CHSH(1) User Commands CHSH(1)

chsh - change your login shell

chsh [-s shell] [-l] [-h] [-V] [username]

chsh is used to change your login shell. If a shell is not given on the command line, chsh prompts for one.

chsh supports non-local entries (kerberos, LDAP, etc.) if linked with libuser, otherwise use ypchsh(1), lchsh(1) or any other implementation for non-local entries.

-s, --shell shell

Specify your login shell.

-l, --list-shells

Print the list of shells listed in /etc/shells and exit.

-h, --help

Display help text and exit. (Short option -h is used since version 2.30; older versions used the now-deprecated -u).

-V, --version

Display version and exit. (Short option -V is used since version 2.39; older versions used the now-deprecated -v).

chsh will accept the full pathname of any executable file on the system.

The default behavior for non-root users is to accept only shells listed in the /etc/shells file, and issue a warning for root user. It can also be configured at compile-time to only issue a warning for all users.

Returns 0 if operation was successful, 1 if operation failed or command syntax was not valid.

Salvatore Valente <svalente@mit.edu>

login(1), login.defs(5), passwd(5), shells(5)

For bug reports, use the issue tracker https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues.

The chsh command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.

2025-03-29 util-linux 2.41