Choosing the shell that SSH uses?

Question

How do I set the shell that is used when a user SSHs to a server. For example I can't stand BASH and need to use ZSH, how do I make it so ZSH is loaded along with my profile (.zsh_profile) when I ssh to the machine.

I dont want to have to pass a bunch of parameters with ssh either, can't I set the default shell?

Answer 1

Assuming you're running on Linux, you can use the chsh command.

chsh -s /bin/ksh foo
chsh -s /bin/bash username

Answer 2

man chsh changes shell, does not always work

Alternatively, you can stick exec /bin/zsh in your bash login script.this will replace bash instance with your shell.

Or you can do ssh host "zsh -l"

Answer 3

Edit /etc/passwd (if you have the rights, or ask your system admin) to change your default shell.