Have you ever wished there was a short Linux command for several lengthy piped commands, or even a script, that is often used? (Of course you have, lets be honest here!) Fortunately for you, there are two ways to do such a thing.
- Create a command alias
- Move a script to the
/usr/bindirectory
Either way, it would likely be a good idea to have administrative permissions. (Though not required in all cases)
Alias
For smaller/simpler commands, it is possible to simply create an alias. Using the alias command, Linux users can create a symbolic name for any desired shell code.
> alias newCommandName='complicated | command < code >> here.sh'
For example, a command I like to use often is a Load Average command. This command shows processor usage for the past 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 15 minutes.
> cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d" " -f1-3
0.10 0.20 0.30
To create an alias of this command simply wrap the command in quotes and follow the syntax for the alias command. Here I create an alias command: la.
> alias la='cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d" " -f1-3'
To view the code behind an alias, use the alias command followed by the alias name.
> alias la
To remove an alias of a command, simply use the unalias command.
> unalias la
[Source]
Move script to /usr/bin
As commands become more complicated, possibly creating variables and using them later, it may become more convent to move these commands to a shell script. Note: these instructions also allow for any script to become a short command.
Create a file with the commands desired in it. (Back to the Load Average example)
> vi la
#! /bin/bash
cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d' ' -f1-3
Add permission to execute file.
> chmod +x la
Test if script is working
> ./la
0.11 0.21 0.31
Finally, move to /usr/bin
> move la /usr/bin/la
With that, your new la command should be ready to use, from anywhere.
[Source]
Now go forth, populate your systems with short aliases for complicated command sets and short names for long scripts. Enjoy!