20

I would like to set the Max OS X Terminal theme for Ubuntu Terminal. I really like the fonts and the colors. This is how the Mac Terminal does look:

Image source

There are few things that I want to see in the Ubuntu Terminal:

  • I want to replace username@desktop:~/Dropbox$ with the username and the computer name in this format: desktop:Dropbox username$

  • I want to change the Terminal font to look like in the Mac terminal.

  • I want to change the color scheme to be like the Mac terminal color scheme.

Is this possible? How?


Note that I don't want to change the Ubuntu theme. I use Unity with default theme, but I want to change only the terminal settings because it's the most used application by me.

5
  • have you got your answer.?
    – Sukupa91
    Dec 3, 2013 at 6:42
  • 1
    @Sushantp606 I added it: askubuntu.com/a/387520/148451 Dec 9, 2013 at 4:43
  • 2
    Why would you want to do this? The terminal in ubuntu is 10 times the terminal of mac. Install terminator.
    – tread
    Sep 19, 2015 at 7:30
  • @StevieG I was just liking how the Mac terminal looks, but currently I'm using terminal flat theme. I don't like Terminator, Gnome Terminal + tmux make a great job together. :) Sep 19, 2015 at 17:07
  • You may not believe this but I've shifted from Ubuntu 18.04 to MacOS and I miss my Ubuntu terminal. I'm literally searching online to make my MacOS terminal look like Ubuntu one.
    – Omar Tariq
    Apr 4, 2019 at 7:23

3 Answers 3

25

Changing the prompt style

To change the prompt format, add the following lines in ~/.bashrc file:

### Prompt style
export PS1="\033[0;33m\h:\W \u\$ \e[m"

Now the terminal looks like this:

Terminal font

Intall Monaco font. You can run this in Terminal:

curl -kL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cstrap/monaco-font/master/install-font-ubuntu.sh | bash

Warning: You may have issues with this font in browser. This is discussed here.

Then set the Terminal font to use Monacao: go to Edit -> Profile Preferences and change the font:

Color scheme

Save the following content into an XML file:

<gconfentryfile>
  <entrylist base="/apps/gnome-terminal">
    <entry>
      <key>global/active_encodings</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/active_encodings</schema_key>
      <value>
        <list type="string">
            <value>
              <string>UTF-8</string>
            </value>
            <value>
              <string>current</string>
            </value>
        </list>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>global/confirm_window_close</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/confirm_window_close</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>global/default_profile</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/default_profile</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>Default</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>global/profile_list</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/profile_list</schema_key>
      <value>
        <list type="string">
            <value>
              <string>Default</string>
            </value>
        </list>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>global/use_menu_accelerators</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/use_menu_accelerators</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>global/use_mnemonics</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/global/use_mnemonics</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/close_tab</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/close_tab</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;w</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/close_window</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/close_window</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;q</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/copy</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/copy</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;c</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/detach_tab</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/detach_tab</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/full_screen</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/full_screen</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>F11</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/help</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/help</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>F1</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/move_tab_left</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/move_tab_left</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;Page_Up</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/move_tab_right</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/move_tab_right</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;Page_Down</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/new_profile</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/new_profile</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/new_tab</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/new_tab</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;t</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/new_window</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/new_window</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;n</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/next_tab</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/next_tab</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Control&gt;Page_Down</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/paste</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/paste</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;v</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/prev_tab</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/prev_tab</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Control&gt;Page_Up</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/reset</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/reset</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/reset_and_clear</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/reset_and_clear</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/save_contents</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/save_contents</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>disabled</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/set_terminal_title</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/set_terminal_title</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_1</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_1</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;1</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_10</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_10</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;0</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_11</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_11</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_12</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_12</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_2</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_2</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;2</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_3</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_3</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;3</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_4</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_4</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;4</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_5</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_5</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;5</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_6</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_6</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;6</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_7</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_7</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;7</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_8</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_8</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;8</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/switch_to_tab_9</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/switch_to_tab_9</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Alt&gt;9</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/toggle_menubar</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/toggle_menubar</schema_key>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/zoom_in</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/zoom_in</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;plus</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/zoom_normal</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/zoom_normal</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;0</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>keybindings/zoom_out</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings/zoom_out</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>&lt;Ctrl&gt;minus</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/allow_bold</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/allow_bold</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/alternate_screen_scroll</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/alternate_screen_scroll</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/background_color</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/background_color</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>#0D0D19192626</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/background_darkness</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/background_darkness</schema_key>
      <value>
        <float>0.5</float>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/background_image</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/background_image</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string></string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/background_type</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/background_type</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>solid</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/backspace_binding</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/backspace_binding</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>ascii-del</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/bold_color</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/bold_color</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>#000000000000</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/bold_color_same_as_fg</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/bold_color_same_as_fg</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/cursor_blink_mode</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/cursor_blink_mode</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>system</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/cursor_shape</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/cursor_shape</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>block</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/custom_command</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/custom_command</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string></string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/default_show_menubar</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/default_show_menubar</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/default_size_columns</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/default_size_columns</schema_key>
      <value>
        <int>80</int>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/default_size_rows</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/default_size_rows</schema_key>
      <value>
        <int>24</int>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/delete_binding</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/delete_binding</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>escape-sequence</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/encoding</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/encoding</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>current</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/exit_action</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/exit_action</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>close</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/font</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/font</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>Monaco Bold 10</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/foreground_color</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/foreground_color</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>#D3D1D7D7CFCF</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/icon</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/icon</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string></string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/login_shell</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/login_shell</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/palette</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/palette</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>#000000000000:#F5F579780000:#7373D2D11615:#D554C1D77F49:#40DAC851F332:#CECE5C5B0000:#C1C07D7C1110:#7373D2D11615:#262626262626:#EDEDD4D40000:#7373D2D11615:#EFEF29292929:#0000ABAAFFFF:#BAB99F9F0000:#E9E8B9B86E6E:#ADAD7F7FA8A7</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scroll_background</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scroll_background</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scroll_on_keystroke</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scroll_on_keystroke</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scroll_on_output</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scroll_on_output</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scrollback_lines</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scrollback_lines</schema_key>
      <value>
        <int>512</int>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scrollback_unlimited</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scrollback_unlimited</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/scrollbar_position</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/scrollbar_position</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>right</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/silent_bell</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/silent_bell</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/title</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/title</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>Terminal</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/title_mode</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/title_mode</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>replace</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/update_records</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/update_records</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>true</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/use_custom_command</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/use_custom_command</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/use_custom_default_size</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/use_custom_default_size</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/use_system_font</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/use_system_font</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/use_theme_background</key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/use_theme_colors</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/use_theme_colors</schema_key>
      <value>
        <bool>false</bool>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/visible_name</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/visible_name</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>Default</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
    <entry>
      <key>profiles/Default/word_chars</key>
      <schema_key>/schemas/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/word_chars</schema_key>
      <value>
        <string>-A-Za-z0-9,./?%&amp;#:_=+@~</string>
      </value>
    </entry>
  </entrylist>
</gconfentryfile>

Then import the color scheme running the following command:

gconftool-2 --load terminal-color-scheme.xml

...where terminal-color-scheme.xml is the name of the XML file that contains the content above.

After that, your terminal will look like below:

7
  • @lonica do you know any way to make the terminal shake a little or flash when we do something wrong. For example, while navigating to directories, if we have reached the end of the directory and still we are pressing tab. Jul 30, 2016 at 9:35
  • @SoumitriPattnaik I think that's really related to the terminal emulator you're using. On my mac machine I disabled that visual bell. I didn't test this, but I think this is what you need: askubuntu.com/a/620053/148451 Jul 30, 2016 at 18:22
  • where to save terminal-color-scheme.xml file Dec 17, 2016 at 19:03
  • @PankajGautam You can keep it anywhere. Dec 17, 2016 at 19:44
  • @lonica I correctly followed all the steps keeping file name same but get the below error Dec 18, 2016 at 12:39
2

Most of us work with a shell prompt. By default most Linux distro displays hostname and current working directory. You can easily customize your prompt to display information important to you.Prompt is control via a special shell variable.

To display current prompt setting use-

echo $PS1

Output will be like below , yours would be same if you did not have played with it before-

\[\e]0;\u@\h: \w\a\]${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w\$

To modify computername@username to Username use-

PS1="User name : "

to make this change permanent use edit /.bashrc by-

vi $HOME/.bashrc

and append the line -

export PS1="\e[0;31m[\u@\h \W]\$ \e[m"

If you want to add other things like date and all to prompt let me know i will add other informations.

Your second question is about to change fonts , for that install unity tweak tool either from Ubuntu software center or via terminal as -

sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool

and and change the the font and size as per to your disire.

thirdly i dont have any idea to change the color scheme of ubuntu as MAC as, I am not a MAC fan , but yeah you can change your prompt color as explained below-

To set a green color prompt, type the following command:

$ export PS1="\e[0;32m[\u@\h \W]\$ \e[m "

Change the color code as per to your desire from the table shown below.

COLOUR CODES

And if you want to change complete font color for terminal go to terminal - edit - preference and use cutom font color as -

Terminal preference

That's what all i know , I dont know how can you change it for patterns as show in your question..

Extra advice - For exactly making it looks like mac use http://www.noobslab.com/2013/10/mac-os-x-mbuntu-1310-pack-is-ready.html .

Hope it helped you.

1

For the prompt (the part you show as desktop:Dropbox username$) see this document at The Linux Documentation project: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/index.html It describes how to set the PS1 and how to set colors for the prompt (if you wanted that as well)

The font, you will need to find out what font the mac osx terminal uses and get it installed (if not already in Ubuntu) and then you can set it using the preferences in Terminal.

For the colors of the files you will need to work with dir_colors. Here is a link to the man page: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/dir_colors.5.html

Have you seen this regarding a Mac theme for Ubuntu? http://www.noobslab.com/2013/10/mac-os-x-mbuntu-1310-pack-is-ready.html

Yes, all this can be done but you will need to do some configuration.

You may also wish to become used to working with a customized .bashrc. Here is a nice tutorial: http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Customize-the-Shell-Prompt-40033.shtml

As with all things, keep back-ups of the original files, just in case.

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