How to make zsh run as a login shell on Mac OS X (in iTerm)?

Question

When zsh is set as a login shell on Mac OS X, when it is started by iTerm, zsh doesn\'t consider that it\'s being run as a login shell, although it\'s started as ‘-zsh’ (‘-’

Answer 1

Use the login utility to create a login shell. Assume that the user you want to log in has the username Alice and that zsh is installed in /opt/local/bin/zsh (e.g., a more recent version installed via MacPorts). In iTerm 2, go to Preferences, Profiles, select the profile that you want to set up, and enter in Command:

login -pfq Alice /opt/local/bin/zsh

See man login for more details on the options.