By default, the FreeBSD root user can type part of a command and then search through history for previous commands beginning with those characters using the up/down arrow keys. If you're new to FreeBSD or csh, you might think the convenient shell history search is specific to root or csh/tcsh. Fortunately, it's not. You can get similar functionality in Bash by creating or editing ~/.inputrc to add the following lines:
# Allow history searching with the up/down arrows:
"\e[A": history-search-backward
"\e[B": history-search-forwardThe syntax is a little different if you're using ~/.profile instead, which works when you only access the system over SSH. Note the single quotes around the bind parameter.
# Allow history searching with the up/down arrows:
bind '"\e[A": history-search-backward'
bind '"\e[B": history-search-forward'You'll need to start a new terminal session for the change to take effect. This feature is a must-have once you grow accustomed to it, so it's one of the first changes I make on a new system whether it's FreeBSD, Solaris, or Linux.
