All commands (14,187)

  • Simple function to permanently add an alias to your profile. Tested on bash and Ksh, bash version above. Here is the ksh version: PERMA () { print "$@" >> ~/.profile; } Sample usage: PERMA alias la='ls -a'


    2
    PERMA () { echo "$@" >> ~/.bashrc; }
    zlemini · 2009-09-28 16:03:24 9
  • Performs a reverse DNS lookup, variants include: nslookup 74.125.45.100 or: host 74.125.45.100 Show Sample Output


    4
    dig -x 74.125.45.100
    postrational · 2009-09-28 15:13:34 3
  • I've used this a number of times troubleshooting user permissions. Instead of just 'su - user' you can throw another hyphen and stay in the original directory. Show Sample Output


    13
    su -- user
    matthewdavis · 2009-09-28 04:23:43 7
  • gitstart ~/path/to/dir Initialized empty Git repository in /home/user/path/to/dir/.git/


    0
    gitstart () { if ! [[ -d "$@" ]]; then mkdir -p "$@" && cd "$@" && git init; else cd "$@" && git init; fi }
    xyz · 2009-09-28 01:12:32 3
  • I like the fact the Patola's version uses only ones and zeros, but I also like the sparse output of the other versions. This one combines both of those features and eliminates some unnecessary cruft. You can vary the sparseness by changing "$(($RANDOM % 5))" to another number. The number in this term "$(($RANDOM % 4))" controls how frequently the numbers are output bold.


    21
    echo -e "\e[32m"; while :; do for i in {1..16}; do r="$(($RANDOM % 2))"; if [[ $(($RANDOM % 5)) == 1 ]]; then if [[ $(($RANDOM % 4)) == 1 ]]; then v+="\e[1m $r "; else v+="\e[2m $r "; fi; else v+=" "; fi; done; echo -e "$v"; v=""; done
    dennisw · 2009-09-27 15:30:38 16

  • 7
    enscript jrandom.txt -o - | ps2pdf - ~/tmp/jrandom.pdf (from file) or: ls | enscript -o - | ps2pdf - ~/tmp/ls.pdf (from stdout)
    bartonski · 2009-09-27 15:15:16 6

  • 2
    wget 'link of a Picasa WebAlbum' -O - |perl -e'while(<>){while(s/"media":{"content":\[{"url":"(.+?\.JPG)//){print "$1\n"}}' |wget -w1 -i -
    aciancone · 2009-09-27 14:36:27 7
  • convert to debian package file (deb) a redhat package file (rpm) , then you can install it by using dpkg , require alien package ( sudo apt-get install alien first ) Show Sample Output


    -5
    sudo alien --to-deb Your_PackAge.rpm
    eastwind · 2009-09-27 13:49:07 5
  • This command will disable the beep sound from the PC speaker.


    5
    echo "blacklist pcspkr"|sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
    sliceoflinux · 2009-09-27 11:42:47 5
  • Date-time format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS Show Sample Output


    7
    export HISTTIMEFORMAT='%F %T '
    postrational · 2009-09-26 17:13:23 7
  • The execution of this command will install a LAMP server (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) in a Debian based distribution. For example, in Ubuntu.


    5
    sudo tasksel install lamp-server
    sliceoflinux · 2009-09-26 08:15:03 8
  • Download the last show on your TiVo DVR. Replace $MAK with your MAK see https://www3.tivo.com/tivo-mma/showmakey.do Replace $tivo with your TiVo's IP


    0
    curl -s -c /tmp/cookie -k -u tivo:$MAK --digest "$(curl -s -c /tmp/cookie -k -u tivo:$MAK --digest https://$tivo/nowplaying/index.html | sed 's;.*<a href="\([^"]*\)">Download MPEG-PS</a>.*;\1;' | sed 's|\&amp;|\&|')" | tivodecode -m $MAK -- - > tivo.mpg
    matthewbauer · 2009-09-26 03:00:46 5
  • Log a command's votes, then run: gnuplot -persist <(echo "plot 'votes' with lines")


    0
    while true; do curl -s http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/3643/log-a-commands-votes | grep 'id="num-votes-' | sed 's;.*id="num-votes-[0-9]*">\([0-9\-]*\)</div>;\1;' >> votes; sleep 10; done
    matthewbauer · 2009-09-26 00:55:24 44
  • for the change stay in your history file , export command by writing it into your .bashrc Show Sample Output


    7
    export HISTTIMEFORMAT="%h/%d-%H:%M:%S "
    eastwind · 2009-09-25 22:42:28 7
  • Rip DVD to YouTube ready AVI file, using MPEG-4 video codec and MP3 audio codec. Resizes to 320x240 and deinterlaces as needed.


    4
    mencoder -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr=128 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 -ffourcc xvid -vf scale=320:-2,expand=:240:::1 -o output.avi dvd://0
    ivalladt · 2009-09-25 19:29:25 3
  • In color. Additionally you may define in your ~/.gitconfig and run it just as 'git one': one = log --pretty='format:%Cgreen%H %Cred%ai %Creset- %s'


    1
    git log --pretty='format:%Cgreen%H %Cred%ai %Creset- %s'
    levenbrech · 2009-09-25 19:18:37 36
  • or you can add "-x" to get a typical hexdump like output Show Sample Output


    5
    socat -v tcp4-l:<port> tcp4:<host>:<port>
    sitaram · 2009-09-25 17:10:16 4
  • Interacting with Active Directory to add users from one group to another group. This prevents from having to deal with long DNs and copying, pasting problems. It executes once per returned object.


    -3
    for /F "DELIMS=""" %i in ('dsquery group -name SourceGroupName ^| dsget group -members') do dsquery group -name TargetGroupName | dsmod group -addmbr %i
    miketheman · 2009-09-25 16:32:33 10
  • Get all the networking related commands for your distro Show Sample Output


    13
    apropos network |more
    shaiss · 2009-09-25 15:05:33 12
  • If you run this command on a VMWare Virtual Machine, it will return the string "VMware Virtual Platform". If you run it on a physical machine, it will return nothing. Useful for having a script determine if it's running on a VM or not. Of course, you must have dmidecode installed for this to work. Try it this way in a script: ISVM=$(dmidecode | awk '/VMware Virtual Platform/ {print $3,$4,$5}') Then test if $ISVM has text in it, or is blank.


    7
    dmidecode | awk '/VMware Virtual Platform/ {print $3,$4,$5}'
    SuperFly · 2009-09-25 14:46:35 13

  • 0
    ack --pager='less -r'
    unixmonkey5780 · 2009-09-25 13:01:58 3
  • Create/open/use an encrypted directory encfs needs to be installed During creation easiest to use default values The encrypted files will be in ~/.crypt and you will work as usual in ~/crypt To close the encrypted directory run: fusermount -u ~/crypt When you switch off the computer the encrypted directory will be automatically closed This example uses /home/user/crypt as encrypted directory I use ubuntu linux 8.04 and I am also the creator of www.minihowto.org


    8
    encfs ~/.crypt ~/crypt
    bkn390 · 2009-09-25 10:13:39 5
  • Install a deb package you have downloaded (synaptic has to be closed). (dpkg-dev needs to be installed) After that you may have to run following: sudo apt-get install -f (that should fix any dependency problems) I am using ubuntu linux


    -7
    sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb
    bkn390 · 2009-09-25 09:54:04 13

  • 30
    grep . filename > newfilename
    alvinx · 2009-09-25 09:25:34 17
  • No need to loop when we have `xargs`. The sed command filters out the first line of `show databases` output, which is always "Database".


    5
    mysql -e 'show databases' | sed -n '2,$p' | xargs -I DB 'mysqldump DB > DB.sql'
    mislav · 2009-09-25 08:43:06 9
  • ‹ First  < 442 443 444 445 446 >  Last ›

What's this?

commandlinefu.com is the place to record those command-line gems that you return to again and again. That way others can gain from your CLI wisdom and you from theirs too. All commands can be commented on, discussed and voted up or down.

Share Your Commands


Check These Out

Find usb device in realtime
Using this command you can track a moment when usb device was attached.

Redirect STDIN
Several times, I find myself hitting my up arrow, and changing the search term. Unfortunately, I find myself wasting too much time typing: $ grep kernel /var/log/messages Redirecting STDIN allows me to put the search term at the end so I less cursor movement to change what I'm searching for: $ < /var/log/messages grep kernel If you're using the emacs keyboard binding, then after you press your up arrow, press CTRL+w to erase the word. If this has already been submitted, I couldn't find it with the search utility.

Generate Random Passwords
If you want a password length longer than 6, changing the -c6 to read -c8 will give you 8 random characters instead of 6. To end up with a line-feed, use this with echo: # echo `< /dev/urandom tr -dc _A-Z-a-z-0-9 | head -c6` Modern systems need higher strenght, so add some special characters: # < /dev/urandom tr -dc '12345!@#$%qwertQWERTasdfgASDFGzxcvbZXCVB' | head -c8

Reset hosed terminal,
stty sane resets the tty to basic usable function. The ^J is a newline -- sometimes CR/LF interpretation is broken so use the ^J explicitly.

Convert seconds to [DD:][HH:]MM:SS
Converts any number of seconds into days, hours, minutes and seconds. sec2dhms() { declare -i SS="$1" D=$(( SS / 86400 )) H=$(( SS % 86400 / 3600 )) M=$(( SS % 3600 / 60 )) S=$(( SS % 60 )) [ "$D" -gt 0 ] && echo -n "${D}:" [ "$H" -gt 0 ] && printf "%02g:" "$H" printf "%02g:%02g\n" "$M" "$S" }

Convert seconds to [DD:][HH:]MM:SS
Converts any number of seconds into days, hours, minutes and seconds. sec2dhms() { declare -i SS="$1" D=$(( SS / 86400 )) H=$(( SS % 86400 / 3600 )) M=$(( SS % 3600 / 60 )) S=$(( SS % 60 )) [ "$D" -gt 0 ] && echo -n "${D}:" [ "$H" -gt 0 ] && printf "%02g:" "$H" printf "%02g:%02g\n" "$M" "$S" }

Short and sweet output from dig(1)
Turn off almost all of dig's output except for what you'd see in a zone file. This can also be put into ~/.digrc.

watch iptables counters
Watch the number of packets/bytes coming through the firewall. Useful in setting up new iptables rules or chains. Use this output to reorder rules for efficiency.

journalctl -f
a tail -f variant of systemd journal. Follow the most recent updates or if events are appended to the journal

Show an application's environment variables


Stay in the loop…

Follow the Tweets.

Every new command is wrapped in a tweet and posted to Twitter. Following the stream is a great way of staying abreast of the latest commands. For the more discerning, there are Twitter accounts for commands that get a minimum of 3 and 10 votes - that way only the great commands get tweeted.

» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu3
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu10

Subscribe to the feeds.

Use your favourite RSS aggregator to stay in touch with the latest commands. There are feeds mirroring the 3 Twitter streams as well as for virtually every other subset (users, tags, functions,…):

Subscribe to the feed for: