Bash Commands

dd; pvCopy image or iso file with progress monitoring:

sudo dd if=path/to/filename | pv | sudo dd of=/dev/device_name

md5sum; pvProgress Bar for md5sum:

pv some.iso |md5sum

rsync, gcpCopying files with progress bars:


	rsyncv -av --progress source destination

	[-a = archive mode; equals -rlptgoD (recursive; links; preserve permissions, modification times, group, owner)]

	gcp [-r] source destination

pdftotextTo convert a pdf to text:

pdftotext -layout $file

findTo list all symbolic links in a directory:

find . -type l -ls

espeakFun with espeak:

cat ch05.txt | espeak -ven-us+f4 -s170

cpUse shell expansion to create backup files with fewer key strokes:


	cp ~/filename{,~}

	cp -v filename{,~0}.file_extension

brace expansionTo compare two files that follow same naming pattern:

diff -s part{1..2}.txt

awkTo print file/folder size and name:


	ll |awk '{ print $5 "\t" $9 }'

	ll |grep .*html.* |awk '{ print $5 "\t" $9 }'

for loop; shell expansion

for f in test__[5-9]_boo.txt ; do echo "boo" > $f ; done

for loop; seqUse seq and a for loop to create file in a numbered order:

for NUM in `seq 2 1 12` ; do cp -v template.html na_step_guide__step_0$NUM.html; done

src: bencane.com - 5 Bash for loop examples...

for loop; shell expansionTo loop thru files in a folder:

for i in *.php; do sed -i 's/<table>/<table class=\"centre\">/' $i; done

for loop; shell expansionTo create the same directory in multiple sub directories:

for dir in */; do mkdir -- "$dir/tmp1"; done

for loop; shell expansionTo create the same directories in multiple sub directories:

for dir in */; do mkdir -- "$dir"/{tmp1,foo,bar,qux}; done

Loop through a file line-by-line:

while read -r line ; do basename "$line" ; done < songs.txt > song_filenames__acer.txt

awk; grepTo remove blank lines:

cat file.txt | awk NF

cat file.txt | awk 'NF != 0'

grep -v '^[[:blank:]]*$' file.txt

src: The Linux Rain - How to kill blank lines elegantly

mp3infoTo get duration of audio file:

mp3info -p "%m:%s\n" "$mp3"

[apt-cache show] To get a more detailed description then apt-cache search

scd $APP |grep -i description-en |sed 's/$Description$-en/\1/' && scd $APP |grep "^ .*"

[parted] To determine the type of partition table:

sudo parted -l

[rename] To rename a file more easily and quickly then using mv:


	rename s/PATTERN_TO_REPLACE/NEW_PATTERN/ filename(s)

[rename] To replace spaces in filenames with underscores:

rename 'y/ /_/' *

rename 'y/ /_/' filename

[rename] To keep part of a pattern:

rename -v 's/(ch[0-9][0-9]_)/
$1_/' *
lisDir
ch01_ipsum.txt renamed as ch01__ipsum.txt

ch02_ipsum.txt renamed as ch02__ipsum.txt

ch03_ipsum.txt renamed as ch03__ipsum.txt

ch04_ipsum.txt renamed as ch04__ipsum.txt

To get size of folders using find and du [ex. 1]:

find . -name bak -type d | xargs du -ch

src: stackoverflow.com (Get total size of folders with find & du)

To get size of folders using find and du [ex. 2]:

find -name bak -type d -exec du -ch '{}' \; +

src: stackoverflow.com (Get total size of folders with find & du)

To get size of folders using find and du [ex. 3]:

du -m --max-depth 1 | sort -rn

src: linuxconfig.org (List all directories and sort by size)

[NULL] NULL:

NULL

To remove aria2c-downloaded torrent with fewer key strokes:

^aria2c^rm

[ln] To create a symbolic link:

ln -s Dropbox/02__bin ./bin

[sed] To duplicate the function of grep:

sed -n 's/pattern/&/p' <filename

sed -n 's/\(pattern\)/\1/p' <filename

[find] To recursively search files for a string from a specific folder on down:

find /path/to/folder/ -exec grep 'searchTerm' '{}' /dev/null \; -print

find /path/to/folder/ -exec grep -H 'searchTerm' '{}' \; -print

[find] To recursively search a specific filetype for a string from a specific folder on down:

find /path/to/folder/ -name '*fileType' -type f -exec grep 'searchTerm' '{}' /dev/null \; -print

find /path/to/folder/ -name '*fileType' -type f -exec grep -H 'searchTerm' '{}' \; -print

[find] To list mp3s most recently modified, including sub-folders:

find $1 -type f -name '*mp3' -exec stat --format '%Y :%y %n' {} \; | sort -n | cut -d: -f4- | cut -d " " -f3-

[find] To find all files owned by a user:

find . -user username -ls

src: http://www.ewhathow.com: http://www.ewhathow.com/2013/09/how-to-list-all-files-owned-by-a-user-or-group-on-linux/

find; grepTo search file names (including sub-folders) for a specific term and display path in matches:

find . -print |grep -i searchTerm

find; grepTo list all files (including path) with a given extension:

sudo find . -print | grep -i '.*[.]givenExtension'

src: ask ubuntu: How to Search for Files Recursively into Subdirectories

[mplayer] To generate and listen to a play list in shuffle mode:

find -type f -iname \*.mp3 > playlist.txt

mplayer -shuffle -playlist playlist.txt

[Xubuntu] To launch GUI folder sharing utility:

shares-admin

To check for and delete duplicate files in temporary/new music folder:

[ -e "../../${mp3}" ] && rm -v "$mp3"

ffmpegConvert m4a to mp3:

ffmpeg -i "Some Song.m4a" -acodec mp3 -ac 2 -ab 192k "Some Song.mp3"

When installing packages freezes or generates error messages:

dpkg --configure -a

[Xfce] To disable panel tool tips:

xfce4-panel --plugin-event launcher:disable-tooltips:bool:true

src: Xfce Docs \ Core \ Xfce Panel \ Launcher

[convert] .flac to .mp3 (flac and lame required)

for f in *.flac; do flac -cd "$f" | lame -b 320 - "${f%.*}".mp3; done

[smem] To view memory usage in pie graph:

smem --pie name -s rss

src: Smem – Find Out The Memory Usage Of Your Linux Desktop

[mtr] To get network diagnostics information similar to that provided by ping and traceroute:

mtr 8.8.8.8

[Ubuntu-specific] To get install date (method 1/2):

ls -l /var/log/installer

[Ubuntu-specific] To get install date (method 2/2):

sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sda1 | grep 'Filesystem created:'

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