Command Line Basics (ls, cat and echo)
15 Basic ‘ls’ Command Examples in Linux
ls command is one of the most frequently used command in Linux. I believe ls command is the first command you may use when you get into the command prompt of Linux Box. We use lscommand daily basis and frequently even though we may not aware and never use all the option available. In this article, we’ll be discussing basic ls command where we have tried to cover as much parameters as possible.
1. List Files using ls with no option
ls with no option list files and directories in bare format where we won’t be able to view details like file types, size, modified date and time, permission and links etc.
# ls 0001.pcap Desktop Downloads index.html install.log.syslog Pictures Templates anaconda-ks.cfg Documents fbcmd_update.php install.log Music Public Videos
2 List Files With option –l
Here, ls -l (-l is character not one) shows file or directory, size, modified date and time, file or folder name and owner of file and it’s permission.
# ls -l total 176 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 683 Aug 19 09:59 0001.pcap -rw-------. 1 root root 1586 Jul 31 02:17 anaconda-ks.cfg drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Desktop drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Documents drwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 4096 Aug 16 02:55 Downloads -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 21262 Aug 12 12:42 fbcmd_update.php -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 46701 Jul 31 09:58 index.html -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 48867 Jul 31 02:17 install.log -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 11439 Jul 31 02:13 install.log.syslog drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Music drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Pictures drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Public drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Templates drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Videos
3. View Hidden Files
List all files including hidden file starting with ‘.‘.
# ls -a . .bashrc Documents .gconfd install.log .nautilus .pulse-cookie .. .cache Downloads .gnome2 install.log.syslog .netstat.swp .recently-used.xbel 0001.pcap .config .elinks .gnome2_private .kde .opera .spice-vdagent anaconda-ks.cfg .cshrc .esd_auth .gtk-bookmarks .libreoffice Pictures .tcshrc .bash_history .dbus .fbcmd .gvfs .local .pki Templates .bash_logout Desktop fbcmd_update.php .ICEauthority .mozilla Public Videos .bash_profile .digrc .gconf index.html Music .pulse .wireshark
4. List Files with Human Readable Format with option -lh
With combination of -lh option, shows sizes in human readable format.
# ls -lh total 176K -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 683 Aug 19 09:59 0001.pcap -rw-------. 1 root root 1.6K Jul 31 02:17 anaconda-ks.cfg drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Desktop drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Documents drwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 4.0K Aug 16 02:55 Downloads -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 21K Aug 12 12:42 fbcmd_update.php -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 46K Jul 31 09:58 index.html -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 48K Jul 31 02:17 install.log -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 12K Jul 31 02:13 install.log.syslog drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Music drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Pictures drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Public drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Templates drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Jul 31 02:48 Videos
5. List Files and Directories with ‘/’ Character at the end
Using -F option with ls command, will add the ‘/’ Character at the end each directory.
# ls -F 0001.pcap Desktop/ Downloads/ index.html install.log.syslog Pictures/ Templates/ anaconda-ks.cfg Documents/ fbcmd_update.php install.log Music/ Public/ Videos/
6. List Files in Reverse Order
The following command with ls -r option display files and directories in reverse order.
# ls -r Videos Public Music install.log fbcmd_update.php Documents anaconda-ks.cfg Templates Pictures install.log.syslog index.html Downloads Desktop 0001.pcap
7. Recursively list Sub-Directories
ls -R option will list very long listing directory trees. See an example of output of the command.
# ls -R total 1384 -rw-------. 1 root root 33408 Aug 8 17:25 anaconda.log -rw-------. 1 root root 30508 Aug 8 17:25 anaconda.program.log ./httpd: total 132 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 19 03:14 access_log -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 61916 Aug 10 17:55 access_log-20120812 ./lighttpd: total 68 -rw-r--r-- 1 lighttpd lighttpd 7858 Aug 21 15:26 access.log -rw-r--r--. 1 lighttpd lighttpd 37531 Aug 17 18:21 access.log-20120819 ./nginx: total 12 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 0 Aug 12 03:17 access.log -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 390 Aug 12 03:17 access.log-20120812.gz
8. Reverse Output Order
With combination of -ltr will shows latest modification file or directory date as last.
# ls -ltr total 176 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 11439 Jul 31 02:13 install.log.syslog -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 48867 Jul 31 02:17 install.log -rw-------. 1 root root 1586 Jul 31 02:17 anaconda-ks.cfg drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Desktop drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Videos drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Templates drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Public drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Pictures drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Music drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Documents -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 46701 Jul 31 09:58 index.html -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 21262 Aug 12 12:42 fbcmd_update.php drwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 4096 Aug 16 02:55 Downloads -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 683 Aug 19 09:59 0001.pcap
9. Sort Files by File Size
With combination of -lS displays file size in order, will display big in size first.
# ls -lS total 176 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 48867 Jul 31 02:17 install.log -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 46701 Jul 31 09:58 index.html -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 21262 Aug 12 12:42 fbcmd_update.php -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 11439 Jul 31 02:13 install.log.syslog drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Desktop drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Documents drwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 4096 Aug 16 02:55 Downloads drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Music drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Pictures drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Public drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Templates drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jul 31 02:48 Videos -rw-------. 1 root root 1586 Jul 31 02:17 anaconda-ks.cfg -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 683 Aug 19 09:59 0001.pcap
10. Display Inode number of File or Directory
We can see some number printed before file / directory name. With -i options list file / directory with inode number.
# ls -i 20112 0001.pcap 23610 Documents 23793 index.html 23611 Music 23597 Templates 23564 anaconda-ks.cfg 23595 Downloads 22 install.log 23612 Pictures 23613 Videos 23594 Desktop 23585 fbcmd_update.php 35 install.log.syslog 23601 Public
11. Shows version of ls command
Check version of ls command.
# ls --version ls (GNU coreutils) 8.4 Copyright (C) 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Written by Richard M. Stallman and David MacKenzie.
12. Show Help Page
List help page of ls command with their option.
# ls --help Usage: ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
13. List Directory Information
With ls -l command list files under directory /tmp. Wherein with -ld parameters displays information of /tmp directory.
# ls -l /tmp total 408 drwx------. 2 narad narad 4096 Aug 2 02:00 CRX_75DAF8CB7768 -r--------. 1 root root 384683 Aug 4 12:28 htop-1.0.1.tar.gz drwx------. 2 root root 4096 Aug 4 11:20 keyring-6Mfjnk drwx------. 2 root root 4096 Aug 16 01:33 keyring-pioZJr drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Aug 21 11:26 orbit-gdm drwx------. 2 root root 4096 Aug 19 08:41 pulse-gl6o4ZdxQVrX drwx------. 2 narad narad 4096 Aug 4 08:16 pulse-UDH76ExwUVoU drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Aug 21 11:26 pulse-wJtcweUCtvhn -rw-------. 1 root root 300 Aug 16 03:34 yum_save_tx-2012-08-16-03-34LJTAa1.yumtx
# ls -ld /tmp/ drwxrwxrwt. 13 root root 4096 Aug 21 12:48 /tmp/
14. Display UID and GID of Files
To display UID and GID of files and directories. use option -n with ls command.
# ls -n total 36 drwxr-xr-x. 2 500 500 4096 Aug 2 01:52 Downloads drwxr-xr-x. 2 500 500 4096 Aug 2 01:52 Music drwxr-xr-x. 2 500 500 4096 Aug 2 01:52 Pictures -rw-rw-r--. 1 500 500 12 Aug 21 13:06 tmp.txt drwxr-xr-x. 2 500 500 4096 Aug 2 01:52 Videos
15. ls command and it’s Aliases
We have made alias for ls command, when we execute ls command it’ll take -l option by default and display long listing as mentioned earlier.
# alias ls="ls -l"
Note: We can see number of alias available in your system with below alias command and same can be unalias as shown below example.
# alias alias cp='cp -i' alias l.='ls -d .* --color=auto' alias ll='ls -l --color=auto' alias ls='ls --color=auto' alias mv='mv -i' alias rm='rm -i' alias which='alias | /usr/bin/which --tty-only --read-alias --show-dot --show-tilde'
To remove an alias previously defined, just use the unalias command.
# unalias ls
13 Basic Cat Command Examples in Linux
The cat (short for “concatenate“) command is one of the most frequently used command in Linux/Unix like operating systems. cat command allows us to create single or multiple files, view contain of file, concatenate files and redirect output in terminal or files. In this article, we are going to find out handy use of cat commands with their examples in Linux.
General Syntax
cat [OPTION] [FILE]...
1. Display Contains of File
In the below example, it will show contains of /etc/passwd file.
# cat /etc/passwd root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin narad:x:500:500::/home/narad:/bin/bash
2. View Contains of Multiple Files in terminal
In below example, it will display contains of test and test1 file in terminal.
# cat test test1 Hello everybody Hi world,
3. Create a File with Cat Command
We will create a file called test2 file with below command.
# cat >test2
Awaits input from user, type desired text and press CTRL+D (hold down Ctrl Key and type ‘d‘) to exit. The text will be written in test2 file. You can see contains of file with following cat command.
# cat test2 hello everyone, how do you do?
4. Use Cat Command with More & Less Options
If file having large number of contains that won’t fit in output terminal and screen scrolls up very fast, we can use parameters more and less with cat command as show above.
# cat song.txt | more # cat song.txt | less
5. Display Line Numbers in File
With -n option you could see the line numbers of a file song.txt in the output terminal.
# cat -n song.txt 1 "Heal The World" 2 There's A Place In 3 Your Heart 4 And I Know That It Is Love 5 And This Place Could 6 Be Much 7 Brighter Than Tomorrow 8 And If You Really Try 9 You'll Find There's No Need 10 To Cry 11 In This Place You'll Feel 12 There's No Hurt Or Sorrow
6. Display $ at the End of File
In the below, you can see with -e option that ‘$‘ is shows at the end of line and also in space showing ‘$‘ if there is any gap between paragraphs. This options is useful to squeeze multiple lines in a single line.
# cat -e test hello everyone, how do you do?$ $ Hey, am fine.$ How's your training going on?$ $
7. Display Tab separated Lines in File
In the below output, we could see TAB space is filled up with ‘^I‘ character.
# cat -T test hello ^Ieveryone, how do you do? Hey, ^Iam fine. ^I^IHow's your training ^Igoing on? Let's do ^Isome practice in Linux.
8. Display Multiple Files at Once
In the below example we have three files test, test1 and test2 and able to view the contains of those file as shown above. We need to separate each file with ; (semi colon).
# cat test; cat test1; cat test2 This is test file This is test1 file. This is test2 file.
9. Use Standard Output with Redirection Operator
We can redirect standard output of a file into a new file else existing file with ‘>‘ (greater than) symbol. Careful, existing contains of test1 will be overwritten by contains of test file.
# cat test > test1
10. Appending Standard Output with Redirection Operator
Appends in existing file with ‘>>‘ (double greater than) symbol. Here, contains of test file will be appended at the end of test1 file.
# cat test >> test1
11. Redirecting Standard Input with Redirection Operator
When you use the redirect with standard input ‘<‘ (less than symbol), it use file name test2 as a input for a command and output will be shown in a terminal.
# cat < test2 This is test2 file.
12. Redirecting Multiple Files Contain in a Single File
This will create a file called test3 and all output will be redirected in a newly created file.
# cat test test1 test2 > test3
13. Sorting Contains of Multiple Files in a Single File
This will create a file test4 and output of cat command is piped to sort and result will be redirected in a newly created file.
# cat test test1 test2 test3 | sort > test4
This article shows the basic commands that may help you to explore cat command. You may refer man page of cat command if you want to know more options.
15 Practical Examples of ‘echo’ command in Linux
echo is one of the most commonly and widely used built-in command for Linux bash and C shells, that typically used in scripting language and batch files to display a line of text/string on standard output or a file.
The syntax for echo is:
echo [option(s)] [string(s)]
1. Input a line of text and display on standard output
$ echo Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
Outputs the following text:
Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
2. Declare a variable and echo its value. For example, Declare a variable of x and assign its value=10.
$ x=10
echo its value:
$ echo The value of variable x = $x The value of variable x = 10
Note: The ‘-e‘ option in Linux acts as interpretation of escaped characters that are backslashed.
3. Using option ‘\b‘ – backspace with backslash interpretor ‘-e‘ which removes all the spaces in between.
$ echo -e "Tecmint \bis \ba \bcommunity \bof \bLinux \bNerds" TecmintisacommunityofLinuxNerds
4. Using option ‘\n‘ – New line with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ treats new line from where it is used.
$ echo -e "Tecmint \nis \na \ncommunity \nof \nLinux \nNerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
5. Using option ‘\t‘ – horizontal tab with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ to have horizontal tab spaces.
$ echo -e "Tecmint \tis \ta \tcommunity \tof \tLinux \tNerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
6. How about using option new Line ‘\n‘ and horizontal tab ‘\t‘ simultaneously.
$ echo -e "\n\tTecmint \n\tis \n\ta \n\tcommunity \n\tof \n\tLinux \n\tNerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
7. Using option ‘\v‘ – vertical tab with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ to have vertical tab spaces.
$ echo -e "\vTecmint \vis \va \vcommunity \vof \vLinux \vNerds"
Tecmint
is
a
community
of
Linux
Nerds
8. How about using option new Line ‘\n‘ and vertical tab ‘\v‘ simultaneously.
$ echo -e "\n\vTecmint \n\vis \n\va \n\vcommunity \n\vof \n\vLinux \n\vNerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
Note: We can double the vertical tab, horizontal tab and new line spacing using the option two times or as many times as required.
9. Using option ‘\r‘ – carriage return with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ to have specified carriage return in output.
$ echo -e "Tecmint \ris a community of Linux Nerds" is a community of Linux Nerds
10. Using option ‘\c‘ – suppress trailing new line with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ to continue without emitting new line.
$ echo -e "Tecmint is a community \cof Linux Nerds" Tecmint is a community avi@tecmint:~$
11. Omit echoing trailing new line using option ‘-n‘.
$ echo -n "Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerdsavi@tecmint:~/Documents$
12. Using option ‘\a‘ – alert return with backspace interpretor ‘-e‘ to have sound alert.
$ echo -e "Tecmint is a community of \aLinux Nerds" Tecmint is a community of Linux Nerds
Note: Make sure to check Volume key, before firing.
13. Print all the files/folder using echo command (ls command alternative).
$ echo * 103.odt 103.pdf 104.odt 104.pdf 105.odt 105.pdf 106.odt 106.pdf 107.odt 107.pdf 108a.odt 108.odt 108.pdf 109.odt 109.pdf 110b.odt 110.odt 110.pdf 111.odt 111.pdf 112.odt 112.pdf 113.odt linux-headers-3.16.0-customkernel_1_amd64.deb linux-image-3.16.0-customkernel_1_amd64.deb network.jpeg
14. Print files of a specific kind. For example, let’s assume you want to print all ‘.jpeg‘ files, use the following command.
$ echo *.jpeg network.jpeg
15. The echo can be used with redirect operator to output to a file and not standard output.
$ echo "Test Page" > testpage ## Check Content avi@tecmint:~$ cat testpage Test Page
echo Options
| Options | Description |
| -n | do not print the trailing newline. |
| -e | enable interpretation of backslash escapes. |
| \b | backspace |
| \\ | backslash |
| \n | new line |
| \r | carriage return |
| \t | horizontal tab |
| \v | vertical tab |
How to display a list of recent commands in Ubuntu Linux
Linux has a rich command line experience that can sometimes be a little daunting for people switching over from Windows. Displaying the list of recent commands is pretty simple, though:
> history
1 ps -ef
2 kill 24188
3 ps -ef
4 tail logfile.log
If you want to find a command that you used before but you have a huge history list, you can quickly find it by passing it through grep. Let’s say we remember typing the ftp command, but can’t remember the domain name of the server:
> history | grep ftp
321 ftp ftp.cdrom18.com
Pretty simple stuff! What if we want to display the list of items that we use the most often? We can use a much more complicated command like this:
> history|awk ‘{print $2}’|awk ‘BEGIN {FS=”|”} {print $1}’|sort|uniq -c|sort -r
114 ls
105 ./runreports.sh
97 cd
24 uptime
15 mysql
13 vi
Posted on June 15, 2015, in Linux (Ubuntu/CentOS). Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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