My most recent post in the Linux Prompt on Windows series, is Part V. Now, we’re on VI and it’s all because of PowerShell 6.0.

As 6.0 uses a different $PROFILE script, it was mandatory that I created a new one and quickly copied over my Linux prompt. I hate to be anywhere without it. You can create a $PROFILE script in PowerShell 6.0 the same way we did previously. It’s New-Item -Path $PROFILE -Force (press Enter) followed by notepad $PROFILE (press Enter) to open the file, in Notepad, which should be obvious.

The newest change is adding the version number, just to the right of the host program’s name in the WindowTitle. Here’s an example of how that appears. As it should the WindowTitle indicates it’s PowerShell 6.0.

Type in powershell.exe and press Enter, and the WindowTitle changes. Now we’re in PowerShell 5.1.

Go deeper in time and type powershell.exe -version 2, press Enter, and it changes again, but this time to 2.0. By adding this addition to the WindowTitle via my prompt function, I can move between versions of PowerShell, if needed, and always know the version in which I’m working.

I’ve included the fully updated prompt function below. Copy it into your $PROFILE script, restart PowerShell, and enjoy. I can’t be the only one to appreciate this prompt, especially as PowerShell 6.0 just went GA. As the beta versions before it were, it’s cross platform; therefore, my lookalike Linux prompt makes even more sense now.

Update: I recently cleaned out my new 6.0 $PROFILE script and did what I’ve always done instead. That is to dot source a different profile script (the one loaded by Windows PowerShell 5.1). So, in place of my prompt function, I now have this entry: . C:\Users\tommymaynard\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1. Yeah, you’re reading that right, “WindowsPowerShell.” All my stuff is in there! It should be fun to see what works and what doesn’t!

Update: I got really tired of looking up at the WindowTitle to see my version, so I added it to the prompt, as well. It’s just after the closing square bracket and before the # or $ symbol. By the way, the difference of those two is that # indicates an administrative user, and $ indicates a non-administrative user. Oh yes, and for today, my host is blue. It’s not the exact blue, but close. The font color is also gray (by default), another slight difference between the host configuration for 5.1 vs. 6.0. Anyway, I’ve updated the below code to indicate the version as a part of the prompt itself, just like in the below image.

Function Prompt {
	(Get-PSProvider -PSProvider FileSystem).Home = $env:USERPROFILE

	# Determine if Admin and set Symbol variable.
	If ([bool](([System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).Groups -match 'S-1-5-32-544')) {
		$Symbol = '#'
	} Else {
		$Symbol = '$'
	}
	 
	# Write Path to Location Variable as /.../...
	If ($PWD.Path -eq $env:USERPROFILE) {
		$Location = '/~'
	} ElseIf ($PWD.Path -like "*$env:USERPROFILE*") {
		$Location = "/$($PWD.Path -replace ($env:USERPROFILE -replace '\\','\\'),'~' -replace '\\','/')"
	} Else {
		$Location = "$(($PWD.Path -replace '\\','/' -split ':')[-1])"
	}

	# Determine Host for WindowTitle.
	Switch ($Host.Name) {
		'ConsoleHost' {$HostName = 'consolehost'; break}
		'Windows PowerShell ISE Host' {$HostName = 'ise'; break}
        'Visual Studio Code Host' {$HostName = 'vscode'; break}
		default {}
	}

    # Determine PowerShell version.
    $PSVer = "$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major).$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Minor)"

	# Create and write Prompt; Write WindowTitle.
    $UserComputer = "$($env:USERNAME.ToLower())@$($env:COMPUTERNAME.ToLower())" 
    $Location = "$((Get-Location).Drive.Name.ToLower())$Location"

    # Check if in the debugger.
    If (Test-Path -Path Variable:/PSDebugContext) {
        $DebugStart = '[DBG]: '
        $DebugEnd = ']'
    }

    # Actual prompt and title.
    $Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = "$HostName $PSver`: $DebugStart[$UserComputer $Location]$DebugEnd$Symbol"
    "$DebugStart[$UserComputer $Location]$DebugEnd$PSVer$Symbol "
}

Linux Prompt on Windows – Part V

http://tommymaynard.com/an-addition-to-the-linux-powershell-prompt-iv-2016/

http://tommymaynard.com/an-addition-to-the-linux-powershell-prompt-ii-2016/

http://tommymaynard.com/an-addition-to-the-linux-powershell-promp-2016/

http://tommymaynard.com/duplicate-the-linux-prompt-2016/