Install Zsh

Depending on your platform, I use Termux for Android, Debian for Raspberry Pi and Kali on Windows Subsystem for Linux - WSL).. you can install Zsh with the following:

sudo apt install zsh

If you're on Android using Termux, install by typing:

pkg install zsh

If you’re on macOS and use Brew you can install Zsh with the following:

brew install zsh

Install Oh My Zsh

Zsh has a framework that you can use with it called Oh My Zsh this adds a lot of functionality to the shell, more on this in the guide.

Installing Oh My Zsh is as simple as:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Once installed you will have a ~/.zshrc file that you can edit to add additional functionality to the shell.

The ~ here represents the home directory of your current logged in user. So if you were to do cd ~ you would be in your home directory.

One of the joys of Zsh is that many commands are contextual so the cd ~ can be shortened to ~.

Another nice one is changing directories, in bash you’d need to cd .. to go back a directory. In Zsh you can use .. to go back a directory. To go back three directories you can use ....

Anyway, the default .zshrc file is filled with helpful comments to guide you through its usage.

If you cat out the contents of the .zshrc (with cat ~/.zshrc) file you’ll see something similar to what I just linked.

You can edit the .zshrc file with your text editor of choice, I use nano but you can use any text editor, VS Code even, use code ~/.zshrc from the terminal to start editing with VS Code.

Install Powerlevel10k

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

Basic quick zsh install instructions

Install with curl

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Enabling Plugins (zsh-autosuggestions & zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Install git first

apt install git [Linux; Ubuntu, Kali] pkg install git [Termux and others] brew install git [MacOS]

Download zsh-autosuggestions by typing:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

Download zsh-syntax-highlighting by typing:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

nano ~/.zshrc find plugins=(git)

(this is to edit your zsh configuration profile that's in your current root/home directory)

Add zsh-autosuggestions & zsh-syntax-highlighting to plugins() like this

plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Oh My Zsh configuration

So if we take a look at my current configuration (modify or add as much you like that suits you and your terminal) ```.zshrc```

# -- [ Basic WSL2 Detection ] --
is_wsl() {
  grep -qiE "(microsoft|wsl)" /proc/version
}

# -- [ Gitstatus crash fix ] --
export GITSTATUS_LOG_LEVEL=OFF
export POWERLEVEL9K_DISABLE_CONFIGURATION_WIZARD=true
export POWERLEVEL9K_INSTANT_PROMPT=quiet

# -- [ Theme / Oh My Zsh ] --
export ZSH="$HOME/.oh-my-zsh"
ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

plugins=(
  git
  z
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
  docker
  command-not-found
  history-substring-search
  sudo
  extract
  man
)

source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh

# -- [ Instant prompt cache ] --
if [[ -r "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh" ]]; then
  source "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh"
fi

# -- [ Language + Editor ] --
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export EDITOR='nano'

# -- [ LS Color scheme ] --
export LS_COLORS="rs=0:no=00:di=01;34:ln=01;36:so=01;33:pi=01;33:ex=01;32"

# -- [ Default directory on launch ] --
cd ~/panda

# -- [ PATH Purification for WSL2 ] --
if is_wsl; then
  export PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$HOME/bin"
fi

# -- [ PYENV Setup ] --
export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"

# -- [ Conda Setup (WSL-compatible)] --
if [[ -f "$HOME/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]]; then
  source "$HOME/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
  conda activate base
fi

# -- [ Golang Setup ] --
export GOROOT="/usr/local/go"
export GOPATH="$HOME/go"
export PATH="$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin:$PATH"

# -- [ Neofetch on start ] --
neofetch

# -- [ Syntax Highlighting + Completion ] --
autoload -U compinit && compinit

# Compilation flags
# export ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64"

# For a full list of active aliases, run `alias`.
#
# Example aliases
# alias zshconfig="mate ~/.zshrc"
# alias ohmyzsh="mate ~/.oh-my-zsh"

source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme
source "$ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh"

# To customize prompt, run `p10k configure` or edit ~/.p10k.zsh.
[[ ! -f ~/.p10k.zsh ]] || source ~/.p10k.zsh

Change your default shell

chsh -s $(which zsh)

You must log out from your user session and log back in to see this change.

Initialize your new zsh configuration

Once you open up a new terminal window, it should load zsh with your editted Oh My Zsh's configuration.