Available Login Shells

/bin/csh

This shell provides a history mechanism (that is, it remembers commands you enter); job control (you can stop processes, place them in background, and return them to foreground); and the ability to use wildcard characters to specify file names. Users can construct sophisticated commands and scripts using a C programming language-like syntax. For a complete description of this shell, see the csh(1) reference page.

/bin/ksh

This shell is an expansion of the best features of the Bourne shell and the C shell, and allows for command line editing, job control, programming from the shell prompt in the shell language, and other features. For a complete description of this shell, see the ksh(1) reference page.

/bin/sh

This is a simpler shell than csh and is also called the Bourne shell after its principle designer. Bourne shell does not contain any kind of history mechanism and uses a somewhat different syntax than csh. It does make use of wildcard characters and is smaller and faster to invoke than csh. For a complete description of this shell, see the sh(1) reference page.

/bin/rsh

This is a restricted shell, which limits the commands a user can type. The rsh command syntax is identical to sh, except that users cannot perform the following:

• change directories

• use the ls(1) command

• set the shell search path ($PATH)

• specify path or command names containing /

• redirect output (> and >>)

For complete information about these shells, see the ksh(1), csh(1), and sh(1) reference pages. The rsh restricted shell is described on the sh(1) reference page.

Note: Two shells called rsh are shipped with IRIX. /bin/rsh is the restricted shell. The other shell, in /usr/bsd/rsh, is the Berkeley remote shell. Be careful not to confuse the two. The various startup files that configure these shells are described in the next sections.