The UNIX tail command is very useful for viewing the last number of lines of a logfile.
As in this example. Showing the last 10 lines in the file /var/log/syslog.
|{~}-{Thu Feb 16 21:36:44} -{john@deep-thought } $ tail -n 10 /var/log/syslog Feb 16 21:31:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) Feb 16 21:31:29 deep-thought kernel: [34739.919485] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode Feb 16 21:31:47 deep-thought kernel: [34758.095250] device eth0 left promiscuous mode Feb 16 21:31:53 deep-thought kernel: [34764.193301] vboxnetflt: dropped 0 out of 7 packets Feb 16 21:31:58 deep-thought kernel: [34769.069486] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode Feb 16 21:32:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) Feb 16 21:33:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) Feb 16 21:34:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) Feb 16 21:35:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) Feb 16 21:36:01 deep-thought cron[1480]: (*system*anacron) WRONG FILE OWNER (/etc/cron.d/anacron) |
The head(1) command will show the first ten lines in the file.
-{john@deep-thought } $ head -n 10 /var/log/dmesg [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpu [ 0.000000] Linux version 3.2.5-custom (root@deep-thought) (gcc version 4.6.2 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.2-12ubuntu1) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Feb 7 21:54:11 EST 2012 [ 0.000000] KERNEL supported cpus: [ 0.000000] Intel GenuineIntel [ 0.000000] AMD AuthenticAMD [ 0.000000] NSC Geode by NSC [ 0.000000] Cyrix CyrixInstead [ 0.000000] Centaur CentaurHauls [ 0.000000] Transmeta GenuineTMx86 |
I have also included some useful information here: http://www.securitronlinux.com/bejiitaswrath/using-redirection-on-the-command-unix-command-line/ discussing various tricks using redirection on the Linux command line.
Searching for a certain filename in your home folder. The locate command comes into its own for this when you need to find a certain file amongst all of the clutter that accumulates in your home directory.
|{~}-{Thu Feb 16 21:45:57} -{john@deep-thought } $ locate freedoom /home/thx/Doom2/freedoom.wad /home/thx/Doom2/freedoomult.wad /home/thx/Downloads/freedoom-iwad-latest.zip /usr/share/app-install/desktop/freedoom:freedoom.desktop /usr/share/app-install/icons/freedoom.png /usr/share/games/freedoom /usr/share/games/freedoom/freedm.wad |
As seen in this example, I am searching for the freedoom wadfiles I have on my hard drive and I had forgotten where they were.
Generating a tree view in HTML of the current folder and subfolders.
|{~/Documents/CHASM}-{Thu Feb 16 21:55:03} -{john@deep-thought } $ /usr/bin/tree -R -H ./ |
There are some more useful commands here: http://securitronlinux.com/linux-configurations/.