[SOLVED] grep stdout to file and stderr to another file

hansfordmc · 08-26-2012, 01:27 PM

I want output to go to one file and errors to go to another file. This works, however as the command stands right now, it doesn't return to the command line when terminated. thanks.

grep -r -n 'this*' /* >output.txt 2>errors.txt

devnull10 · 08-26-2012, 02:44 PM

When terminated or when complete? It seems to work ok for me. Are you sure you want the /* and not ./*?

maniannam · 08-26-2012, 02:56 PM

Hello,

May be you can try this one

grep -r -n 1>output.txt 2>errors.txt

Regards,
maniannam

hansfordmc · 08-26-2012, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devnull10

When terminated or when complete? It seems to work ok for me. Are you sure you want the /* and not ./*?

I did want to search entire root. The command does what it's suppose to do, but it does not seem to terminate as it doesn't return the command prompt back to me without hitting Ctrl-c.

suicidaleggroll · 08-26-2012, 03:26 PM

Doing a recursive grep on the ENTIRE filesystem will take a long time...are you sure it isn't still running when you're hitting Ctrl+C? Try running it on a small directory with only a few files and see what happens.

Tinkster · 08-26-2012, 03:36 PM

All that, and grepping certain "files" seems to never return. I'd recommend
a slightly different approach.
find / -type f | xargs -i grep -n 'this*' /* >output.txt 2>errors.txt

Cheers,
Tink

hansfordmc · 08-26-2012, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suicidaleggroll

Doing a recursive grep on the ENTIRE filesystem will take a long time...are you sure it isn't still running when you're hitting Ctrl+C? Try running it on a small directory with only a few files and see what happens.

You may be right. Or it may just hang because it's hit a socket or something else that I've been reading about. It runs fine on selected directories as you suggested, so I guess I should just limit my searches.

Thanks for your help. And you too maniannam.
I'll look into using xargs as well.

Tinkster · 08-26-2012, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansfordmc

You may be right. Or it may just hang because it's hit a socket or something else that I've been reading about. It runs fine on selected directories as you suggested, so I guess I should just limit my searches.

Thanks for your help. And you too maniannam.
I'll look into using xargs as well.

The crucial bit there is the -type f switch to find, that will stop
you from grepping character devices, kernel RAM and other funky things from
which grep may not return ;}

Cheers,
Tink