Jump to a directory, execute a command and jump back to current dir

pushd /path/to/dir ; command_to_execute; popd

By: strictlystudious

2012-10-31 06:19:01

2 Alternatives + Submit Alt

cd into another dir to run a one-liner, but implicitly drop back to your $OLD_PWD after

Obviously the example given is necessarily simple, but this command not only saves time on the command line (saves you using "cd -" or, worse, having to type a fully qualified path if your command cd's more than once), but is vital in scripts, where I've found the behaviour of "cd -" to be a little broken at times. Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
[/space/braklet/] $ ( cd test; touch test.file )
[/space/braklet/] $ ls -R
.:
test
./test:
test.file
```
4

( cd $DIR; command; )

sanmiguel · 2011-03-29 13:16:00 8
Jump to a directory, execute a command and jump back to current dir
This is sample output - yours may be different.
1

cd /path/to/dir && command_or_script; cd -;

yubuylov · 2012-01-27 03:50:07 4

What Others Think

rahimhh21 · 110 weeks and 3 days ago

The Microsoft Authenticator app allows you to login into your accounts when two-step verification is enabled. Passwords can be lost, stolen, or compromised; thus, two-step verification will allow you to access your accounts more securely. Check here : Aka.ms/authapp

josefkook846 · 108 weeks and 6 days ago

Perfecthomepugs · 101 weeks and 3 days ago

International students studying British universities suffer a lot when it comes to assignments and homework; primarily because of the stress they already go through due to finances, social life, and their education. However, best dissertation writing service in UK is here to make your college life more comfortable by offering expert academic writing assistance at affordable prices. You merely have to contact us so that our experienced writers can cater to your requirements and provide you with what you need. We have professional best thesis writing service in UK that are always ready to assist you, and even our customer support service is available 24/7 for continuous support. We are making it possible for university students to ace their results smoothly without struggling a lot, and for that, you can also contact us now!

kimadward · 83 weeks and 4 days ago

pugpuppies95 · 63 weeks and 2 days ago

donperi1 · 55 weeks and 4 days ago

yeneba6574 · 15 weeks and 6 days ago

What do you think?

Any thoughts on this command? Does it work on your machine? Can you do the same thing with only 14 characters?

You must be signed in to comment.

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

Similar Commands

ssh to machine behind shared NAT

Jump to any directory above the current

histogram of file size

Show directories

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:

» all commands
» commands with 3 up-votes (commandlinefu3)
» commands with 10 up-votes (commandlinefu10)