A shell is software that provides an interface for users of an operating system to run commands, which can be programs such as top or a command line shell. The default shell is usually Bash.
You can set Terminal to run a command when it starts up instead of awaiting input from you:
Press the menu button in the top-right corner of the window and select Preferences.
In the sidebar, select your current profile in the Profiles section.
Select Command.
Check Run a custom command instead of my shell.
In the text box, type the command or the desired shell.
The command will be passed to the terminal exactly as you write it, including any arguments that you specify. Environment variables will be inherited from the terminal as it is a child process of the terminal.
Open a new Terminal tab or window to see how the custom shell or command executes.
You can also set the behavior of the terminal once the command finishes executing.
You may have to enter full path to the command or the shell if the directory where the command or shell resides is not in the PATH variable of your system.
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