%general-entities; ]> The new instance of the shell is a non-login shell, will read .bash_profile file. Create the .bash_profile file now: cat > ${LFS}/root/.bash_profile << "EOF" PS1='\u:\w\$ ' LC_ALL=POSIX PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/tools/bin:/tools/sbin export LC_ALL PATH PS1 EOF The LC_ALL variable controls the localization of certain programs, making their messages follow the conventions of a specified country. Setting LC_ALL to POSIX or C (the two are equivalent) ensures that everything will work as expected on your tempoary system. By putting /tools/bin at the end of the standard PATH, all the programs installed in are only picked up by the shell if they have not yet been built on the target system. This configuration forces use of the final system binaries as they are built over the temp-system, minimising the chance final system programs being built against the temp-system.