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Cmder is a **software package** created out of pure frustration over absence of usable console emulator on Windows. It is based on [ConEmu](https://conemu.github.io/) with *major* config overhaul, comes with a Monokai color scheme, amazing [clink](https://github.com/mridgers/clink) (further enhanced by [clink-completions](https://github.com/vladimir-kotikov/clink-completions)) and a custom prompt layout.
The main advantage of Cmder is portability. It is designed to be totally self-contained with no external dependencies, which makes it great for **USB Sticks** or **cloud storage**. So you can carry your console, aliases and binaries (like wget, curl and git) with you anywhere.
The Cmder's user interface is also designed to be more eye pleasing, and you can compare the main differences between Cmder and ConEmu [here](https://conemu.github.io/en/cmder.html).
2. Extract the archive. *Note: This path should not be `C:\Program Files` or anywhere else that would require Administrator access for modifying configuration files*
3. (optional) Place your own executable files into the `%cmder_root%\bin` folder to be injected into your PATH.
* This will create the following directory structure if it is missing.
```
c:\users\[username]\cmder_config
├───bin
└───config
└───profile.d
```
* Both the shared install and the individual user config locations can contain a full set of init and profile.d scripts enabling shared config with user overrides. See below.
Cmder, PowerShell, and Bash tabs all run on top of the Windows Console API and work as you might expect in Cmder with access to use ConEmu's color schemes, key bindings and other settings defined in the ConEmu Settings dialog.
⚠ *NOTE:* Only the full edition of Cmder comes with a pre-installed bash, using a vendored [git-for-windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) installation. The pre-configured Bash tabs may not work on Cmder mini edition without additional configuration.
You may however, choose to use an external installation of bash, such as Microsoft's [Subsystem for Linux](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10) (called WSL) or the [Cygwin](https://cygwin.com/) project which provides POSIX support on windows.
⚠ *NOTE:* Mintty tabs use a program called 'mintty' as the terminal emulator that is not based on the Windows Console API, rather it's rendered graphically by ConEmu. Mintty differs from the other tabs in that it supports xterm/xterm-256color TERM types, and does not work with ConEmu settings like color schemes and key bindings. As such, some differences in functionality are to be expected, such as Cmder not being able to apply a system-wide configuration to it.
As a result mintty specific config is done via the `[%USERPROFILE%|$HOME]/.minttyrc` file. You may read more about Mintty and its config file [here](https://github.com/mintty/mintty).
You may find some Monokai color schemes for mintty to match Cmder [here](https://github.com/PhilipDaniels/mintty/blob/master/themes/Monokai) or [here](https://github.com/oumu/mintty-color-schemes/blob/master/base16-monokai-mod.minttyrc).
| `/c [user cmder root]` | Enables user bin and config folders for 'Cmder as admin' sessions due to non-shared environment. | not set |
| `/d` | Enables debug output. | not set |
| `/f` | Enables Cmder Fast Init Mode. This disables some features, see pull request [#1492](https://github.com/cmderdev/cmder/pull/1942) for more details. | not set |
| `/nix_tools [0-2]` | Define how `*nix` tools are added to the path. Prefer Windows Tools: 1, Prefer *nix Tools: 2, No `/usr/bin` in `%PATH%`: 0 | 1 |
You can write `*.cmd|*.bat`, `*.ps1`, and `*.sh` scripts and just drop them in the `%CMDER_ROOT%\config\profile.d` folder to add startup config to Cmder.
You can define simple aliases for `cmd.exe` sessions with a command like `alias name=command`. Cmd.exe aliases support optional parameters through the `$1-9` or the `$*` special characters so the alias `vi=vim.exe $*` typed as `vi [filename]` will open `[filename]` in `vim.exe`.
Cmd.exe aliases can also be more complex. See: [DOSKEY.EXE documentation](http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/doskey.mspx?mfr=true) for additional details on complex aliases/macros for `cmd.exe`
Note: These are loaded in this order by `$CMDER_ROOT/vendor/init.bat`. Anything stored in `%CMDER_ROOT%` will be a portable setting and will follow cmder to another machine.
Bash shells support simple and complex aliases with optional parameters natively so they work a little different. Typing `alias name=command` will create an alias only for the current running session.
To make an alias and/or any other profile settings permanent add it to one of the following:
Note: These are loaded in this order by `$CMDER_ROOT/vendor/git-for-windows/etc/profile.d/cmder.sh`. Anything stored in `$CMDER_ROOT` will be a portable setting and will follow cmder to another machine.
If you add bash aliases to `$CMDER_ROOT/config/user_profile.sh` they will be portable and follow your Cmder folder if you copy it to another machine. `$HOME/.bashrc` defined aliases are not portable.
PowerShell has native simple alias support, for example `[new-alias | set-alias] alias command`, so complex aliases with optional parameters are not supported in PowerShell sessions. Type `get-help [new-alias|set-alias] -full` for help on PowerShell aliases.
Note: These are loaded in this order by `$ENV:CMDER_ROOT\vendor\user_profile.ps1`. Anything stored in `$ENV:CMDER_ROOT` will be a portable setting and will follow cmder to another machine.
If you want to run SSH agent on startup, include the line `@call "%GIT_INSTALL_ROOT%/cmd/start-ssh-agent.cmd"` in `%CMDER_ROOT%/config/user_profile.cmd` (usually just uncomment it).
Cmder is by default shipped with a vendored Git installation. On each instance of launching Cmder, an attempt is made to locate any other user provided Git binaries. Upon finding a `git.exe` binary, Cmder further compares its version against the vendored one _by executing_ it. The vendored `git.exe` binary is _only_ used when it is more recent than the user-installed one.
You may use your favorite version of Git by including its path in the `%PATH%` enviroment variable. Moreover, the **Mini** edition of Cmder (found on the [downloads page](https://github.com/cmderdev/cmder/releases)) excludes any vendored Git binaries.
Copy the `vendor/cmder_exinit` file to the Cygwin/Babun, MSys2, or Git for Windows SDK environments `/etc/profile.d/` folder to use portable settings in the `$CMDER_ROOT/config` folder.
Cmder by default comes with a vendored ConEmu installation as the underlying terminal emulator, as stated [here](https://conemu.github.io/en/cmder.html).
However, Cmder can in fact run in a variety of other terminal emulators, and even integrated IDEs. Assuming you have the latest version of Cmder, follow the following instructions to get Cmder working with your own terminal emulator.
For instructions on how to integrate Cmder with your IDE, please read our [Wiki section](https://github.com/cmderdev/cmder/wiki#cmder-integration).
1. Exit all Cmder sessions and relaunch `[cmder_root]/cmder.exe`, this backs up your existing `[cmder_root]/vendor/conemu-maximus5/conemu.xml` to `[cmder_root]/config/user[-|_]conemu.xml`.
* Editing files under `[cmder_root]/vendor` is not recommended since you will need to re-apply these changes after any upgrade. All user customizations should go in `[cmder_root]/config` folder.
* Editing files under `[cmder_root]/vendor` is not recommended since you will need to re-apply these changes after any upgrade. All user customizations should go in `[cmder_root]/config` folder.
