Say your default login shell is /bin/tcsh and you would like to change it to /bin/bash . Proceed as follows:
Start a shell on the BIC login host, login.bic.mni.mcgill.ca and at the command prompt type:
$ ypchsh
You will be asked to type in your password and then simply enter /bin/bash at the prompt, then hit return.
Logout and login again to have it effective although it sometimes takes a while before the system’s local cache is refreshed.
This can also be done on any BIC workstations, but again, a logout/login is mandatory to instantiate the change.
Note : For obvious security reasons only certain shells are permitted. The command ypchsh will refuse to make the change if the new shell is not listed in /etc/shells of if it doesn’t exit.
You should read the man page corresponding to your shell to learn how to modify your shell environment.