tcsh as default shell

The default shell in Zurich is zsh. Unfortunately some of the control-keys do not work in zsh on SLC5 (e.g. grid-ui). This can be fixed by using another tcsh as your shell. (If you prefer bash works as well.)

Before you change your default, you probably want to test the shell. Log into grid-ui and start tcsh

tcsh

Test typing and the control characters you wanted to work. When convinced, exit grid-ui and log in at any openSUSE machine (e.g. spinor). To change the shell just run

chsh -s /bin/tcsh

The change takes some time to propagate to all machines but within a few minutes you should get the new shell when logging in.

Now you probably want to adjust some of the configurations. This you do by changing the .cshrc-file in your home-dir. Below you find an example file. Most likely you want at least the first line.

.cshrc

# tab-completion: list possibilities
set autolist
 
# command history: keep only last entry for each command 
set histdup=erase
 
# configure ls
# colors for dark background (search LS_COLORS in man page for details)
setenv LS_COLORS 'di=00;36:ln=04;36:ex=00;32'
# display human readable file-size and use colors
alias ls 'ls -h --color=auto'
alias l  'ls -l'
 
# ask before doing dangerous things
alias rm 'rm -i'
alias cp 'cp -i'
alias mv 'mv -i'
 
# other nice alias
alias . 'source' 
alias root 'root -l'