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The pipe command, denoted by the bar “|”, is a powerful tool in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems that allows you to connect the output of one command to the input of another. Consider it a pipe that takes the data flowing out of one program and feeds it directly into the next program in the sequence. This lets you chain multiple commands to perform complex tasks in a single line.
In this post, we will discuss the power of the Linux pipe command how it works, and why we use it in Linux operating systems we will walk through with basic and advanced techniques of pipe Linux command.
Pipe command in Linux is a versatile and powerful tool that can help you get the most out of the Linux command line. By understanding how to use pipes effectively, you can save time, write more efficient scripts, and perform more complex tasks with ease. Here is how the pipe command Linux works:
Let’s discuss the example in the Linux command pipe with the help of syntax using a command-line interface.
Consider the example, the ”ls” command lists all the files in the current directory. The output of the ls command is then piped to the grep command, which filters the list and only shows lines that contain the pattern “.txt”. The final output is a list of all the files in the current directory that end with the “.txt” extension.
ls | grep ".txt"
Here is an image example of using the pipe command to list all the files in the current directory and then filter them to only show files that end with the “.txt” extension.
Another example of a pipe command is filtering output by finding lines containing a specific word in a file. Type the following command:
cat myfile.txt | grep "keyword"
As the image shows below after creating a Linux file containing an Ultahost keyword filtering out from paragraph.
Beyond the basics
Pipes are not restricted to simple filtering and sorting. They can be used for:
The true form of pipe lies in their ability to chain multiple commands together. Consider a scenario where you want to find all the lines containing “error” in a log file, sort them by date, and finally, extract just the error messages. Without pipes, this would require several independent commands, each demanding individual execution. But with the help of a pipe, you can type the following command:
cat log.txt | grep "error" | sort -k 1 | cut -d " " -f 2-
In this chain, the cat feeds the entire log file to grep, which filters for lines containing “error”. The sorted output then goes to cut, which extracts the second and subsequent fields (containing the actual error messages). Each command receives its input directly from the previous one, creating a streamlined workflow.
Start chaining commands on Linux today!
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Here are some uses of the pipe command in the Linux operating system:
The Linux pipe command is a powerful tool that transforms the command line from a series of tasks into a data pipeline. The above post summarizes the key points about the pipe command functionality and its use cases. Whether you are a pro or a newbie, that takes the output of one command and feeds it straight into another which unlocks the chaining abilities.
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The pipe command “|” in Linux is used to send the output of one command as input to another, allowing them to work together.
Simply type a command, followed by a pipe “|”, and then another command. This connects the output of the first command to the input of the second.
Yes, you can chain multiple commands using pipes, creating a sequence of actions that process and manipulate data in a streamlined way.
An example would be ‘ls -l | grep “.txt”,’ where the list of files (ls -l) is filtered by the grep command to show only those containing “.txt.”