diff --git a/common/configure_fresh_system b/common/configure_fresh_system
index 77e2c914..251d2099 100755
--- a/common/configure_fresh_system
+++ b/common/configure_fresh_system
@@ -3,8 +3,13 @@
 set -e
 echo
 echo "configuring settings common among OSes"
+sudo true
+
 #zsh
-chsh -s `which zsh` $USER 
+if [[ -z $DONT_CHANGE_SHELL ]]; then
+    echo "changing shell to zsh"
+    chsh -s `which zsh` $USER 
+fi
 
 #submodules
 DIR=`realpath $DIR`
diff --git a/travis/configure_fresh_system b/travis/configure_fresh_system
index be70f329..d759e1e4 100755
--- a/travis/configure_fresh_system
+++ b/travis/configure_fresh_system
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ COMMAND_PREFIX="DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y -o Dpkg::Options::=\"-
 
 sudo apt-get update
 
-INSTALL_COMMAND="sudo $COMMAND_PREFIX install meld whois zsh tmux vim atop aria2 curl pv pixz gajim tor torsocks nodejs npm terminator gsmartcontrol python-pip mesa-utils mesa-utils-extra aptitude p7zip-full p7zip-rar thunderbird mercurial kdiff3 gnupg2 python3-setuptools"
+INSTALL_COMMAND="sudo $COMMAND_PREFIX install meld whois zsh tmux vim atop aria2 curl pv gajim tor torsocks nodejs npm terminator gsmartcontrol python-pip mesa-utils mesa-utils-extra aptitude p7zip-full p7zip-rar thunderbird mercurial kdiff3 gnupg2 python3-setuptools"
 eval ${INSTALL_COMMAND}
 
 DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 DIR="$DIR/../"
-DIR="$DIR" $DIR/common/configure_fresh_system
+DONT_CHANGE_SHELL=TRUE DIR="$DIR" $DIR/common/configure_fresh_system