i3 FAQ - Individual question feedhttps://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Sun, 09 Aug 2015 15:23:30 +0000What shell does ‘exec’ actually use and how can I change it?https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/This might be a non-i3-question after all. In the [i3 docs](http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#exec), it says that > “What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications? The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a shell,” but what shell are the commands actually passed to? My user’s shell is set to `/bin/zsh`, but apparently `exec` invokes command via `/bin/sh`. How can I change that? I use debian testing/unstable, should that matter. *Background*: I use an i3 key binding to invoke `urxvtcd -e emacs -nw`, but evaluating `(getenv "PATH")` from within emacs gives me then the wrong environment (whereas `(getenv "SHELL")` gives me `/bin/zsh`).Sat, 08 Aug 2015 19:51:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/Answer by Airblader for <p>This might be a non-i3-question after all.</p> <p>In the <a href="http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#exec">i3 docs</a>, it says that</p> <blockquote> <p>“What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications? The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a shell,”</p> </blockquote> <p>but what shell are the commands actually passed to? My user’s shell is set to <code>/bin/zsh</code>, but apparently <code>exec</code> invokes command via <code>/bin/sh</code>. How can I change that?</p> <p>I use debian testing/unstable, should that matter.</p> <p><em>Background</em>: I use an i3 key binding to invoke <code>urxvtcd -e emacs -nw</code>, but evaluating <code>(getenv "PATH")</code> from within emacs gives me then the wrong environment (whereas <code>(getenv "SHELL")</code> gives me <code>/bin/zsh</code>).</p> https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/?answer=6411#post-id-6411i3 uses `/bin/sh` because this is available everywhere. You cannot modify this. Leaving aside the question of why your `/bin/sh` doesn't just point to zsh, you can do this: exec /bin/zsh whatever.sh Sat, 08 Aug 2015 23:20:10 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/?answer=6411#post-id-6411Comment by k.stm for <p>i3 uses <code>/bin/sh</code> because this is available everywhere. You cannot modify this. Leaving aside the question of why your <code>/bin/sh</code> doesn't just point to zsh, you can do this:</p> <pre><code>exec /bin/zsh whatever.sh </code></pre> https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/?comment=6413#comment-6413Or `exec zsh -c whatever`. Ok.Sun, 09 Aug 2015 15:23:30 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/6410/what-shell-does-exec-actually-use-and-how-can-i-change-it/?comment=6413#comment-6413