How to read file in linux command line?

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by brock , in category: General Help , a month ago

How to read file in linux command line?

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1 answer

by cathrine_goyette , a month ago

@brock 

In the Linux command line, you can read a file using various commands. Here are some commonly used commands for reading files:

  1. cat: The "cat" command is used to display the entire contents of a file on the terminal. For example, to read a file named "example.txt", you would run: cat example.txt
  2. less: The "less" command allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time. This is useful for reading large files. To use "less", simply type: less example.txt Once you're inside "less", you can scroll through the file using the arrow keys. Press "q" to exit.
  3. more: Similar to "less", the "more" command allows you to view file contents page by page. To use "more", type: more example.txt Use the spacebar to go to the next page and press "q" to exit.
  4. head: The "head" command shows the first few lines of a file. By default, it displays the first 10 lines. To read the first 5 lines of a file, you would run: head -n 5 example.txt
  5. tail: The "tail" command shows the last few lines of a file. By default, it displays the last 10 lines. To read the last 5 lines of a file, you would run: tail -n 5 example.txt


These are just a few examples of commands for reading files in Linux. Depending on your specific needs, other commands like "grep" or "awk" can also be used.