What are your favorite command line aliases (bash/sh/tcsh) aliases? Here are a few of mine.
alias lsr='ls -lrt' alias gon='cd $HOME/Notes' alias devdb='mysql -h dev --user=x --password=secret dbname' alias ec='rm *~'; # emacs cleanup alias h='history' alias eb='exec bash'; # Solaris sometimes defaults to sh alias mr='more' alias mroe='more' alias qd='echo export DISPLAY=$DISPLAY' alias ralias='. $HOME/.alias'; # reread aliases alias ,,='cd ../..' alias ..='cd ..' alias c='clear'
function s()
{
screen -t "$@" /usr/bin/ssh "$@"
}
Connect to a host in a new screen tab, with the device name as the tab title.
My favourites that haven't been mentioned so far:
alias l='ls'
alias u='cd ..'
alias uu='cd ../..'
alias uuu='cd ../../..'
alias uuuu='cd ../../../..'
I'm not normally a fan of aliases that just shorten things, but I type ls so very much, and l only needs one hand.
none since I can never guarantee they'll be configured on EVERY system I'll log into (as myself, root, or whoever).
None, I change between systems so much every day that I basically gave up on it.
alias ..="cd .."
alias ...="cd ../.."
# mkdir and enter it immediately thereafter
mcd() { mkdir $1 && cd $1; }
# when entering a directory, list the contents.
cd() { builtin cd "$@" && ls; }
alias rm 'mv -f \!* $WASTEBASKET'
alias unrm 'mv $WASTEBASKET/\!* .'
I know that many will disagree, but I like safety nets. (And please try to forgive me for using tcsh.)
This somewhat similar one should be outlawed, though:
alias rm 'rm -i'
I've seen people who were trained on systems with that alias, and then they type rm * on some other system, expecting to get questions about which files to delete, and then they sit there and watch it do exactly what it is supposed to do.
EDIT:
Some of the comments compared the move-to-wastebasket alias with the "-i" flag, saying that they are similar. But to me, there is an important difference. With "-i", you get the confirmation prompt every time you use the command, and it becomes something you expect and rely on. The wastebasket solution, on the other hand, works exactly like the standard rm, until you actually make a mistake and need to un-remove a file. It's a bit like the difference between training wheels and a spare tire in the trunk.
The total contents of my "alias list" is:
I've spent enough time fixing unix machines I don't "normally" work with (one of the downsides of having been in-house unix admin for a software house, you end up on customer sites, A Lot) that the first thing I do is to "unalias -a", just so that any alias the normal production admin have don't happen to interact with a mis-spelling, after that it's too much hassle to customise.
This has carried over into my normal usage, too.
These are for zsh, but I imagine you could port them to another shell reasonably easily:
sudo() { [[ $1 == (vi|vim) ]] && shift && sudoedit "$@" || command sudo "$@"; } # sudo vi/vim => sudoedit
wst() { TZ=Australia/Perth date } # get local time no matter what server I'm on
FULLHOST=`hostname -f` 2>/dev/null || FULLHOST=`hostname` # reasonably portable, always gets a DHCP suffix too (if one exists)
SHORTHOST=`echo $FULLHOST | cut -d. -f1-2` # get the first two segments of hostname, which I used in my shell prompt
Here are some of my favorites. (A few are ZSH-specific.)
alias ls='ls -F --color=auto'
alias l='ls'
alias ll='ls -ahl'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias mv='mv -i'
alias mmv='noglob zmv -W'
alias mcp='mmv -C'
mkcd() {
if [ $1 = "" ]; then
echo "Usage: mkcd <dir>"
else
mkdir -p $1
cd $1
fi
}
# ZSH global aliases for piping
alias -g H="| head"
alias -g T="| tail"
alias -g C="| wc -l"
alias -g L="| less"
alias -g G="| grep"
alias -g S="| sed -e"
alias -g A="| awk"
# Subversion related
alias ss='svn status'
alias sd='svn diff'
alias sc='svn commit'
# Git related
alias gs='git status'
alias gc='git commit'
alias ga='git add'
alias gd='git diff'
alias gb='git branch'
alias gl='git log'
alias gsb='git show-branch'
alias gco='git checkout'
alias gg='git grep'
alias gk='gitk --all'
alias gr='git rebase'
alias gri='git rebase --interactive'
alias gcp='git cherry-pick'
alias grm='git rm'
fortune -s # Add to your profile to brighten your day :)
there are many aliases here wich are not neccessary:
alias c='clear'
can be replaced by just pressing [Ctrl]+[L]
alias mroe='more'
and similar: zsh provides spell correction by default, bash does it with extensions
alias something="history | grep $@"
pressing [Ctrl]+[R] does the same thing in bash/zsh
back='cd $OLDPWD'
the same can be done in every shell with
cd -
jldugger@jldugger:~ $ alias alias ls='ls --color=auto' alias youtube-dl='youtube-dl -t
alias perg='grep -rni --exclude=\*.svn\*'
alias df='df -kTh'
alias ll="ls -l --group-directories-first"
alias ls="ls --color=auto -A -h -i -s --group-directories-first -l"
alias screen="screen -U"
alias sscreen="~/Projects/bin/start_screen.sh"
alias gst='git status'
alias gl='git pull'
alias gp='git push'
alias gd='git diff | emacs'
alias gc='git commit -v'
alias gca='git commit -v -a'
alias gb='git branch'
alias gba='git branch -a'
p='ps auxww|grep -v grep|grep '
For searching old perl scripts for something:
alias searchperl 'find /place1 /place2 /place3 -name "*.pl" | xargs grep
Email myself a file:
alias mailthis 'mail -s mailthis email@email.com < '
if [ "$(uname)"="darwin" ]; then
EDITOR=mate
PATH=$PATH:~/.bin
alias sleep_hdd='sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 1'
alias sleep_ram='sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0'
alias sleep_combined='sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3'
alias cdproj='cd ~/Projects/Web'
alias e='mate'
alias vboxheadless='VBoxHeadless -startvm '
alias subash='sudo bash'
fi
if [ "$(uname)" = "SunOS" ]; then
alias ls='ls -F'
alias e='vim'
alias subash='pfexec bash'
fi
alias l='ls --color=auto -lsah'
alias ..='cd ..'
I miss it very often on other systems
This one works on most linux desktops:
alias go='xdg-open'
Opens a document or folder with the registered application, similar to the start command on windows.
history | awk '{print $2}' | awk 'BEGIN {FS="|"} {print $1}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -10
Show the top 10 most used commands in your history.
alias viewpw='aespipe -d < ~/.passwd.aes > ~/.passwd.dec && more ~/.passwd.dec && shred -u ~/.passwd.dec'
How I remember all my passwords...
Here is my favorite, to find something in all of the Python code in the current and child directories, excluding those associated with subversion:
alias greppy="find . | grep -v [.]svn | grep [.]py$ | xargs grep "
Two more complicated shell functions. I use them often when searching stuff in source code or config files.
FFind() {
if [ -n "$1" ] ; then
if [ -n "$2" ] ; then
local testVar="$1"
shift
find . -type f \
-and '(' -not -path '*.git*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.svn*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.hg*' ')' \
-and '(' "$@" ')' \
-exec grep --color=always -I -i -F -H -n "${testVar}" {} ';'
else
find . -type f \
-and '(' -not -path '*.git*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.svn*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.hg*' ')' \
-exec grep --color=always -I -i -F -H -n "$1" {} ';'
fi
fi
}
EFind() {
if [ -n "$1" ] ; then
if [ -n "$2" ] ; then
local testVar="$1"
shift
find . -type f \
-and '(' -not -path '*.git*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.svn*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.hg*' ')' \
-and '(' "$@" ')' \
-exec grep --color=always -I -i -E -H -n -m 1 "${testVar}" {} ';'
else
find . -type f \
-and '(' -not -path '*.git*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.svn*' ')' \
-and '(' -not -path '*.hg*' ')' \
-exec grep --color=always -I -i -E -H -n -m 1 "$1" {} ';'
fi
fi
}
Usage:
FFind elephant
Recursively searches all text files in the current directory for the string elehant. Ignores files created by Subverion, git or mercurial. Ignores binary files.
FFind 'ele.*phant' -name '*.c' -or -name '*.h'
Recursively searches all c code files in the current directory for the string 'ele.*hant' (no regular expression matching). Ignores files created by Subverion, git or mercurial.
EFind 'mo*use' -name '*.java'
Recursively searches all java code files in the current directory for the string muse or mouse or moouse or .... Ignores files created by Subverion, git or mercurial.
Tested with bash and zsh.
Some of my best collection :)
alias cdd="cd .."
alias lss="ls -ctrl"
alias nn="nautilus . &"
alias pp="popd"
alias p="pushd"
alias g="gvim --servername `hostname` --remote"
alias findd="find . -name"
A few plucked from my bashrc:
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias egrep='grep -E --color=auto'
alias e='$EDITOR'
alias g='git'
alias csort='sort | uniq -c | sort -n' # column sort piped data
alias sl='ls' # fat fingers
Generally, I usually have my bashrc figure out what package manager the system uses and then have it aliased as apt and yum, meaning on any machine on which my bashrc runs, I can just do:
apt search foo
yum install foo
apt update
It's not perfect but most of the common actions are the same between yum and aptitude, by the time you're trying to do something more complicated you can just remember what OS you're on.
Probably my favorite, since it makes writing new aliases so easy:
alias realias='vim ~/.bash_aliases;source ~/.bash_aliases'
I would say this is my favorite alias.
alias resume='screen -D -R'
It proves to be very handy after my windows workstation is automatically rebooted every weekend (Firm's policy).
A few more to add to the pile:
# little bit more readable PATH
alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'
# like others, I find these more efficient than
# typing cd ../../ etc
alias up='cd ..'
alias 2up='cd ../../'
alias 3up='cd ../../../'
alias 4up='cd ../../../../'
# found myself always mistyping this, so...
alias findy='find . -name'
alias targz='tar -xzvf'
alias hg='history | grep '
alias cls='clear'
# handy for the xclip tool
alias xclip='xclip -selection c'
# quick directory listing
alias ldir='ls -d */'
alias mys='mysql -uroot -psecret name-of-frequently-used-DB'
alias trash='mv -t ~/.local/share/Trash/files --backup=t'
alias vb='vim ~/.bashrc'
alias +='pushd .'
alias _='popd'
alias dsclean='find . -name .DS_Store -exec rm \{\} \;'
alias l='ls -lh'
alias ls='ls -G'
# Depends on your specific router
alias myip='curl -sn http://192.168.1.1/wancfg.cmd?action=view | grep td | tail -1 | tr -d '\''/<>a-z '\'''
# Start/stop local mysql installation
alias myserver='sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server'
alias rssh='ssh -l root'
alias sc='./script/console'
alias sr='screen -r'
alias ss='./script/server'
alias sss='screen ./script/server'
alias up='svn up'
alias webshare='python -c "import SimpleHTTPServer;SimpleHTTPServer.test()"'
Do quick arithmetic from the command line. Use "x" for multiplication to avoid expansion.
function math
{
echo "scale=2 ; $*" | sed -e "s:x:*:g" | sed -e "s:,::g" | bc
}
$ math 12,537.2 x 4
50148.8
#. Darwin:
. : source
ls : ls -G -F
resize : osascript << EOF
tell app "Terminal"
set number of rows of first window to 25
set number of columns of first window to 80
set custom title of first window to "${PROFILE}"
end tell
EOF
#. Linux:
. : source
ls : ls --color=auto -F -X -h
...in general - I don't like using aliases too much though, you become dependent and learn to use something which only ever exists if you yourself make it so. I'd then feel handicapped when jumping on someone else's machine, even for a minute - so my general advice would be to use aliases very lightly.
For example aliasing ls to ls -F is ok, because it only has cosmetic effects, but aliasing to it ls -l or something - I would never do. I don't like these ll for ls -l aliases either for the same reason.
We tend to use rdp a bit, because we can only access certain servcices via windows so I like:
alias rdt='rdesktop -d UOFA -g 1024x768 -u '
usage is
rdt <win_username> <winhost>
A lot of our stuff is in LDAP so search as the directory manager is useful (with an apporpirately configured /etc/openldap/ldap.conf):
alias dmsearch='ldapsearch -x -LLL -D"<directory_admin_bind_dn>" -W '
alias budate='date +%Y%m%d-%H%M' E.g. cp -p some-conf.comf someconf-'budate'.conf NB repalce the single quotes with backticks. Serverfault wont let me put in backtick literals and I cant work out how to escape backticks.
alias psg='ps aux|grep '
Not an alias but a function, since i hate manually checking of the sshd is up after a reboot I have a waiting-for-ssh-to-answer function in my .zshrc:
function wssh () {
local HOST=$1
shift
local PORT=$1
if [[ -z $PORT ]]; then
PORT=22
else
shift
fi
echo -n "Polling host $HOST on port $PORT for ssh connection"
while ! nc -z -w 2 $HOST $PORT &>/dev/null; do
for i in `jot 2 1`; do
echo -n "."
sleep 2
done
done
echo "\nConnection establihed!"
ssh -p$PORT $HOST $@
}
alias memusage='ps -o rss,command -waxc | sort -n'
alias ssq='svn status -q'
alias up='cd ..'
alias svndiff='svn diff --diff-cmd=colordiff'
alias df='df -h'
The first line uses colordiff to colorize svn diff output
Most of our servers don't listen to SSH on a public VLAN. I can't be bothered to keep a tunnel open on my laptop when away from the office:
zugzug() { ssh -A -p <non_standard_port> -t <proxy_server> ssh $1; }
While it's a function and not an alias, I find it invaluable.
a few choice LAMP related snippets:
apache: current activity
alias apache_status='watch -n1 "/etc/init.d/httpd fullstatus | egrep \"GET|POST\""'
apache: check config and gracefully restart if all ok
alias graceful='/etc/init.d/httpd configtest && /etc/init.d/httpd graceful && echo Gracefully Done'
get process info
alias pinfo='/root/procinfo'
redhat release info
alias about='cat /etc/redhat-release && cat /proc/version && uname -a' alias
start vim in insert mode (contraversial!)
alias vi='vim -c startinsert'
monitor drbd activity and state of bonded NICs
alias cluster='watch -d -n0.2 cat /proc/drbd /proc/net/bonding/bond0'
to display squid log file in real time
alias proxy='tail -f /usr/local/squid/var/logs/access.log'
alias pd=pushd
alias so="echo ^O"
alias sy='rsync -vaH'
alias tcem='echo -ne "\033[?25h"'
alias tt='traceroute -I'
alias x=type
List all the files in this directory, and sort by human-readable file size.
alias sizes="du --max-depth=1 -k | sort -nr | cut -f2 | xargs -d '\n' du -sh"
I use it a lot on some servers with very limited disk space.
To add up a column of numbers, I have this in my .bashrc. If you give it a filename as a 2nd arugment, it will sum up the passed-in column number of that file instead of std-in.
sumcol() {
awk "BEGIN { SUM=0 } { SUM+=\$$1 } END { print SUM }" $2
}
I haven't got many aliases, I copied this one from somewhere.
alias dirf='find . -type d | sed -e "s/[^-][^\/]*\// |/g" -e "s/|\([^ ]\)/|-\1/"
I have also:
alias dmeasg='dmesg'
I typed it so often wrong, that I made an alias for that.
alias agc='df -h; apt-get autoclean ; apt-get clean ; apt-get autoremove ; df -h'
alias agi='apt-get install '
alias acs='apt-cache search '
alias agdu='apt-get update ; apt-get dist-upgrade'
I may rebuild the same system 5+ times in one day. This helps speed up removing the entry from known_hosts.
remove-known-host() {
local HOST=$1
grep -v $HOST ~/.ssh/known_hosts > ~/.ssh/known_hosts.tmp
mv ~/.ssh/known_hosts.tmp ~/.ssh/known_hosts
}
RedHat based systems, e.g. RHEL, CentOS, Fedora come with the following aliases:
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias l.='ls -d .* --color=auto'
alias ll='ls -l --color=auto'
alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias mc='. /usr/libexec/mc/mc-wrapper.sh'
alias vi='vim'
alias which='alias | /usr/bin/which --tty-only --read-alias --show-dot --show-tilde'
