's shell to, e.g., /usr/local/bin/bash
, use:
sudo dscl . -change /Users/$USER UserShell /bin/bash /usr/local/bin/bash
Note:
- the penultimate argument must be the value currently in effect.
- it is NOT necessary for the new value to be contained in
/etc/shells
for interactive use, but the comments in/etc/shells
stateFtpd will not allow users to connect who are not using one of these shells.
- simply quit and restart
Terminal.app
(oriTerm.app
) for the change to take effect - verify the new shell withecho $BASH_VERSION
- a reboot is NOT required.
Explanation of errors encountered by the OP:
chsh: /usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.2.45/bin/bash: non-standard shell
implies that/usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.2.45/bin/bash
was not - not yet, or not in this exact form - listed in/etc/shells
.<main> attribute status: eDSAttributeNotFound
: thisdscl
error occurs when the penultimate (next-to-last) argument specified for the-change
command does not match the current attribute value - it is an - admittedly strange - requirement that an attribute's current value be specified in order to change it.
While the question suggests that both conditions were met, I suspect that they weren't met at the right times, due to experimentation.
The answer was that, yes, I needed to:
brew install bash
- add the path to
/etc/shells
- use
chsh -s
:chsh -s /usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.2.45/bin/bash
possibly use dscl to set the shell, i.e. within
dscl
type> change Local/Default/Users/<username> UserShell /bin/bash /usr/local/bin/zsh
most importantly:
- quit the terminal (really close the app, not just its windows).
- reboot
echoing $BASH_VERSION
after rebooting showed 4.2.45(2)-release