Linux Tips and Tricks: With Recent Updates

Working with Linux is easy if you know how to use commands, scripts, and directories to your advantage. Let us give you some Linux tips and tricks to mov It is no secret that tech-savvy people prefer Linux distributions to Windows operating system because of reasons like:

• Open source
• Unlimited customizations
• Multiple tools to choose from

In this detailed guide, let us take you through the latest Linux tips and tricks so that you can use your Linux systems to its fullest potentials.

Tip 1: How to Navigate Quickly Between Directories

Use these tips to navigate between your directories:

How to return to the previous directory: Use “cd -” command to switch back to your last working directory. This helps you save time because you need not type the entire path of the previous directory.

How to navigate to home directory: Alternatively, you can use “cd” or “cd ~” to return to your home directory from anywhere in the terminal window.

Tip 2: How to Utilize Tab Completion

Whenever you are typing a command or filename, press the “Tab” key in your keyboard to auto-complete it. This helps you reduce errors and save time. For example, if you type “cd Doc”, pressing the “Tab” key will auto complete the command to “cd Documents/”.

Tip 3: How to Run Multiple Commands in Sequence

To run commands in a sequence, use the “;” separator. This helps you run commands sequentially, irrespective of the result of previous commands. Here is an example:

command1; command2; command3

What should you do if the second command should be run only after the success of the first command? It is easy. Simply replace “;” with “&&”. Here is an example:

command1 && command2

Consider another example. How can you structure your commands in such a way that the second command should be run only when the first command fails? Simple. Replace “&&” with “||”. Here is an example to understand better:

command1 || command2

Tip 4: How to List Directory Efficiently

Instead of typing “ls -l” to list the contents of a directory in long format, use the shorthand “ll” and it will give you the same result.

Tip 5: Use Command History to Your Advantage

Let’s face it. Most of the times, we work with only a few commands, repeated again and again. In those cases, your command history and your previous commands are the two things you will need the most. To do this, let us see some tricks.

Press Ctrl + R and start typing to search through your command history. Press the keys again to cycle through the matches.

To repeat the command you executed last, use “!!” or “!n”. Replace “n” with the command’s position in your command history.

Tip 6: Move Processes to Background and Foreground

To send a process to background, simply append “&” to a command. This pushes the process to the background. Here is an example syntax:

command1 &

To move a foreground process to background, first suspend the foreground process by pressing Ctrl + Z, and then use “bg” (short for background) to resume the process in background.

To bring a background process to foreground, use “fg” (short for foreground). This brings the background process to foreground.

Tip 7: How to Create and Use Aliases

If you frequently use a selective few commands, you can create aliases for them. Add “.bashrc” or “.zshrc” to your shell configuration file. Here is an example to understand better. We are going to assign the alias “update” to run two commands in sequence:

alias update='sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade'

Once you have added the alias, reload the configuration with “source ~/.bashrc” or the appropriate file to start using the alias.

Tip 8: How to Redirect the Output of a Command to a File

The next trick we are going to learn in our list of Linux tips and tricks is the simple operator, that will redirect the command output to a file and overwrite existing content: >

Use the “>” operator to redirect command output to a file. Here is an example syntax:

command123 > file.txt

To append the output to a file, use “>>”. Here is how you can do it:

command123 >> file.txt

Tip 9: How to use Wildcards for Batch Operations

Wildcards are operators that help in performing multiple operations on multiple files. Here are some wildcards that will help you often:

• Asterisk (`*`): Represents zero or more characters. For example, `rm *.txt` deletes all `.txt` files in the directory.
• Question Mark (`?`): Represents a single character. For example, `ls file?.txt` lists files like `file1.txt`, `file2.txt`, etc.

Tip 10: How to Monitor System Resource Usage

Next in our Linux tips and tricks list, let us see how to view the real-time system resource usage, including CPU, memory, and network utilization. To do this, you can run “top” command. Press “q” key to exit the “top” interface.

Wrapping Up

These are our top 10 Linux tips and tricks. By incorporating these tips into your workflow, you can navigate the Linux command line more efficiently and effectively.

Related Articles

Game Development on Linux

The post Linux Tips and Tricks: With Recent Updates appeared first on Unixmen.