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TopicsLinux administration issuesIntroduction to Linux system administrationTen command line time-savers for Linux administrators

Ten command line time-savers for Linux administrators

Jason Gilmore, Contributor

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Although the Linux desktop has been subject to enormous improvements over the past twenty years (with perhaps the most notable

change coming by way of the Ubuntu Unity interface), the command line remains unparalleled in terms of the power it can offer anexperienced system administrator. Although most of the following 10 tips focus on the Bash shell, all of these tips will be easily applicableto other modern shells.

1. Create and enter a directory using one commandCreating and subsequently entering a new directory is such a common task it seems that there should be a shortcut for executing both

commands in the shell. While it’s not, you can add the following function to your .bashrc file:

mkcd()

{

mkdir $1

cd $1

}

Then run source .bashrc to read the changes into memory, and complete both tasks using the mkcd command:

wjgilmore@ubuntu:~$ mkcd articles

wjgilmore@ubuntu:~/articles $

2. Return to the previous directoryWhen you need to move from a deeply embedded directory and want to return to the original directory you could pass the previous pathinto the cd command, but a little-known cd argument makes this trivial. This sequence demonstrates the behavior:

wjgilmore@ubuntu-laptop:~/Documents/techtarget_articles/ten_command_line_tricks/test2$ cd

wjgilmore@ubuntu-laptop:~$ cd -

~/Documents/techtarget_articles/ten_command_line_tricks/test2$

wjgilmore@ubuntu-laptop:~/Documents/techtarget_articles/ten_command_line_tricks/test2$

3. Creating directory bookmarksContinuing along with the theme of directory interaction, there are some directories that you will inevitably return to time and again. It'spossible to create bookmarks that allow you to quickly navigate to those directories by adding their paths to the $CDPATH shell variable(within your .bashrc file):

CDPATH='.:/home/wjgilmore/books'

Once added, you can navigate directly to the books directory from anywhere within the operating system path simply by executing thefollowing command:

$ cd books

4. Deftly edit the command lineHow many times have you tediously edited and executed a series of slightly dissimilar commands? Such as when building the PDFversion of various book chapters I'm working on from the Markdown source I regularly execute the following command:

$ pandoc -o html/chapter06.html chapters/chapter06.md --template=templates/html.template

In order to also build the chapter04.md source document command line novices would quickly tire of arrowing

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up to retrieve the previously executed (above) command from history, and then arrowing left until replacing both instances ofchapter06.md with chapter04.md. There are several more efficient ways to perform this task. First, consider using Bash's command

line editing keyboard shortcuts (two modes are supported: Emacs and vi), which allow you to quickly navigate to the desired location:

Ctrl + a: Go to beginning of line

Ctrl + e: Go to end of line

Alt + f: Go forward one word

Alt + b: Go backward one word

A second and even more efficient approach involves using command line substitution. The following command will replace the 06 foundin the previously executed command with 04:

$ pandoc -o html/chapter06.html chapters/chapter06.md --template=templates/html.template

$ !!:gs/06/04

pandoc -o html/chapter04.html chapters/chapter04.md --template=templates/html.template

Incidentally if you're using the GNOME terminal then the meta (Alt) key won't work as described, because GNOME terminal alreadybinds the Alt key to toolbar commands. Alternatively you can use Shift + Alt as the meta key, but this is a bit awkward. Instead, if youdon't require the toolbar command shortcuts, disable them by navigating to Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts... and disable the Enable menuaccess keys option.

5. Saving a long command for later useWhen working through a sequence of system administration operations, it is possible to type a particularly long command and then realizebefore executing it a step in the sequence has been left out. Rather than deleting the command, you can save it to the history withoutexecuting it by appending a hash mark (#) to the beginning of the command:

$ #this is some ridiculously long command that I want to save

After pressing the Enter button, arrow up and you'll see the command has been saved. To execute the command, just remove the hash

mark from the beginning of the line before execution.

6. Save typing using command aliasesThe ls command's long listing format (ls -l) can be frequently used, but the hyphen makes it a bit unwieldy when typing furiously. Youcan create command aliases of for longer commands using the alias command within .bashrc. In this example, the command alias diris substituted for ls -l:

alias dir='ls -l'

7. Saving more typing by ignoring typosYou're in the terminal zone, blazing from one directory to the next while copying, updating and removing files at will. Or you're not,because the fingers are moving faster than the brain or even keyboard response time can handle, causing you to constantly backtrack andcorrect your typos. Add the following line to your .bashrc file and the shell will automatically fix any typing blunders you make when

identifying file or path names.

shopt -s cdspell

8. Opening applications in the backgroundWhen cruising around the command line, you may need to do another task such as respond to an email. Of course, it's possible to openGUI applications from the terminal in the same way you'd execute any other command, done simply by invoking their name, in this case,opening Gimp:

$ gimp

But doing so effectively ends your terminal session, because the application will open in the foreground. If you're regularly opening aparticular application from the command-line, consider modifying its default invocation within your .bashrc file:

gimp()

{

command gimp "$@" &

}

Reload your .bashrc file (see the source command) and you'll be able to invoke the Gimp application, passing along the names of anyimage files you'd like to open, with the added bonus of retaining control of the terminal.

9. Do more with less

The more command is useful for quickly perusing the contents of a text file. Once the file is loaded into the page you can use the forwardslash (/) to search the file. The problem is that once you've found the desired string it's not possible to navigate up and inspect thecontents that appeared prior to this string. The less command doesn't suffer from this disadvantage, allowing you to scroll both up anddown within a text file. The less command is invoked in the same manner as more:

$ less sometextfile.txt

10. Clean up your command line historyThe history command is easily one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. But there is one timesaver in particular that deservesmention: the $HISTIGNORE shell variable.

Over time your history list will become incredibly long. Take advantage of the $HISTIGNORE ;variable to mute the recording of anycommands you deem irrelevant:

$ export $HISTIGNORE="&:cd:exit:ls"

This will cause all duplicate commands, and the cd, exit, and ls commands to be omitted from the history list.

Speed is key to mastering the command line, and these ten tips and tricks should get you started on your command line mastery. If youwould like to share any other tips, please contact me via my Web site.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jason Gilmore is founder of the publishing, training, and consulting firm WJGilmore.com. He is theauthor of several popular books, including Easy PHP Websites with the Zend Framework, Easy PayPal with PHP, and BeginningPHP and MySQL, Fourth Edition. Follow him on Twitter at @wjgilmore.

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This was first published in July 2011

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Ubuntu offers cloudfreebie; openness ofAndroid examined:news in briefMicrosoft supportsRed Hat Linux in

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bolsters Express:News in briefView All News

Enterprise LinuxTopics

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Open source databases, Open source Web and application servers, Enterprise applications for Linux

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Linux administration tools, Linux management and configuration, Linux interoperability, Linux licensing and support,Linux monitoring and troubleshooting, Introduction to Linux system administration

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Linux security

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Hot Topics

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Tutorials

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A guide to becoming a Puppet master77 useful Linux commands and utilitiesOpen source virtualization digestA collection of the top Linux command tipsRed Hat gives Windows the boot with RHEV 3.0

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Find definitions and links to technical resourcesPowered by WhatIs.com

ExpertAdvice

Tips

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Answers

Migrating infrastructure from Unix to LinuxInstalling Nagios on Linux and unravelling software code namesSystems monitoring and tuning tools for RHEL 5View All Answers

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