Commands using ssh (347)

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Function that outputs dots every second until command completes
Very useful in shell scripts because you can run a task nicely in the background using job-control and output progress until it completes. Here's an example of how I use it in backup scripts to run gpg in the background to encrypt an archive file (which I create in this same way). $! is the process ID of the last run command, which is saved here as the variable PI, then sleeper is called with the process id of the gpg task (PI), and sleeper is also specified to output : instead of the default . every 3 seconds instead of the default 1. So a shorter version would be sleeper $!; The wait is also used here, though it may not be needed on your system. $ echo ">>> ENCRYPTING SQL BACKUP" $ gpg --output archive.tgz.asc --encrypt archive.tgz 1>/dev/null & $ PI=$!; sleeper $PI ":" 3; wait $PI && rm archive.tgz &>/dev/null Previously to get around the $! not always being available, I would instead check for the existance of the process ID by checking if the directory /proc/$PID existed, but not everyone uses proc anymore. That version is currently the one at http://www.askapache.com/linux-unix/bash_profile-functions-advanced-shell.html but I plan on upgrading to this new version soon.

Count the number of characters in each line

Display the inodes number of /

positions the mysql slave at a specific master position
say you want to reinitialize the slave database without resetting the master positions. You stop the slave, dump the master database with --master-data=2 then execute the command on the slave and wait for it to stop at the exact position of the dump. reinit the slave db and start the slave. enjoy.

Check your hard drive for bad blocks (destructive)
WARNING!!! ALL DATA WILL BE LOST!!! This command should ONLY be run on drives that are meant to be wiped. Data destruction will result from running this command with the '-w' switch. You may run this command with the '-n' switch in place of '-w' if you want to retain all data on the drive, however, the test won't be as detailed, since the '-n' switch provides a non-destructive read-write mode only, whereas '-w' switch actually writes patterns while scanning for bad blocks.

ROT13 whole file in vim.
gg puts the cursor at the begin g? ROT13 until the next mov G the EOF

Find where a kind of file is stored
In this case searches for where .desktop files are stored. The resulted is a sorted list of the top directories containing such files.

Set GIT_COMMITTER_DATE = GIT_AUTHOR_DATE for all the git commits

show all programs connected or listening on a network port
Use the aliased command 'nsl'

Create a quick back-up copy of a file
Uses shell expansion to create a back-up called file.txt.bak


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