Any ways to set zsh as default shell?

[abcfy2]

I like to use zsh. On ubuntu I can use chsh -s /bin/zsh to set default shell to zsh, but how to set the default shell on wsltty?

[mintty]

wsltty simply passes /bin/bash to wslbridge in the shortcuts, the wsl*.bat scripts, and the context menu.
@rprichard: I don't know whether wslbridge actually needs a shell specified.
Since I don't have testing capabilities myself right now, please try to remove /bin/bash from your invocation. If that works, we can do without it.

[abcfy2]

Oh thanks. Change the shortcuts /bin/bash -> /bin/zsh works.

[mintty]

Thanks, so that would be your workaround.
But actually my question was whether it also works if you simply leave out the /bin/bash or /bin/zsh parameter completely.

[abcfy2]

No. Leave out /bin/bash or /bin/zsh will use /bin/bash as default. Maybe it doesn't get the default shell from /etc/passwd?

[mintty]

Even if you change the default shell in WSL as indicated in your original comment?
How does your shell look like in /etc/passwd?

[abcfy2]

Seems that WSL doesn's support set default shell. See: microsoft/WSL#846

And /etc/passwd:

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
libuuid:x:100:101::/var/lib/libuuid:
syslog:x:101:104::/home/syslog:/bin/false
messagebus:x:102:106::/var/run/dbus:/bin/false
landscape:x:103:109::/var/lib/landscape:/bin/false
sshd:x:104:65534::/var/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
pollinate:x:105:1::/var/cache/pollinate:/bin/false
fengyu:x:1000:1000:"",,,:/home/fengyu:/usr/bin/zsh

[antonioyon]

I've gotten it to work by putting exec zsh in my .bashrc. It's a bit hacky but you can wrap a test for interactive login around it and it's just as good.

[mintty]

Added section "Shell selection" to project page README.

[mintty]

Meanwhile it is possible to invoke WSL with the configured default shell, using the wsl.exe wrapper.

[mintty]

Released 1.8.0 which does not set a preference to /bin/bash anymore.

[ForsakenHarmony]

I'm still getting bash every time?

[mintty]

Maybe you'd need to update your shortcuts. If you use the previous shortcuts, you'll get the previous behaviour.
Please try the "WSL Terminal" shortcut (it may be new, you can check the target in the properties first). Remove non-working WSLtty desktop shortcuts and copy fresh ones from the Start Menu or reinstall.

[ForsakenHarmony]

I'm pretty sure my initial install was after that update

I'm using the WSL Terminal shortcut in the context menu

$ chsh
Changing the login shell for root
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
        Login Shell [/usr/bin/fish]:

[mintty]

Right, actually 1.8.0 removes explicit invocation of /bin/bash from the WSLtty shortcuts, but support from wslbridge is still needed to make it work, see rprichard/wslbridge#17.

[mintty]

Closing for the more generic #86.