Best Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04 – OrcaCore

This tutorial guides you through the process of installing and configuring Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04. Powerline is a powerful text-based tool that enhances your terminal experience by providing visually appealing and informative status lines and prompts for various applications, including the bash shell, VIM text editor, and other tools like zsh and tmux.

You can follow this guide on the Orcacore website to integrate Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04 with the Vim text editor and Bash shell.

Install and Configure Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04

Before diving into the installation and configuration, ensure you have access to your Ubuntu 22.04 server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. This allows you to execute commands with elevated permissions. If you haven’t already, refer to Orcacore’s guide on Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 22.04 for assistance.

Once you have the necessary prerequisites, follow these steps to complete the installation and configuration of Powerline.

Configure Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04

Step 1 – Install Powerline on Ubuntu 22.04

We’ll utilize the Ubuntu Universe repository to install Powerline. First, update your system’s package lists using the following command:

sudo apt update

Next, add the Universe repository to your Ubuntu 22.04 system:

sudo add-apt-repository universe

After adding the repository, install Powerline with the following command:

sudo apt install powerline -y

With Powerline installed, proceed to configure it for both Bash and VIM.

Step 2 – Configure Powerline for Bash Shell

To configure Powerline for the Bash shell, you need to edit the bashrc file. Open the file using your preferred text editor (e.g., vi, nano). Here, we will use vi:

sudo vi ~/.bashrc

Add the following Powerline configuration lines to the end of the file:

# Powerline configuration
if [ -f /usr/share/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh ]; then
  powerline-daemon -q
  POWERLINE_BASH_CONTINUATION=1
  POWERLINE_BASH_SELECT=1
  source /usr/share/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
fi

Save the changes and close the file.

To apply the modifications, execute the following command:

sudo source ~/.bashrc

Upon executing this command, you should observe Powerline segments appearing in your Bash prompt.

Step 3 – Configure Powerline for Vim

To configure Powerline for the Vim editor, ensure that your Vim installation supports Python 3 on Ubuntu 22.04. Verify this by running the following command:

vim --version

In the output, look for the +python3 feature. The plus sign (+) indicates that Python 3 support is enabled.

**Output**
VIM - Vi IMproved 8.2 (2019 Dec 12, compiled Apr 18 2022 19:26:30)
Included patches: 1-3995
Modified by team+vim@tracker.debian.org
Compiled by team+vim@tracker.debian.org
Huge version without GUI.  Features included (+) or not (-):
...
** +python3 **

Next, open your vimrc file using the following command:

sudo vi ~/.vimrc

Add the following Powerline configuration lines to your file:

python3 from powerline.vim import setup as powerline_setup
python3 powerline_setup()
python3 del powerline_setup

set laststatus=2

The laststatus setting ensures that the status bar is displayed in Vim, making Powerline visible by default.

Save the changes and close the file.

For more information about Vim, you can visit the Vim Docs page.

That’s it! You have successfully configured Powerline for both Bash and Vim on Ubuntu 22.04. Now your terminal will have a much more appealing and informative interface.

Conclusion

You have now successfully installed and configured Powerline For VIM and Bash on Ubuntu 22.04 by adding configuration lines to the bashrc and vimrc files.

Hope you enjoy it. You may also be interested in these articles:

How To Install Erlang on Ubuntu 22.04

How To Install Monitorix on Debian 11

Alternative Solutions for Enhanced Terminal Experience

While the Powerline tool provides a good solution for enhancing your terminal, here are two alternative approaches for achieving a similar outcome, along with explanations and code examples:

1. Using Starship Prompt

Starship is a cross-shell prompt written in Rust. It’s known for its speed, customizability, and ease of configuration. Unlike Powerline, which requires Python and can sometimes be a bit heavy, Starship is lightweight and efficient.

Explanation:

Starship uses a configuration file (~/.config/starship.toml) to define the prompt’s appearance. You can customize various aspects, such as the modules displayed (e.g., current directory, git branch, programming language version), the symbols used, and the colors.

Installation:

Follow the instructions on the official Starship website (https://starship.rs/) to install Starship for your specific shell (Bash, Zsh, etc.). A typical installation on Ubuntu would involve downloading the binary and placing it in your $PATH.

Configuration Example (~/.config/starship.toml):

# ~/.config/starship.toml

# Inserts a blank line between command prompts
add_newline = true

[character]
success_symbol = "[➜](bold green)"
error_symbol = "[✗](bold red)"

[directory]
format = "[\(](white)[$path](bold blue)[\)](white) "
style = "bold blue"

[git_branch]
format = "on [$branch](bold purple) "
style = "bold purple"

[git_status]
format = '[$all_status$ahead_behind](bold green) '
style = "bold green"
ahead_behind = "([ahead with $ahead commits](bold green)[behind with $behind commits](bold red))"

[python]
format = "via [$virtualenv](bold yellow) "
style = "bold yellow"

Integration with Bash:

Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file:

eval "$(starship init bash)"

Benefits:

Speed: Starship is significantly faster than Powerline due to its Rust implementation.
Customizability: Highly customizable through its TOML configuration file.
Ease of Use: Simple configuration syntax.
Cross-Shell: Works seamlessly across multiple shells (Bash, Zsh, Fish, etc.).

2. Utilizing Oh My Zsh with a Powerlevel10k Theme

While Oh My Zsh is primarily a framework for Zsh, it offers a powerful theming engine that can rival Powerline’s aesthetics and functionality. Powerlevel10k is a popular Zsh theme known for its speed and extensive customization options. While this option is for Zsh and not bash, it’s included to showcase an alternative to the traditional VIM and Bash setup.

Explanation:

Oh My Zsh provides a plugin system for extending its functionality. Powerlevel10k leverages this plugin system to create a visually rich and informative prompt.

Installation:

Install Zsh:

sudo apt install zsh
chsh -s $(which zsh)  # Set Zsh as your default shell

Install Oh My Zsh:

Follow the instructions on the Oh My Zsh website (https://ohmyz.sh/).

Install Powerlevel10k:

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

Configure Zsh:

Edit your ~/.zshrc file and set the ZSH_THEME variable:
```
ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"
```
Customize Powerlevel10k:

Restart your terminal or run source ~/.zshrc. Powerlevel10k will guide you through a configuration wizard to customize your prompt’s appearance. You can also directly edit the ~/.p10k.zsh file for advanced customization.

Example Configuration Snippet (~/.p10k.zsh):

# Set the prompt on the left side of the screen.
typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(
  # =========================[ Line #1 ]=========================
  context                  # user@host
  dir                      # current directory
  vcs                      # git status
  # =========================[ Line #2 ]=========================
)

# Set the prompt on the right side of the screen.
typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(
  status                   # exit code of the last command
  time                     # current time
)