what are the most common linux terminal shortcuts that you use ?

dEnDrOn · 01-02-2012, 10:33 PM

i'm not so good with linux terminal...

please elaborate some useful shortcuts that may improve my terminal working experience...

jhwilliams · 01-02-2012, 11:38 PM

These are the ones I use absolutely all of the time:

<Ctrl>-<Shift>-t -- new tab in gnome-terminal
<Ctrl>-a -- go to start of line
<Ctrl>-e -- go to end of line
<Ctrl>-k -- kill till end of line

fukawi1 · 01-02-2012, 11:40 PM

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bash+shortcuts

That being said...
Some of my most used are
-> tab autocompletion
-> shell variables
-> bang (!) and its variants
-> ctrl + r
and
-> alias'

kabish · 01-02-2012, 11:59 PM

Ctrl+A – move to the start of the line
Ctrl+E – move to the end of the line

Ctrl+U – delete/cut from the cursor to the beginning of the line.

Ctrl+K – delete/cut from the cursor to the end of the line

Ctrl+W – delete/cut from the cursor to the start of the word, space delimited

frieza · 01-03-2012, 12:43 AM

for commands that require a lot of arguments that need to be issued the same way every time i do

$ history | grep command (minus the arguments)
for instance
$ $history | grep vlc

Code:

   27  vlc *.avi
   29  vlc *.avi
  259  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  264  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  270  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  281  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  284  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  286  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen cho.xspf
  302  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen *
  305  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen *
  306  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  318  vlc sniper.avi
  408  vlc *Duck*
  425  vlc *.avi
  608  history| grep vlc
  609  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  610  history| grep vlc
  611  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  613  history| grep vlc
  615  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  639  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  641  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  757  killall -9 vlc
  877  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  879  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  882  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  883  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  886  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  888  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  891  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  893  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  894  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  895  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  897  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 .avi
  898  vlc
  900  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  901  killall -9 vlc
  902  sudo killall -9 vlc
  905  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  907  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  909  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen  --aspect 16:9 *
  912  COLUMNS=132 DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc --extraintf=curses --fullscreen --aspect 16:9 *
  913  DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc
  914  DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc *
  915  DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc *.avi
  917  DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc *.avi
  919  DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc --extraintf=curses *
  932  vlc *.webm
  941  vlc *
  942  DISPLAY=:0.1 vlc *
  943  DISPLAY=:1.1 vlc *
  964  cd vlc
 1019  history | grep vlc

node the number, in my case it would be 912 would be the last time i issued the command

then

$ !912
will re-issue that command

fukawi1 · 01-03-2012, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frieza

for commands that require a lot of arguments that need to be issued the same way every time i do

$ history | grep command (minus the arguments)
for instance
$ $history | grep vlc

frieza, you may be interested to know, you can use "ctrl + r" and type "vlc" to reverse incremental search the history.
Pressing ctrl+r repeatedly again, to scroll through the matched entries, until you find the one you want.

linux-freak · 01-03-2012, 01:32 AM

Terminal tip - brace exapansion

Code:

mkdir -p Months/{Jan,Feb,Mar,Apr,May,June,Jul,Aug,Sep,Oct,Nov,Dec}/{Week1,Week2,Week3,Week4}/{Mon,Tues,Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat,Sun}

This will create a folder called Months with subfolders of the months
and each sub month folder will have subfolders from Week1 through Week4
and each Week* folder will have subfolders of the days of the week

This is good for making folders that each would have things in common

Try it out and you see what I mean.

Bet no GUI file manager could top that

linux-freak · 01-03-2012, 02:32 AM

Terminal tip - Repeat a word without re-typing

for example type

ls /etc/fstab

Suppose you want to work on this file, then type vi and then a space. Press the ESC key, then the period '.'

/etc/fstab will appear next to vi

sycamorex · 01-03-2012, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linux-freak

Terminal tip - Repeat a word without re-typing

for example type

ls /etc/fstab

Suppose you want to work on this file, then type vi and then a space. Press the ESC key, then the period '.'

/etc/fstab will appear next to vi

You could do the same with:

Code:

vi $_

linux-freak · 01-04-2012, 07:05 PM

Terminal tip - brace expansion 2 Backup and Copy

Most people make a backup copy of a file this way

cp foo.bar foo.bar.bak

With brace expansion you can get the same result

cp foo.bar{,.bak}

If your file has no extension like foo for example

cp foo{,.bak}

To copy a file with a different extension

cp foo{.bar,.ext}

Telengard · 01-04-2012, 08:22 PM

Here's what's in my cheat-sheet.txt right now for Bash. I don't use all of these regularly, but they have all been useful on some occasions.

Code:

** CURSOR MOVEMENT **
C-f, C-b	forward, backward one character
M-f, M-b	forward, backward one word
C-a, C-e	start, end of line
C-], M-C-]	search next, previous occurrence of character in line

** DELETING **
<Backsp>	character left of cursor
<Del> | C-d	character under cursor

** MISCELLANEOUS EDITING **
C-_ | C-x C-u | C-/	undo last edit
C-t	transpose character left of cursor
M-t	transpose word left of cursor
M-u	uppercase word
M-l	lowercase word
M-r	undo all changes to this line
C-l	clear screen and continue editing current line
C-x C-e	edit the current line in the $EDITOR

** COMPLETION **
<Tab>	complete text before point
M-?	list all completions
M-*	insert all completions
M-~	force tilde completion

** KILLING AND YANKING TEXT **
C-k	kill from cursor to end of line
C-u	kill from cursor to start of line
M-- C-k	kill from cursor to start of  line
M-d	kill from cursor to end of word
M-<Backsp>	kill from cursor to start of word
C-w	kill from cursor to previous whitespace
C-y	yank most recently killed text at cursor
M-y	rotate kill-ring and yank
	
** RECALLING FROM HISTORY **
C-p, C-n	recall previous, next line from history
M-<	recall first line from history
M->	recall last line from history
M-p, M-n	reverse, forward search (non-incremental)
C-r, C-s	reverse, forward i-search
<Return>	accept and execute line
C-a | <Esc>	accept and edit at start of line
C-e	accept and edit at end of line
C-g	abort i-search and restore original line

** REPEATING COMMANDS **
<Esc> n	(where n represents an integer)
M-n	(only first digit need be metafied)
C-x (	begin keyboard macro definition
C-x )	end keyboard macro definition
C-x e	execute keyboard macro

HTH

EDIT
In the absence of further documentation, the list above may seem quite arcane to the uninitiated. As this is a cheat sheet intended for my personal use I only recorded enough information to remind myself. Here's the full documentation:

Command Line Editing - Bash Reference Manual

I use Bash in its default Emacs mode. If you have configured Bash for vi mode or otherwise customized its key-bindings then none of the shortcuts above apply to your configuration.

The notation C-p means to press and release the p key while holding the Ctrl (control) key.

The notation M-f means to press and release the f key while holding the Meta key. Typical modern PC keyboards don't have a key labeled Meta. Use the Alt key instead.

jhwilliams · 01-04-2012, 11:05 PM

I barely know how to use Emacs. But several of the hotkeys I mentioned earlier do work there, too. I wonder -- to what extent do Emacs shortcuts carry over into the Bash shell?

Telengard · 01-04-2012, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhwilliams

to what extent do Emacs shortcuts carry over into the Bash shell?

A great deal of the most common Emacs keyboard shortcuts work similarly in Bash's default Emacs mode. If you learn the shortcuts in Bash, as I did, then Emacs becomes that much easier to learn.

polpak · 01-05-2012, 12:05 AM

Being Technically-Challenged, rarely use shortcuts, also make enough typing errors typing commands, so need learn and remember them first ;-)

SecretCode · 01-05-2012, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linux-freak

Terminal tip - Repeat a word without re-typing

for example type

ls /etc/fstab

Suppose you want to work on this file, then type vi and then a space. Press the ESC key, then the period '.'

/etc/fstab will appear next to vi

That is possibly the most useful thing I will learn all week!