How to change directory in bash upon bash --login -i

Question

I am using Cygwin and wish to run it with diff params so I can change dir as soon as I launch in Windows.

For example

bash --login -i ; cd /

or

bash --login -i ; cd /tmp

but the cd does not work, how can I pass a change directory to

bash --login -i

FYI I can't put the cd in .bash, it has to be passed in

tried this with no luck

bash --login -i -s cd /tmp;

May be other relevant answers: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9637601/open-cygwin-at-a-specific-folder — Andry, Dec 30 '20 at 14:14
While [this](https://superuser.com/questions/341534/how-to-start-an-interactive-shell-with-special-setup) solution is about zsh, the same strategy could be used for bash. See particularily the comment given by _Martin_ to the accepted answer of that question, or my answer to the question (which was not accepted). — user1934428, Sep 07 '21 at 07:54

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 07 '16 at 19:57

5

One hack is to use -c to change the directory, then immediately start a new shell in place of the first one. The working directory is inherited. Note that any shell (that supports exec) could be used to start the new process; once the working directory has been changed, then you can start the interactive login instance of bash.

bash -c "cd /tmp; exec bash --login -i"

answered Dec 07 '16 at 19:57

chepner

497,756
71
530
681

1

That works for me using the 32-bit Cygwin on Windows 7 SP1 with all updates applied. @born2net, is it possible you have a `cd` command in your `.bashrc` or `.bash_profile` files? – Francis Litterio Dec 08 '16 at 21:12
Another approach is to use `script` utility: `script.exe -q -c "cd /tmp; CHERE_INVOKING=. /bin/bash -l"` – Andry Dec 30 '20 at 14:21

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 05 '21 at 02:20

1

ok so I found a solution to what I needed. in Cygwin .bashrc I put

"$OLDPWD" and it will automatically switch me to the last directory I was in Windows before forks Cygwin.

edited Sep 05 '21 at 02:20

Asclepius

57,944
17
167
143

answered Dec 08 '16 at 23:05

born2net

24,129
22
65
104

should be `cd "$OLDPWD"` – smaudet Sep 03 '20 at 23:27
1

As long as cygwin uses `CHERE_INVOKING` variable, then it is enough to declare it in the script: `bash -c "cd '...'; CHERE_INVOKING=. exec bash -l -i"`. The `$OLDPWD` will point a previous current directory just before the `cd "..."`. – Andry Dec 25 '20 at 18:56

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 14 '17 at 09:50

I use .bashrc and .bash_logout to recover previous locations. In .bash_logout I store the current directory in a file:

if [ -d ~/.recent-locations ]; then
    pwd > ~/.recent-locations/locus-$RANDOM
fi

and in .bashrc I consume the stored locations:

if [ -d .recent-locations ]; then
    for x in $(ls .recent-locations); do
        dstdir=$(cat .recent-locations/$x)
        rm .recent-locations/$x
        cd $dstdir
        break
    done
fi

For this to work you need to logout explicitly using Ctrl-D or logout; on the other hand if you don't want to record your location you simply shut down the terminal window via the window manager.

How to change directory in bash upon bash --login -i

3 Answers3