execute commands with curly brackets on bash

Question

I would like to know why the following command is not working in Bash and how it's possible to make it run:

/etc/init.d/{httpd,nscd} status

Thanks

learn to use the `set -vx` feature of the cmd line to see how cmds are being executed. you use `set +vx` to turn it off. Good luck. — shellter, May 20 '14 at 16:26

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered May 20 '14 at 16:21

6

Your command doesn't work because it'd execute:

/etc/init.d/httpd /etc/init.d/nscd status

One way of achieving what you want would be to make use of a loop:

for util in /etc/init.d/{httpd,nscd} ; do
  ${util} status
done

answered May 20 '14 at 16:21

devnull

Is there a one-line alternative for this without a `for` loop? – Highmastdon Dec 09 '22 at 10:57

user3657561 · Answer 2 · 2014-06-10T16:56:07.777

1

That does not work because it only expands the the path. Try this.

$ echo  /etc/init.d/{httpd,nscd} status

$ /etc/init.d/httpd /etc/init.d/nscd status

edited Jun 10 '14 at 16:56

answered May 20 '14 at 16:49

user3657561

2 Answers2