The command prompt is a text-based interface used to interact with the Ubuntu operating system. By default, the command prompt is black and white, but with a few simple commands, you can customize the colors to your liking.

Steps to customize the colors of the Ubuntu command prompt:

1. Open the Terminal

The first step is to open the Terminal application on your Ubuntu system. You can do this by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + T keys or by searching for Terminal in the Activities menu.

2. Open the Bashrc File

Next, you need to open the .bashrc file in a text editor. This file contains the configuration settings for the Bash shell, which is the default shell in Ubuntu.

To open the file, type the following command in the Terminal:

nano ~/.bashrc

This will open the .bashrc file in the nano text editor.

3. Enhance the Prompt with Dynamic Color Codes.

To add color codes to the prompt, you need to modify the PS1 variable in the .bashrc file.

The PS1 variable controls the appearance of the command prompt. It is set to a default value.

You can see by typing the following command in the Terminal:

echo $PS1

To add colors to the prompt, you need to insert color codes into the PS1 variable. The color codes are ANSI escape codes, which are a set of codes that are used to control the formatting and color of text in the Terminal.

Here are some of the most commonly used color codes:

• \e[0m – Reset color
• \e[1m – Bold
• \e[4m – Underline
• \e[31m – Red
• \e[32m – Green
• \e[33m – Yellow
• \e[34m – Blue
• \e[35m – Purple
• \e[36m – Cyan
• \e[37m – White

To add color to the prompt, you need to insert the color codes into the PS1 variable.

For example, to set the prompt to green, you can use the following code:

PS1="\e[32m\u@\h:\w\e[0m$ "

In this code, \u represents the username, \h represents the hostname, and \w represents the current working directory.

You can customize the code to suit your needs. For example, you can add a bold or underline effect to the prompt by using the \e[1m or \e[4m codes, respectively.

4. Activate colors for your command promt

In order to activate the P1 colors defined , you have to set the force_color_prompt to yes in your .bashrc file. By default, the line is commented in the file.

force_color_prompt=yes

5. Save the Changes

Once you have made the changes to the .bashrc file, you need to save the changes and exit the text editor.

To save the changes, press Ctrl + X, then Y, and then Enter.

Step 5: Reload the Bashrc File

Finally, you need to reload the .bashrc file to apply the changes. To do this, type the following command in the Terminal:

source ~/.bashrc

This will reload the .bashrc file and apply the new colors to the command prompt.

Customizing the colors of the Ubuntu command prompt is a great way to personalize your Linux experience. With a few simple commands, you can create a unique and eye-catching prompt that suits your style.

Have fun!