Expand shortened URLs

expandurl() { curl -sIL $1 2>&1 | awk '/^Location/ {print $2}' | tail -n1; }

This shell function uses curl(1) as it is more portable than wget(1) across Unices, to show what site a shortened URL is pointing to, even if there are many nested shortened URLs. It is a refinement to www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/9515/expand-shortened-urls to make it better for use in scripts. Only displays final result. expandurl http://t.co/LDWqmtDM

Sample Output

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek

By: defiantredpill

2011-10-19 01:35:33

awk tail curl

3 Alternatives + Submit Alt

Expand shortened URLs

curl(1) is more portable than wget(1) across Unices, so here is an alternative doing the same thing with greater portability. This shell function uses curl(1) to show what site a shortened URL is pointing to, even if there are many nested shortened URLs. This is a great way to test whether or not the shortened URL is sending you to a malicious site, or somewhere nasty that you don't want to visit. The sample output is from: expandurl http://t.co/LDWqmtDM Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
Location: http://is.gd/jAdSZ3 [following]
Location: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek [following]
```
5

expandurl() { curl -sIL $1 | grep ^Location; }

atoponce · 2011-10-19 00:56:53 14
Expand shortened URLs

This relies on a public API from http://longurl.org. So, this has the weakness that if the service disappears, the function will break. However, it has the advantage that the shortened URL service will not be tracking your IP address and other metrics, but instead will track longurl.org. Thus, you can remain anonymous from the shortened URL services (although not anonymous from longurl.org). It does no sanity checking that you have provided an argument. If you do not provide one, "message" is displayed to STDOUT. Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
$ expandurl http://ae7.st/s/4O
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/all-backscatter-pornoscanners-to-be-removed-from-us-airports/
```
2

expandurl() { curl -s "http://api.longurl.org/v2/expand?url=${1}&format=php" | awk -F '"' '{print $4}' }

atoponce · 2013-01-19 10:40:46 21
Expand shortened URLs

This shell function uses wget(1) to show what site a shortened URL is pointing to, even if there are many nested shortened URLs. This is a great way to test whether or not the shortened URL is sending you to a malicious site, or somewhere nasty that you don't want to visit. The sample output is from: expandurl http://t.co/LDWqmtDM Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
Location: http://is.gd/jAdSZ3 [following]
Location: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek [following]
```
0

expandurl() { wget -S $1 2>&1 | grep ^Location; }

atoponce · 2011-10-18 18:50:54 12

What Others Think

rahimhh21 · 118 weeks and 4 days ago

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olivia9203 · 112 weeks and 6 days ago

Perfecthomepugs · 109 weeks and 1 day ago

pugpuppies95 · 71 weeks and 3 days ago

yeneba6574 · 24 weeks and 6 days ago

What do you think?

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