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Questions tagged [command-line]

An interface for interacting with a computer using typed commands in a text-oriented environment, as opposed to a graphical user interface (GUI).

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798 votes
8 answers
2.6m views

How can I display the contents of an environment variable from the command prompt in Windows 7?

In Windows 7, when I start the Command prompt, is there any command to display the contents of an environment variable (such as the JAVA_HOME or PATH variables)? I have tried with echo $PATH, echo ...
Jonas's user avatar
  • 27.8k
626 votes
5 answers
1.6m views

How to find a directory on linux?

I have a VPS with Suse Linux 10.3. I've logged in via SSH/putty and am trying to find where my web files are located. Since I'm uploading via FTP in a directory called httpdocs, I assume that this ...
Edward Tanguay's user avatar
599 votes
9 answers
832k views

Using ffmpeg to cut up video

I am using ffmpeg to cut out a section of a large file like this: ffmpeg -i input.wmv -ss 60 -t 60 -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.wmv The -ss part works fine but the -t is ignored. It correctly ...
Neil's user avatar
  • 6,119
572 votes
4 answers
225k views

How to turn off word-wrap in less

Short version: How can I make the less utility in Linux not wrap lines? Long version: Often I need to view huge CSV files using less with hundreds of columns. I frequently only care about the first ...
User1's user avatar
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560 votes
5 answers
786k views

How do I run multiple commands on one line in PowerShell?

In a cmd prompt, you can run two commands on one line like so: ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew When I run this command in PowerShell, I get: Ampersand not allowed. The `&` operator is ...
David's user avatar
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509 votes
19 answers
876k views

Is there any 'sudo' command for Windows?

I always work on a non-administrator account on my Windows computer. Sometimes I need to install programs which requires administrator access. As I mostly use the Windows command prompt, is there a ...
ukanth's user avatar
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503 votes
18 answers
742k views

How to clear the contents of a file from the command line?

I have a log file that has a bunch of stuff in it that I don't need anymore. I want to clear the contents. I know how to print the contents to the screen: cat file.log I know how to edit the file, ...
Andrew's user avatar
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487 votes
5 answers
496k views

How to open files in vertically/horizontal split windows in Vim from the command line

There must be a way, something like this: vim -[option] <file-list> to open files from command prompt and not from within Vim. split windows vertically or/and horizontally in separate tabs
Andrei Chikatilo's user avatar
433 votes
19 answers
699k views

How to encode base64 via command line in macOS/OS X?

Is there a terminal command in macOS/OS X which will base64 encode a file or stdin?
Josh's user avatar
  • 9,797
390 votes
4 answers
680k views

Go back to previous directory in shell

Is there a way to go back to previous directory we were in using bash,tcsh without using pushd/popd ? I'd like to type something like "back" and got returned to the previous directory I was in. Edit: ...
Lydon Ch's user avatar
  • 6,029
382 votes
8 answers
901k views

How to recursively delete directory from command line in windows?

What is the windows equivalent of rm -r [directory-name]?
Eric Wilson's user avatar
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367 votes
15 answers
1.2m views

How do you list all processes on the command line in Windows?

Is there a command equivalent to 'ps' on Unix that can list all processes on a Windows machine?
readonly's user avatar
  • 3,944
363 votes
14 answers
427k views

How to get information about an image (picture) from the Linux command-line?

I'm working on a web app and currently migrating some stuff from an old app, but I hate that I have to open an image editor to get some info about images I'm migrating. Things like image dimensions. ...
JWL's user avatar
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338 votes
3 answers
479k views

Linux unzip command: Option to force overwrite?

I am writing a shell script that unzips a ZIP file into an existing hierarchy of files, potentially overwriting some of the files. The problem is that the unzip command asks for confirmation: replace ...
Nicolas Raoul's user avatar
336 votes
9 answers
116k views

How to append to a file as sudo?

I want to do: echo "something" >> /etc/config_file But, since only the root user has write permission to this file, I can't do that. But the following also doesn't work. sudo echo "something" ...
agentofuser's user avatar
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307 votes
5 answers
960k views

Setting and getting Windows environment variables from the command prompt?

I want to set an environment variable from the command prompt and then be able to access it globally (for instance, I should see it by going to System -> Environment Variables). When I use the set ...
Shane's user avatar
  • 3,670
302 votes
9 answers
1.3m views

Using cd command in Windows command line, can't navigate to D:\

This may be a silly question, and I think I have looked elsewhere to find the answer... Might be a path issue, but when I open the command line and type from the C:\>: cd D:\ I cannot get to the ...
nicorellius's user avatar
  • 6,725
294 votes
24 answers
220k views

Command-line application for converting SVG to PNG on Mac OS X

Are there any command-line programs that can convert an SVG to PNG that run on macOS?
Lorin Hochstein's user avatar
278 votes
8 answers
912k views

Get Last Modified Date of File in Linux

I'm new to Linux. I'm using the command-line. I'm trying to view the last modified date of a file. How do I do that in Linux from the Command Line?
user70192's user avatar
  • 2,919
262 votes
12 answers
824k views

How can I execute a Windows command line in background?

How can I execute a windows command line in the background, without it interacting with the active user?
Mohammad AL-Rawabdeh's user avatar
259 votes
12 answers
392k views

How do I start Chrome using a specified "user profile"?

I use the new built-in "Users" feature of Chrome to switch between Home/Work accounts easily. However, Chrome remembers the "last" user profile you had selected when launching new windows. This is a ...
Danny Tuppeny's user avatar
259 votes
4 answers
273k views

How to list Chocolatey packages already installed and newer version available from the command line

I have the following packages installed with Chocolatey. choco list > choco list Chocolatey v0.9.9.2 adobereader 11.0.10 ...
Joel Handwell's user avatar
253 votes
8 answers
24k views

What do the parentheses and number after a Unix command or C function mean?

I keep seeing parentheses and a number after a command in Unix or Linux or C function. For example: man(8), ftok(2), mount(8), etc. What do these mean? I see them in man too.
Malfist's user avatar
  • 3,059
251 votes
35 answers
296k views

Is there a way to display a countdown or stopwatch timer in a terminal?

How can I display a real-time countdown timer on the Linux terminal? Is there an existing app or, even better, a one liner to do this?
tir38's user avatar
  • 2,751
247 votes
11 answers
205k views

Windows equivalent of whereis?

Is there an equivalent of the Unix whereis command in Windows? So that I could figure out where commands I can run actually is.
Svish's user avatar
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246 votes
9 answers
1.0m views

How can I direct a query to specific DNS server?

I would like to issue a query to a specific DNS server, whose IP address I know. It doesn't really matter if it's on Windows or *nix. In Windows I can do something like: C:\Documents and Settings\...
Anton Daneyko's user avatar
243 votes
4 answers
315k views

How to add user to a group from Mac OS X command line?

I am trying to add a user to a group from the command line but can't figure out how. Specifically this is on Mac OS X Server version 10.5.8. The user is 'john', the groups are 'admin' and 'wheel'.
Meltemi's user avatar
  • 6,987
240 votes
5 answers
286k views

Recursively count all the files in a directory [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How can I count the number of folders in a drive using Linux? I have a really deep directory tree on my Linux box. I would like to count all of the files in that path, ...
omghai2u's user avatar
  • 2,920
236 votes
10 answers
481k views

How to copy symbolic links?

I have directory that contains some symbolic links: user@host:include$ find .. -type l -ls 4737414 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 user group 13 Dec 9 13:47 ../k0607-lsi6/camac -> ../../include 4737415 ...
Basilevs's user avatar
  • 2,796
228 votes
8 answers
169k views

Typing “python” on Windows 10 (version 1903) command prompt opens Microsoft store

This is strange issue I have observed. I installed Active Python 2.7 on Windows 10 (version 1903). On typing “python” from search, opens the Python 2.7 prompt but when I type from command prompt ...
Dr. Essen's user avatar
  • 2,552
223 votes
6 answers
345k views

What's different between Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+C in Unix command line?

I'm using Mac OS X Terminal. And I use Ctrl+Z or Ctrl+C to stop some programs. But I realized that I don't know what they're exactly doing. What are they and what's the difference between them? ...
Eonil's user avatar
  • 5,814
223 votes
17 answers
183k views

How to supress "Terminate batch job (Y/N)" confirmation?

In cmd, when we press Ctrl+C we get the target application terminated but if the target application is called from a batch file, we get this "Terminate batch job (Y/N)" confirmation. I can never ...
Srikanth's user avatar
  • 4,999
222 votes
7 answers
470k views

Browse an UNC path using Windows CMD without mapping it to a network drive

C:\> cd \\somewhere '\\somewhere' CMD does not support UNC paths as current directories. What I usually do to get around this is to map that directory to a network drive and then I could easily ...
Andreas Grech's user avatar
218 votes
9 answers
312k views

How can I find only the executable files under a certain directory in Linux?

How can I find only the executable files under a certain directory in Linux?
HaiYuan Zhang's user avatar
216 votes
9 answers
412k views

How do I find out what version of Linux I'm running?

Is there a way to determine what version (distribution & kernel version, I suppose) of Linux is running (from the command-line), that works on any Linux system?
Daryl Spitzer's user avatar
206 votes
11 answers
41k views

I accidentally typed password into bash command line

I accidentally typed my password into bash command line, mistaking the Last login: ... line for Wrong password (I was in a hurry). What do I do to cover my trace? What I did was editing .bash_history ...
MaDa's user avatar
  • 2,013
200 votes
13 answers
1.2m views

How do I edit text files in the Windows command prompt?

On Unix I'd just use vi, but I don't know what the command is on Windows. I am actually trying to edit files over SSH with Windows Server 2008.
Casebash's user avatar
  • 7,547
198 votes
15 answers
216k views

Is it possible to `tail -f` the output of `dmesg`?

I want to do something like dmesg | tail -f but it doesn't work: I use Mac OS X v10.6.7 (Snow Leopard). By doing that, tail will exit, instead of monitoring the output. I wonder if there is a ...
Ivan Xiao's user avatar
  • 2,825
196 votes
10 answers
302k views

List the current folder folder's sizes with the terminal?

I want a list of the folders from the current directory or one that I specify with their size. I have tried with du but I only get the size of the directories I specify (du . ./f1), and ls doesn't ...
kevin's user avatar
  • 2,264
192 votes
13 answers
725k views

How can I put the computer to sleep from Command Prompt/Run menu?

I know that almost everything on Windows, like opening any sort of application, can be done from the command prompt or from the Run menu. How can I put my computer to sleep or shut it down? What is ...
Lazer's user avatar
  • 17.8k
189 votes
8 answers
394k views

How to execute a command in screen and detach?

How can I get screen to execute a command and then detach (That is, automatically in a single script without further input beyond initially starting the script)? e.g. I run myscript.sh and it ...
darkfeline's user avatar
  • 2,172
188 votes
20 answers
771k views

Run a batch file in a completely hidden way

I'm looking for some way to run a batch file (.bat) without anything visible to the user (no window, no taskbar name, .etc..). I don't want to use some program to do that, I'm looking for something ...
Moayad Mardini's user avatar
178 votes
3 answers
676k views

Clear windows command prompt screen using keyboard shortcuts

Is there any way of clearing the command prompt screen in windows using keyboard shortcuts?
Ishan's user avatar
  • 3,422
177 votes
5 answers
191k views

How to find out Mac OS X version from Terminal?

I know how to find Mac OS X version from GUI: Apple Menu (top left) > About This Mac Is there a Terminal command that will tell me Mac OS X version?
Željko Filipin's user avatar
171 votes
9 answers
596k views

How to run a batch file without launching a "command window"? [duplicate]

On Windows XP, can I run a batch (.bat or .cmd) file, via a shortcut, without a "black window"?
dugres's user avatar
  • 1,865
170 votes
10 answers
629k views

ls-command: how to display the file size in megabytes?

In Unix (Tru64), how do I make the ls command show the file size in megabytes? Currently I am able to show it in bytes using the following: ls -la
user avatar
169 votes
3 answers
189k views

7Zip - Command Line : Exclude folder(s) by wildcard pattern?

Any idea how to exclude a wild-carded path(s) from a command-line 7zip command? I'm doing something like this: 7z.exe a -t7z archive.7z FolderToArchive\ -mx0 and would like to exclude any \bin\*.* ...
Yoopergeek's user avatar
  • 1,842
165 votes
3 answers
50k views

Case insensitive tab completion in Bash

Is there any way to make Bash tab complete case insensitively? $ bash --version GNU bash, version 3.2.48(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin10.0) Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. I am ...
Jeffrey Aylesworth's user avatar
162 votes
6 answers
251k views

How to retrieve video file information from command line under Linux?

I'd like to see from command line all informations pertaining to a given video file, including length, quality, bitrate, resolution, audio and video formats, number and language of audio streams and ...
Sekhemty's user avatar
  • 9,516
160 votes
16 answers
734k views

How can I find out when Windows was last restarted?

How can I know when my computer running Windows 7 was last restarted? I prefer a solution that doesn't involve searching the event log, but something like wmic or maybe cmd commands.
Royi Namir's user avatar
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