12 Practical Examples of Linux grep Command
Have you ever been confronted with the task of looking for a particular string or pattern in a file, yet have no idea where to start looking? Well then, here is grep to the rescue!
grep is a powerful file pattern searcher that comes equipped on every distribution of Linux. If, for whatever reason, it is not installed on your system, you can easily install it via your package manager (apt-get onDebian/Ubuntu and yum on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora).
$ sudo apt-get install grep #Debian/Ubuntu
$ sudo yum install grep #RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
I have found that the easiest way to get your feet wet with grep is to just dive right in and use some real world examples.
1. Search and Find Files
Let’s say that you have just installed a fresh copy of the new Ubuntu on your machine, and that you are going to give Python scripting a shot. You have been scouring the web looking for tutorials, but you see that there are two different versions of Python in use, and you don’t know which one was installed on your system by theUbuntu installer, or if it installed any modules. Simply run this command:
# dpkg –l | grep –i python
Sample Output
ii python2.7 2.7.3-0ubuntu3.4 Interactive high-level object-oriented language (version 2.7) ii python2.7-minimal 2.7.3-0ubuntu3.4 Minimal subset of the Python language (version 2.7) ii python-openssl 0.12-1ubuntu2.1 Python wrapper around the OpenSSL library ii python-pam 0.4.2-12.2ubuntu4 A Python interface to the PAM library
First, we ran dpkg –l, which lists installed *.deb packages on your system. Second, we piped that output to grep –i python, which simple states “go to grep and filter out and return everything with ‘python’ in it.” The –i option is there to ignore-case, as grep is case-sensitive. Using the –i option is a good habit of getting into, unless of course you are trying to nail down a more specific search.
2. Search and Filter Files
The grep can also be used to search and filter within individual files or multiple files. Lets take this scenario:
You are having some trouble with your Apache Web Server, and you have reached out to one of the many awesome forums on the net asking for some help. The kind soul who replies to you has asked you to post the contents of your /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl file. Wouldn’t it be easier for you, the guy helping you, and everyone reading it, if you could remove all of the commented lines? Well you can! Just run this:
# grep –v “#” /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl
The –v option tells grep to invert its output, meaning that instead of printing matching lines, do the opposite and print all of the lines that don’t match the expression, in this case, the # commented lines.
3. Find all .mp3 Files Only
The grep can be very useful for filtering from stdout. For example, let’s say that you have an entire folder full of music files in a bunch of different formats. You want to find all of the *.mp3 files from the artist JayZ, but you don’t want any of the remixed tracks. Using a find command with a couple of grep pipes will do the trick:
# find . –name “*.mp3” | grep –i JayZ | grep –vi “remix”
In this example, we are using find to print all of the files with a *.mp3 extension, piping it to grep –i to filter out and prints all files with the name “JayZ” and then another pipe to grep –vi which filters out and does not print all filenames with the string (in any case) “remix”.
4. Display Number of Lines Before or After Search String
Another couple of options are the –A and –B switches, which displays the matched line and number of lines either that come before or after the search string. While the man page gives a more detailed explanation, I find it easiest to remember the options as –A = after, and –B = before:
# ifconfig | grep –A 4 eth0 # ifconfig | grep -B 2 UP
5. Prints Number of Lines Around Match
The grep’s –C option is similar, but instead of printing the lines that come either before or after the string, it prints the lines in either direction:
# ifconfig | grep –C 2 lo
6. Count Number of Matches
Similar to piping a grep string to word count (wc program) grep’s built-in option can perform the same for you:
# ifconfig | grep –c inet6
7. Search Files by Given String
The –n option for grep is very useful when debugging files during compile errors. It displays the line number in the file of the given search string:
# grep –n “main” setup..py
8. Search a string Recursively in all Directories
If you would like to search for a string in the current directory along with all of the subdirectories, you can specify the –r option to search recursively:
# grep –r “function” *
9. Searches for the entire pattern
Passing the –w option to grep searches for the entire pattern that is in the string. For example, using:
# ifconfig | grep –w “RUNNING”
Will print out the line containing the pattern in quotes. On the other hand, if you try:
# ifconfig | grep –w “RUN”
Nothing will be returned as we are not searching for a pattern, but an entire word.
10. Search a string in Gzipped Files
Deserving some mention are grep’s derivatives. The first is zgrep, which, similar to zcat, is for use on gzippedfiles. It takes the same options as grep and is used in the same way:
# zgrep –i error /var/log/syslog.2.gz
11. Match Regular Expression in Files
The egrep is another derivative that stands for “Extended Global Regular Expression”. It recognizes additional expression meta-characters such at + ? | and (). egrep is very useful for searching source files, and other pieces of code, should the need arise. It can be invoked from regular grep by specifying the –E option.
# grep –E
12. Search a Fixed Pattern String
The fgrep searches a file or list of files for a fixed pattern string. It is the same as grep –F. A common way of using fgrep is to pass a file of patterns to it:
# fgrep –f file_full_of_patterns.txt file_to_search.txt
This is just a starting point with grep, but as you are probably able to see, it is invaluable for a variety of purposes. Aside from the simple one line commands we have implemented, grep can be used to write powerfulcron jobs, and robust shell scripts, for a start. Be creative, experiment with the options in the man page, and come up with grep expressions that serve your own purposes!
HowTo: Use grep Command In Linux / UNIX – Examples
ow do I use grep command on Linux, Apple OS X, and Unix-like operating systems? Can you give me a simple examples of the grep command?
The grep command is used to search text or searches the given file for lines containing a match to the given strings or words. By default, grep displays the matching lines. Use grep to search for lines of text that match one or many regular expressions, and outputs only the matching lines. grep is considered as one of the most useful commands on Linux and Unix-like operating systems.
Did you know?
The name, “grep”, derives from the command used to perform a similar operation, using the Unix/Linux text editor ed:
g/re/p
The grep command syntax
The syntax is as follows:
grep 'word' filename grep 'word' file1 file2 file3 grep 'string1 string2' filename cat otherfile | grep 'something' command | grep 'something' command option1 | grep 'data' grep --color 'data' fileName
How do I use grep command to search a file?
Search /etc/passwd file for boo user, enter:
$ grep boo /etc/passwd
Sample outputs:
foo:x:1000:1000:foo,,,:/home/foo:/bin/ksh
You can force grep to ignore word case i.e match boo, Boo, BOO and all other combination with the -i option:
$ grep -i "boo" /etc/passwd
Use grep recursively
You can search recursively i.e. read all files under each directory for a string “192.168.1.5”
$ grep -r "192.168.1.5" /etc/
OR
$ grep -R "192.168.1.5" /etc/
Sample outputs:
/etc/ppp/options:# ms-wins 192.168.1.50 /etc/ppp/options:# ms-wins 192.168.1.51 /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Wired connection 1:addresses1=192.168.1.5;24;192.168.1.2;
You will see result for 192.168.1.5 on a separate line preceded by the name of the file (such as /etc/ppp/options) in which it was found. The inclusion of the file names in the output data can be suppressed by using the -h option as follows:
$ grep -h -R "192.168.1.5" /etc/
OR
$ grep -hR "192.168.1.5" /etc/
Sample outputs:
# ms-wins 192.168.1.50 # ms-wins 192.168.1.51 addresses1=192.168.1.5;24;192.168.1.2;
Use grep to search words only
When you search for boo, grep will match fooboo, boo123, barfoo35 and more. You can force the grep command to select only those lines containing matches that form whole words i.e. match only boo word:
$ grep -w "boo" file
Use grep to search 2 different words
Use the egrep command as follows:
$ egrep -w 'word1|word2' /path/to/file
Count line when words has been matched
The grep can report the number of times that the pattern has been matched for each file using -c(count) option:
$ grep -c 'word' /path/to/file
Pass the -n option to precede each line of output with the number of the line in the text file from which it was obtained:
$ grep -n 'root' /etc/passwd
Sample outputs:
1:root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash 1042:rootdoor:x:0:0:rootdoor:/home/rootdoor:/bin/csh 3319:initrootapp:x:0:0:initrootapp:/home/initroot:/bin/ksh
Grep invert match
You can use -v option to print inverts the match; that is, it matches only those lines that do not contain the given word. For example print all line that do not contain the word bar:
$ grep -v bar /path/to/file
UNIX / Linux pipes and grep command
grep command often used with shell pipes. In this example, show the name of the hard disk devices:
# dmesg | egrep '(s|h)d[a-z]'
Display cpu model name:
# cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i 'Model'
However, above command can be also used as follows without shell pipe:
# grep -i 'Model' /proc/cpuinfo
Sample outputs:
model : 30 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 820 @ 1.73GHz model : 30 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 820 @ 1.73GHz
How do I list just the names of matching files?
Use the -l option to list file name whose contents mention main():
$ grep -l 'main' *.c
Finally, you can force grep to display output in colors, enter:
$ grep --color vivek /etc/passwd
Sample outputs:
15 Practical Grep Command Examples In Linux / UNIX
You should get a grip on the Linux grep command.
This is part of the on-going 15 Examples series, where 15 detailed examples will be provided for a specific command or functionality. Earlier we discussed 15 practical examples for Linux find command, Linux command line history andmysqladmin command.
In this article let us review 15 practical examples of Linux grep command that will be very useful to both newbies and experts.
First create the following demo_file that will be used in the examples below to demonstrate grep command.
$ cat demo_file THIS LINE IS THE 1ST UPPER CASE LINE IN THIS FILE. this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. This Line Has All Its First Character Of The Word With Upper Case. Two lines above this line is empty. And this is the last line.
1. Search for the given string in a single file
The basic usage of grep command is to search for a specific string in the specified file as shown below.
Syntax: grep "literal_string" filename
$ grep "this" demo_file this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. Two lines above this line is empty. And this is the last line.
2. Checking for the given string in multiple files.
Syntax: grep "string" FILE_PATTERN
This is also a basic usage of grep command. For this example, let us copy the demo_file to demo_file1. The grep output will also include the file name in front of the line that matched the specific pattern as shown below. When the Linux shell sees the meta character, it does the expansion and gives all the files as input to grep.
$ cp demo_file demo_file1 $ grep "this" demo_* demo_file:this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. demo_file:Two lines above this line is empty. demo_file:And this is the last line. demo_file1:this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. demo_file1:Two lines above this line is empty. demo_file1:And this is the last line.
3. Case insensitive search using grep -i
Syntax: grep -i "string" FILE
This is also a basic usage of the grep. This searches for the given string/pattern case insensitively. So it matches all the words such as “the”, “THE” and “The” case insensitively as shown below.
$ grep -i "the" demo_file THIS LINE IS THE 1ST UPPER CASE LINE IN THIS FILE. this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. This Line Has All Its First Character Of The Word With Upper Case. And this is the last line.
4. Match regular expression in files
Syntax: grep "REGEX" filename
This is a very powerful feature, if you can use use regular expression effectively. In the following example, it searches for all the pattern that starts with “lines” and ends with “empty” with anything in-between. i.e To search “lines[anything in-between]empty” in the demo_file.
$ grep "lines.*empty" demo_file Two lines above this line is empty.
From documentation of grep: A regular expression may be followed by one of several repetition operators:
- ? The preceding item is optional and matched at most once.
- * The preceding item will be matched zero or more times.
- + The preceding item will be matched one or more times.
- {n} The preceding item is matched exactly n times.
- {n,} The preceding item is matched n or more times.
- {,m} The preceding item is matched at most m times.
- {n,m} The preceding item is matched at least n times, but not more than m times.
5. Checking for full words, not for sub-strings using grep -w
If you want to search for a word, and to avoid it to match the substrings use -w option. Just doing out a normal search will show out all the lines.
The following example is the regular grep where it is searching for “is”. When you search for “is”, without any option it will show out “is”, “his”, “this” and everything which has the substring “is”.
$ grep -i "is" demo_file THIS LINE IS THE 1ST UPPER CASE LINE IN THIS FILE. this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. This Line Has All Its First Character Of The Word With Upper Case. Two lines above this line is empty. And this is the last line.
The following example is the WORD grep where it is searching only for the word “is”. Please note that this output does not contain the line “This Line Has All Its First Character Of The Word With Upper Case”, even though “is” is there in the “This”, as the following is looking only for the word “is” and not for “this”.
$ grep -iw "is" demo_file THIS LINE IS THE 1ST UPPER CASE LINE IN THIS FILE. this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. Two lines above this line is empty. And this is the last line.
6. Displaying lines before/after/around the match using grep -A, -B and -C
When doing a grep on a huge file, it may be useful to see some lines after the match. You might feel handy if grep can show you not only the matching lines but also the lines after/before/around the match.
Please create the following demo_text file for this example.
$ cat demo_text 4. Vim Word Navigation You may want to do several navigation in relation to the words, such as: * e - go to the end of the current word. * E - go to the end of the current WORD. * b - go to the previous (before) word. * B - go to the previous (before) WORD. * w - go to the next word. * W - go to the next WORD. WORD - WORD consists of a sequence of non-blank characters, separated with white space. word - word consists of a sequence of letters, digits and underscores. Example to show the difference between WORD and word * 192.168.1.1 - single WORD * 192.168.1.1 - seven words.
6.1 Display N lines after match
-A is the option which prints the specified N lines after the match as shown below.
Syntax: grep -A <N> "string" FILENAME
The following example prints the matched line, along with the 3 lines after it.
$ grep -A 3 -i "example" demo_text Example to show the difference between WORD and word * 192.168.1.1 - single WORD * 192.168.1.1 - seven words.
6.2 Display N lines before match
-B is the option which prints the specified N lines before the match.
Syntax: grep -B <N> "string" FILENAME
When you had option to show the N lines after match, you have the -B option for the opposite.
$ grep -B 2 "single WORD" demo_text Example to show the difference between WORD and word * 192.168.1.1 - single WORD
6.3 Display N lines around match
-C is the option which prints the specified N lines before the match. In some occasion you might want the match to be appeared with the lines from both the side. This options shows N lines in both the side(before & after) of match.
$ grep -C 2 "Example" demo_text word - word consists of a sequence of letters, digits and underscores. Example to show the difference between WORD and word * 192.168.1.1 - single WORD
7. Highlighting the search using GREP_OPTIONS
As grep prints out lines from the file by the pattern / string you had given, if you wanted it to highlight which part matches the line, then you need to follow the following way.
When you do the following export you will get the highlighting of the matched searches. In the following example, it will highlight all the this when you set the GREP_OPTIONS environment variable as shown below.
$ export GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto' GREP_COLOR='100;8' $ grep this demo_file this line is the 1st lower case line in this file. Two lines above this line is empty. And this is the last line.
8. Searching in all files recursively using grep -r
When you want to search in all the files under the current directory and its sub directory. -r option is the one which you need to use. The following example will look for the string “ramesh” in all the files in the current directory and all it’s subdirectory.
$ grep -r "ramesh" *
9. Invert match using grep -v
You had different options to show the lines matched, to show the lines before match, and to show the lines after match, and to highlight match. So definitely You’d also want the option -v to do invert match.
When you want to display the lines which does not matches the given string/pattern, use the option -v as shown below. This example will display all the lines that did not match the word “go”.
$ grep -v "go" demo_text 4. Vim Word Navigation You may want to do several navigation in relation to the words, such as: WORD - WORD consists of a sequence of non-blank characters, separated with white space. word - word consists of a sequence of letters, digits and underscores. Example to show the difference between WORD and word * 192.168.1.1 - single WORD * 192.168.1.1 - seven words.
10. display the lines which does not matches all the given pattern.
Syntax: grep -v -e "pattern" -e "pattern"
$ cat test-file.txt a b c d $ grep -v -e "a" -e "b" -e "c" test-file.txt d
11. Counting the number of matches using grep -c
When you want to count that how many lines matches the given pattern/string, then use the option -c.
Syntax: grep -c "pattern" filename
$ grep -c "go" demo_text 6
When you want do find out how many lines matches the pattern
$ grep -c this demo_file 3
When you want do find out how many lines that does not match the pattern
$ grep -v -c this demo_file 4
12. Display only the file names which matches the given pattern using grep -l
If you want the grep to show out only the file names which matched the given pattern, use the -l (lower-case L) option.
When you give multiple files to the grep as input, it displays the names of file which contains the text that matches the pattern, will be very handy when you try to find some notes in your whole directory structure.
$ grep -l this demo_* demo_file demo_file1
13. Show only the matched string
By default grep will show the line which matches the given pattern/string, but if you want the grep to show out only the matched string of the pattern then use the -o option.
It might not be that much useful when you give the string straight forward. But it becomes very useful when you give a regex pattern and trying to see what it matches as
$ grep -o "is.*line" demo_file is line is the 1st lower case line is line is is the last line
14. Show the position of match in the line
When you want grep to show the position where it matches the pattern in the file, use the following options as
Syntax: grep -o -b "pattern" file
$ cat temp-file.txt 12345 12345 $ grep -o -b "3" temp-file.txt 2:3 8:3
Note: The output of the grep command above is not the position in the line, it is byte offset of the whole file.
15. Show line number while displaying the output using grep -n
To show the line number of file with the line matched. It does 1-based line numbering for each file. Use -n option to utilize this feature.
$ grep -n "go" demo_text 5: * e - go to the end of the current word. 6: * E - go to the end of the current WORD. 7: * b - go to the previous (before) word. 8: * B - go to the previous (before) WORD. 9: * w - go to the next word. 10: * W - go to the next WORD.
