Shell Command Line History Substitution

Linux.com CLI Magic Using command history in the bash shell By Mark Sobell

fc: Displays, Edits, and Reexecutes Commands

The fc (fix command) builtin enables you to display the history list and edit and reexecute previous commands. It provides many of the same capabilities as the command line editors.

When you call fc with the -l option, it displays commands from the history list. Without any arguments, fc -l lists the 16 most recent commands in a numbered list, with the oldest appearing first:

$ fc -l
1024     cd
1025     view calendar
1026     vim letter.adams01
1027     aspell -c letter.adams01
1028     vim letter.adams01
1029     lpr letter.adams01
1030     cd ../memos
1031     ls
1032     rm *0405
1033     fc -l
1034     cd
1035     whereis aspell
1036     man aspell
1037     cd /usr/share/doc/*aspell*
1038     pwd
1039     ls
1040     ls man-html

The fc builtin can take zero, one, or two arguments with the -l option. The arguments specify the part of the history list to be displayed:

 fc -l [ first [ last ]] 

The fc builtin lists commands beginning with the most recent event that matches first. The argument can be an event number, the first few characters of the command line, or a negative number, which is taken to be the n th previous command. If you provide last , fc displays commands from the most recent event that matches first through the most recent event that matches last . The next command displays the history list from event 1030 through event 1035:

$ fc -l 1030 1035
1030     cd ../memos
1031     ls
1032     rm *0405
1033     fc -l
1034     cd
1035     whereis aspell

The following command lists the most recent event that begins with view through the most recent command line that begins with whereis:

$ fc -l view whereis
1025     view calendar
1026     vim letter.adams01
1027     aspell -c letter.adams01
1028     vim letter.adams01
1029     lpr letter.adams01
1030     cd ../memos
1031     ls
1032     rm *0405
1033     fc -l
1034     cd
1035     whereis aspell

To list a single command from the history list, use the same identifier for the first and second arguments. The following command lists event 1027:

$ fc -l 1027 1027
1027     aspell -c letter.adams01

You can use fc to edit and reexecute previous commands.

fc [-e  editor ] [ first [ last ]]

When you call fc with the -e option followed by the name of an editor, fc calls the editor with event(s) in the Work buffer. Without first and last , fc defaults to the most recent command. The next example invokes the vi(m) editor to edit the most recent command:

$ fc -e vi 

The fc builtin uses the stand-alone vi(m) editor. If you set the FCEDIT variable, you do not need to use the -e option to specify an editor on the command line. Because the value of FCEDIT has been changed to /usr/bin/emacs and fc has no arguments, the following command edits the most recent command with the emacs editor:

$ export FCEDIT=/usr/bin/emacs
$ fc 

If you call it with a single argument, fc invokes the editor on the specified command. The following example starts the editor with event 21 in the Work buffer. When you exit from the editor, the shell executes the command:

$ fc 21 

Again you can identify commands with numbers or by specifying the first few characters of the command name. The following example calls the editor to work on events from the most recent event that begins with the letters vim through event 206:

$ fc vim 206 

When you execute an fc command, the shell executes whatever you leave in the editor buffer, possibly with unwanted results. If you decide you do not want to execute a command, delete everything from the buffer before you exit from the editor.

You can reexecute previous commands without going into an editor. If you call fc with the -s option, it skips the editing phase and reexecutes the command. The following example reexecutes event 1029:

$ fc -s 1029
lpr letter.adams01

The next example reexecutes the previous command:

$ fc -s 

When you reexecute a command you can tell fc to substitute one string for another. The next example substitutes the string john for the string adams in event 1029 and executes the modified event:

$ fc -s adams=john 1029
lpr letter.john01

Using an Exclamation Point (!) to Reference Events

The C Shell history mechanism uses an exclamation point to reference events, and is available under bash. It is frequently more cumbersome to use than fc but nevertheless has some useful features. For example, the !! command reexecutes the previous event, and the !$ token represents the last word on the previous command line.

You can reference an event by using its absolute event number, its relative event number, or the text it contains. All references to events, called event designators, begin with an exclamation point (!). One or more characters follow the exclamation point to specify an event.

You can put history events anywhere on a command line. To escape an exclamation point so that it is treated literally instead of as the start of a history event, precede it with a backslash (\) or enclose it within single quotation marks.

An event designator specifies a command in the history list.

Event designators

Designator	Meaning
!	Starts a history event unless followed immediately by SPACE, NEWLINE, =, or (.
!!	The previous command.
!n	Command number n in the history list.
!-n	The n th preceding command.
!string	The most recent command line that started with string .
!?string[?]	The most recent command that contained string . The last ? is optional.
!#	The current command (as you have it typed so far).
!{event}	The event is an event designator. The braces isolate event from the surrounding text. For example, !{-3}3 is the third most recently executed command followed by a 3.

You can always reexecute the previous event by giving a !! command. In the following example, event 45 reexecutes event 44:

44 $ ls -l text
-rw-rw-r--   1 alex group 45 Apr 30 14:53 text
45 $ !!
ls -l text
-rw-rw-r--   1 alex group 45 Apr 30 14:53 text

The !! command works whether or not your prompt displays an event number. As this example shows, when you use the history mechanism to reexecute an event, the shell displays the command it is reexecuting.

A number following an exclamation point refers to an event. If that event is in the history list, the shell executes it. Otherwise, the shell displays an error message. A negative number following an exclamation point references an event relative to the current event. For example, the command !-3 refers to the third preceding event. After you issue a command, the relative event number of a given event changes (event -3 becomes event -4). Both of the following commands reexecute event 44:

51 $ !44
ls -l text
-rw-rw-r--   1 alex group 45 Nov 30 14:53 text
52 $ !-8
ls -l text
-rw-rw-r--   1 alex group 45 Nov 30 14:53 text

When a string of text follows an exclamation point, the shell searches for and executes the most recent event that began with that string. If you enclose the string between question marks, the shell executes the most recent event that contained that string. The final question mark is optional if a RETURN would immediately follow it.

68 $ history 10
   59  ls -l text*
   60  tail text5
   61  cat text1 text5 > letter
   62  vim letter
   63  cat letter
   64  cat memo
   65  lpr memo
   66  pine jenny
   67  ls -l
   68  history
69 $ !l
ls -l
...
70 $ !lpr
lpr memo
71 $ !?letter?
cat letter
...

Optional - Word Designators

A word designator specifies a word or series of words from an event.

Word designators

Designator	Meaning
n	The n th word. Word 0 is normally the command name.
^	The first word (after the command name).
$	The last word.
m - n	All words from word number m through word number n ; m defaults to 0 if you omit it (0- n ).
n*	All words from word number n through the last word.
*	All words except the command name. The same as 1*.
%	The word matched by the most recent ?string? search.

The words are numbered starting with 0 (the first word on the line -- usually the command), continuing with 1 (the first word following the command), and going through n (the last word on the line).

To specify a particular word from a previous event, follow the event designator (such as !14) with a colon and the number of the word in the previous event. For example, !14:3 specifies the third word following the command from event 14. You can specify the first word following the command (word number 1) by using a caret (^) and the last word by using a dollar sign ($). You can specify a range of words by separating two word designators with a hyphen.

72 $ echo apple grape orange pear
apple grape orange pear
73 $ echo !72:2
echo grape
grape
74 $ echo !72:^
echo apple
apple
75 $ !72:0 !72:$
echo pear
pear
76 $ echo !72:2-4
echo grape orange pear
grape orange pear
77 $ !72:0-$
echo apple grape orange pear
apple grape orange pear

As the next example shows, !$ refers to the last word of the previous event. You can use this shorthand to edit, for example, a file you just displayed with cat:

$ cat report.718
...

$ vim !$
vim report.718
...

If an event contains a single command, the word numbers correspond to the argument numbers. If an event contains more than one command, this correspondence does not hold true for commands after the first. In the following example, event 78 contains two commands separated by a semicolon so that the shell executes them sequentially; the semicolon is word number 5.

78 $ !72 ; echo helen jenny barbara
echo apple grape orange pear ; echo helen jenny barbara
apple grape orange pear
helen jenny barbara
79 $ echo !78:7
echo helen
helen
80 $ echo !78:4-7
echo pear ; echo helen
pear
helen

On occasion you may want to change an aspect of an event you are reexecuting. Perhaps you entered a complex command line with a typo or incorrect pathname, or you want to specify a different argument. You can modify an event or a word of an event by putting one or more modifiers after the word designator, or after the event designator if there is no word designator. Each modifier must be preceded by a colon (:).

The substitute modifier is more complex than the other modifiers. The following example shows the substitute modifier correcting a typo in the previous event:

$ car /home/jenny/memo.0507 /home/alex/letter.0507
bash: car: command not found
$ !!:s/car/cat
cat /home/jenny/memo.0507 /home/alex/letter.0507
...

The substitute modifier has the following syntax:

[g]s/ old _/ new _/

where old is the original string (not a regular expression), and new is the string that replaces old . The substitute modifier substitutes the first occurrence of old with new . Placing a g before the s (as in gs/old/new/) causes a global substitution, replacing all occurrences of old . The / is the delimiter in the examples, but you can use any character that is not in either old or new . The final delimiter is optional if a RETURN would immediately follow it. As with the vim Substitute command, the history mechanism replaces an ampersand (&) in new with old . The shell replaces a null old string (s//new/) with the previous old string or string within a command that you searched for with ?string?.

An abbreviated form of the substitute modifier is quick substitution. Use it to reexecute the most recent event while changing some of the event text. The quick substitution character is the caret (^). For example, the command

$ ^old^new^ 

produces the same results as

$ !!:s/old/new/ 

Thus substituting cat for car in the previous event could have been entered as

$ ^car^cat
cat /home/jenny/memo.0507 /home/alex/letter.0507
...

You can omit the final caret if it would be followed immediately by a RETURN. As with other command line substitutions, the shell displays the command line as it appears after the substitution.

Modifiers (other than the substitute modifier) perform simple edits on the part of the event that has been selected by the event designator and the optional word designators. You can use multiple modifiers, each preceded by a colon (:).

The following series of commands uses ls to list the name of a file, repeats the command without executing it (p modifier), and repeats the last command, removing the last part of the pathname (h modifier), again without executing it:

$ ls /etc/sysconfig/harddisks
/etc/sysconfig/harddisks
$ !!:p
ls /etc/sysconfig/harddisks
$ !!:h:p
ls /etc/sysconfig
$

This table lists event modifiers other than the substitute modifier.

Modifiers

Modifier	Function
e (extension)	Removes all but the filename extension
h (head)	Removes the last part of a pathname
p (print-not)	Displays the command, but does not execute it
q (quote)	Quotes the substitution to prevent further substitutions on it
r (root)	Removes the filename extension
t (tail)	Removes all elements of a pathname except the last
x	Like q but quotes each word in the substitution individually

<<  prev (1/2)

[Mar 30, 2008] comp.unix.shell Re bash history customizing

Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 13:55:36 +0000
2004-05-28, 14:12(+02), Gabkin: 

[...] 
> As for zsh, I'm a bash man! (but does zsh have an evolutionary history 
> facility like this?) 

Yes, and much more. Some customizations possible for history:

APPEND_HISTORY <D>
     If this is set, zsh sessions will append their history list to the
     history file, rather than overwrite it. Thus, multiple parallel
     zsh sessions will all have their history lists added to the
     history file, in the order they are killed.

EXTENDED_HISTORY <C>
     Save each command's beginning timestamp (in seconds since the
     epoch) and the duration (in seconds) to the history file. The
     format of this prefixed data is:

     `:<BEGINNING TIME>:<ELAPSED SECONDS>:<COMMAND>'.

HIST_ALLOW_CLOBBER
     Add `|' to output redirections in the history. This allows history
     references to clobber files even when CLOBBER is unset.

HIST_BEEP <D>
     Beep when an attempt is made to access a history entry which isn't
     there.

HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST
     If the internal history needs to be trimmed to add the current
     command line, setting this option will cause the oldest history
     event that has a duplicate to be lost before losing a unique event
     from the list. You should be sure to set the value of HISTSIZE to
     a larger number than SAVEHIST in order to give you some room for
     the duplicated events, otherwise this option will behave just like
     HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS once the history fills up with unique events.

HIST_FIND_NO_DUPS
     When searching for history entries in the line editor, do not
     display duplicates of a line previously found, even if the
     duplicates are not contiguous.

HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS
     If a new command line being added to the history list duplicates an
     older one, the older command is removed from the list (even if it
     is not the previous event).

HIST_IGNORE_DUPS (-h)
     Do not enter command lines into the history list if they are
     duplicates of the previous event.

HIST_IGNORE_SPACE (-g)
     Remove command lines from the history list when the first
     character on the line is a space, or when one of the expanded
     aliases contains a leading space. Note that the command lingers
     in the internal history until the next command is entered before
     it vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse or edit the line. If
     you want to make it vanish right away without entering another
     command, type a space and press return.

HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS
     Remove function definitions from the history list. Note that the
     function lingers in the internal history until the next command is
     entered before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse or edit
     the definition.

HIST_NO_STORE
     Remove the history (fc -l) command from the history list when
     invoked. Note that the command lingers in the internal history
     until the next command is entered before it vanishes, allowing you
     to briefly reuse or edit the line.

HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS
     Remove superfluous blanks from each command line being added to
     the history list.

HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS
     When writing out the history file, older commands that duplicate
     newer ones are omitted.

HIST_VERIFY
     Whenever the user enters a line with history expansion, don't
     execute the line directly; instead, perform history expansion and
     reload the line into the editing buffer.

INC_APPEND_HISTORY
     This options works like APPEND_HISTORY except that new history
     lines are added to the $HISTFILE incrementally (as soon as they are
     entered), rather than waiting until the shell is killed. The file
     is periodically trimmed to the number of lines specified by
     $SAVEHIST, but can exceed this value between trimmings.

SHARE_HISTORY <K>
     This option both imports new commands from the history file, and
     also causes your typed commands to be appended to the history file
     (the latter is like specifying INC_APPEND_HISTORY). The history
     lines are also output with timestamps ala EXTENDED_HISTORY (which
     makes it easier to find the spot where we left off reading the
     file after it gets re-written).

     By default, history movement commands visit the imported lines as
     well as the local lines, but you can toggle this on and off with
     the set-local-history zle binding. It is also possible to create
     a zle widget that will make some commands ignore imported
     commands, and some include them.

     If you find that you want more control over when commands get
     imported, you may wish to turn SHARE_HISTORY off,
     INC_APPEND_HISTORY on, and then manually import commands whenever
     you need them using `fc -RI'.

I have:
HISTFILE=~/.zsh-history.$ZSH_VERSION
HISTSIZE=500
SAVEHIST=50000
setopt HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS \
  HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS HIST_VERIFY INC_APPEND_HISTORY NO_BANG_HIST

Bash Reference Manual - Bash History Builtins

Bash provides two builtin commands that allow you to manipulate the history list and history file.

fc

fc [-e ename] [-nlr] [first] [last]
fc -s [pat=rep] [command]

Fix Command. In the first form, a range of commands from first to last is selected from the history list. Both first and last may be specified as a string (to locate the most recent command beginning with that string) or as a number (an index into the history list, where a negative number is used as an offset from the current command number). If last is not specified it is set to first. If first is not specified it is set to the previous command for editing and -16 for listing. If the `-l' flag is given, the commands are listed on standard output. The `-n' flag suppresses the command numbers when listing. The `-r' flag reverses the order of the listing. Otherwise, the editor given by ename is invoked on a file containing those commands. If ename is not given, the value of the following variable expansion is used: ${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-vi}}. This says to use the value of the FCEDIT variable if set, or the value of the EDITOR variable if that is set, or vi if neither is set. When editing is complete, the edited commands are echoed and executed. In the second form, command is re-executed after each instance of pat in the selected command is replaced by rep. A useful alias to use with the fc command is r='fc -s', so that typing `r cc' runs the last command beginning with cc and typing `r' re-executes the last command (see section Aliases).

history

history [-c] [n]
history [-anrw] [filename]
history -ps arg

Display the history list with line numbers. Lines prefixed with with a `*' have been modified. An argument of n says to list only the last n lines. Options, if supplied, have the following meanings:

-w

Write out the current history to the history file.

-r

Read the current history file and append its contents to the history list.

-a

Append the new history lines (history lines entered since the beginning of the current Bash session) to the history file.

-n

Append the history lines not already read from the history file to the current history list. These are lines appended to the history file since the beginning of the current Bash session.

-c

Clear the history list. This may be combined with the other options to replace the history list completely.

-s

The args are added to the end of the history list as a single entry.

-p

Perform history substitution on the args and display the result on the standard output, without storing the results in the history list.

When the `-w', `-r', `-a', or `-n' option is used, if filename is given, then it is used as the history file. If not, then the value of the HISTFILE variable is used.

Using Bash's History Effectively

vague memory

• If you really are uncertain of the history or if you know you could be searching back through many similar commands for one of particular interest, then you can use this more brute-force method.

   

• Type the following command to get a list of all related commands with their history numbers:

   

  history | grep -i "<search string>"

   

• Once you've found the command you want, you can execute it specifically by its number using the following built-in history expansion command:

   

  !<history number>

... ... ...

Here's an example that suppresses duplicate commands, the simple invocation of ls without any arguments, and the shell built-ins bg, fg, and exit:

export HISTIGNORE="&:ls:[bf]g:exit"

Linux command line tips history and HISTIGNORE in Bash - Program - Linux - Builder AU

The amount of commands stored in the history file is dependent on the size of the file you allocate. By default 500 commands are stored, but you can tweak these values by setting the following options in a startup file:

HISTSIZE = 1000
HISTFILE = ~/.bash_history

To print out the entire history file, you can use the history command:

$ history | tail -10
  522  gvim
  523  vim .bashrc 
  524  vim .bash_profile 
  525  history
  526  ls
  527  echo $SHELL
  528  echo $HISTFILE
  529  echo $HISTSIZE
  530  vim .bashrc 
  531  history | tail -10
$

The number in the left column is the history item number. This can be bigger than the size of your stored history file, as commands from the current shell are not added to the file until the shell is closed.

You can jump straight to executing any line in your history by typing an '!' followed by the item number. So for example if we wanted to echo the shell name to the console again we could write echo $SHELL or simply:

 

$ !527
/bin/bash
$

Searching command history

You can also use the ! command to search through the history, by replacing the item number with characters from the start of the command. The previous example can now just as easily be written:

$ !echo
echo $SHELL
/bin/bash
$

Often this becomes unwieldy since you have to match the command from the beginning, and many commands start in the same way (eg. "echo $HISTFILE", "echo $HISTSIZE", "echo $SHELL"). You can always hack something together using history and grep, but there's an easier way with the '!?' command. '!?' followed by a simple string, executes the last command in the history that contains that string.

So, to reprint the name of the shell we could have simply typed:

$ !? SHELL
/bin/bash
#

More usefully, you can interactively search the command history at the console by hitting CTRL-R at the prompt and typing the section of the string you are looking for. You can only use CTRL-R interactively, that is, not in a script (although relying on the history in a script can be dangerous anyway), but it can save you more keystrokes as it displays the match at each point, meaning you can stop searching once you've found it.

[Dec 11, 2007] What's in your bash History -

O'Reilly ONLamp Blog

If you’re like me, you never want to lose a command. I’m constantly searching back through them to find out just what those command line flags were, what the esoteric command is (and where it’s located), and most of all: what in Tcl’s name did I do last month when I installed foobazzulator. First thing to know: control-r.

However, bash ships with a ridiculously short memory: 500 commands. That’s not enough: right now, my powerbook’s iTerm prompt is:

[/Users/jwellons]
111280$

Go into your .bash_profile now and add these lines, before you read on:

HISTFILESIZE=1000000000
HISTSIZE=1000000

Unless you’re very precocious, that should square you away for about 10 years (I’m at about 22 months since enlightenment).

Once you develop control-r as a fast way to search your command history, you’ll notice immediate stress relief, and as I do everyday, wish you’d done this years before.

Now that you have commands piling up, you can do more than just use them. You can analyze them too, for fun and profit (since time = money)!

The basic starter is

cut -f1 -d" " .bash_history | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -n 30

In other words, just what do you spend so much time typing? Here’s the money: Anything in at least the top ten, assuming it is not from somHistory can be browsed using arrow commands, but more efficient way is to use Ctrl-R for anything but previous half-dozen of commands. Ctrl-R mechanism provides search in history: typed characters can be in any place of the command will autocomplete as soon as there’s a match to a history entry, then you just need to hit enter to reexecute the command -time splurge, needs to be aliased to a one or two letter shorthand.

My top command is v for vim, which I’ve executed 9225 times. If those two extra letters, which require me to switch hands, then use adjacent fingers take an extra half-second each time: that’s well over an hour wasted! And what a terribly drudgerous and unhealthy hour it is too: mindlessly typing im 9225 times!

Even worse, who knows how desperately I needed to open that file, and yet I needed to type superfluous characters, probably messing them up on the first three tries.

Actually, that’s only my second highest command. cl tops the list at 11116. You see, last time I did this analysis, I noticed I was spending (yes, spent, like lines of code, there is no glory in using a lot of them) many commands first cd‘ing to a directory, then listing the contents. Here’s cl:

# Compress the cd, ls -l series of commands.
alias lc="cl"
function cl () {
   if [ $# = 0 ]; then
      cd && ll
   else
      cd "$*" && ll
   fi
}

There you have it, accompanied by its most common typo. Add this to your bash profile now, and you’ll add several hours to your life. Hurry! Don’t wait! It may not seem like much now, but no one lies on her deathbed wishing she had spent more time first changing directories, waiting for it to return, then typing ls.

Since I know you’re dying to see the rest, here’s my whole thirty, unaliased for readability:

11116 cl
9225 vim
7833 ll The alias of ll depends on the OS I’m on, but for my Mac, it’s ls -AGlFT.
5145 cd
4858 clear
4563 rm
3950 alias to log into the master db server at my old workplace
3740 lt version of ll that puts most recently modified stuff at the bottom. Mandatory! Add -tr to ll above
3435 mod a function that does lt, but runs it through tail
3236 mv
2103 ls
1887 grep
1863 perl
1834 df
1767 mzscheme
1679 alias to log into my personal server
1580 g++
1544 cat
1186 scp
1080 find
988 man
925 echo
921 mkdir
907 sudo
888 history
841 alias to log into the dev server at my old workplace
831 cp
763 gpg
758 locate
733 gzip
 

Depending on response, we may do another section with pie charts, finding all the typo permutations for simple commands (there’s a lot), and searching for common sequences.

What I really want to see, though, is your top commands.

[Dec 29, 2006] Sys Admin v15, i04 Archiving Korn Shell History Files  by John Spurgeon and Ed Schaefer

April, 2006 (samag.com) When used as an audit utility, shell history has serious drawbacks. For example:

• Once a shell history file contains the maximum number of commands, old commands are removed as new ones are entered.
  
• History files may be modified by a user who is trying to cover his tracks.
  Timestamps are not available to determine when a command was executed.
  
• History files are typically stored in the user's home directories making it difficult to process the information.
  
• It can be tricky to tell who executed certain commands if someone used su to become another user, such as root.

[Dec 29, 2006] Shell game Managing Bash command history by James Turnbull

09.27.2006  | Techtarget.com

The Bash shell is the default shell environment in most Linux distributions, including all flavours of Red Hat. One default feature of the Bash shell is to record a history of all the commands entered by a user in a log file called .bash_history, found in the user's home directory.

The history in this file can be retrieved from the command line using the more or cat binaries or by using the internal Bash command, history. For many users, it is useful to retrieve the previously executed commands, usually to save the effort of re-typing them.

So why might we want to limit or disable this Bash command history? Well, among the commands that your users type are file names, command names, IP addresses, passwords and a myriad of other data that are potentially valuable to an attacker intent on subverting or compromising your host. Keeping a record of this data means an attacker may only need to compromise an individual .bash_history file rather than a more difficult source of data.

To limit the size and behaviour of the .bash_history file, you need to edit the behavior of the shell in the /etc/profile file (the central version of the .bash_profile file usually contained in users home directories). Add or change the following three lines to the file:

export HISTSIZE=100
export HISTFILESIZE=100
unset HISTFILE

The first two lines set the length and size of the history stored in the file. The last line unsets the HISTFILE variable that tells the Bash shell not to save history when the user logs out of the interactive session. This means an online user will only be able to see the history of the last 100 commands, and that history will disappear after the user logs out of the host.

A further way to ensure the command history is removed is to include a command in the .bash_logout file (other shells use the .logout file). The contents of the .bash_logout file are executed when the user logs out. You can see a simple .bash_logout file on the following lines:

# ~/.bash_logout

/bin/rm -f $HOME/.bash_history
clear

The rm command will remove the .bash_history file from the users home directory when the user logs out. To add this to the file you can edit the .bash_logout file contained in the /etc/skel directory (the contents of this directory are copied to the home directories of all new users when they are created). Existing users will need the .bash_logout files in their home directories adjusted to add the command.

There is, however, one gotcha associated with this change, and that is that if an attacker has compromised your host, then the history of their actions might not be recorded. Of course, any talented attacker will use other means (including this exact method and others like the deletion or editing of log files) to remove that history.

Bash Reference Manual Word Designators

Word designators are used to select desired words from the event. A `:' separates the event specification from the word designator. It may be omitted if the word designator begins with a `^', `$', `*', `-', or `%'. Words are numbered from the beginning of the line, with the first word being denoted by 0 (zero). Words are inserted into the current line separated by single spaces.

For example,

!!

designates the preceding command. When you type this, the preceding command is repeated in toto.

 

!!:$

designates the last argument of the preceding command. This may be shortened to !$.

 

!fi:2

designates the second argument of the most recent command starting with the letters fi.

Here are the word designators:

0 (zero)

The 0th word. For many applications, this is the command word.

 

n

The nth word.

 

^

The first argument; that is, word 1.

 

$

The last argument.

 

%

The word matched by the most recent `?string?' search.

 

x-y

A range of words; `-y' abbreviates `0-y'.

 

*

All of the words, except the 0th. This is a synonym for `1-$'. It is not an error to use `*' if there is just one word in the event; the empty string is returned in that case.

 

x*

Abbreviates `x-$'

 

x-

Abbreviates `x-$' like `x*', but omits the last word.

 

If a word designator is supplied without an event specification, the previous command is used as the event.

Bash Reference Manual Commands For Manipulating The History

accept-line (Newline or Return)

Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. If this line is non-empty, add it to the history list according to the setting of the HISTCONTROL and HISTIGNORE variables. If this line is a modified history line, then restore the history line to its original state.

 

previous-history (C-p)

Move `back' through the history list, fetching the previous command.

 

next-history (C-n)

Move `forward' through the history list, fetching the next command.

 

beginning-of-history (M-<)

Move to the first line in the history.

 

end-of-history (M->)

Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered.

 

reverse-search-history (C-r)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

 

forward-search-history (C-s)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

 

non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

 

non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the the history as necessary using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

 

history-search-forward ()

Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. This is a non-incremental search. By default, this command is unbound.

 

history-search-backward ()

Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. This is a non-incremental search. By default, this command is unbound.

 

yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)

Insert the first argument to the previous command (usually the second word on the previous line) at point. With an argument n, insert the nth word from the previous command (the words in the previous command begin with word 0). A negative argument inserts the nth word from the end of the previous command.

 

yank-last-arg (M-. or M-_)

Insert last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous history entry). With an argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg. Successive calls to yank-last-arg move back through the history list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn.

Linux.com CLI Magic Bash history expansion

Entering the history command without any switches displays the history list with line numbers. If that's too much information, enter history N where N is the number of previously executed commands you want displayed.

Bash also allows for incremental search on the history list. Use ctrl+r for a backward/reverse search or ctrl+s to perform a forward search. As you type the first few letters of the command, the last command from the history list that matches with your string would be displayed.

Since you are at the command line, you can club combine some popular commands and cook up interesting surprises. One such example is to pass history through grep along with the first few letters of a command. For example, try this simple hack, which displays all the commands beginning with the letters you supply:

history | grep -i first-few-letters-of-command

History expansion

History expansion serves two purposes, the first is repeating a command from the history list. The second is selecting portions from a command for substituting into the current command.

History expansions are implemented by the history expansion character '!'. The line selected from the history list is called 'event' and portions of that command that are selected are called 'words'. Depending on your needs, you can either use 'word' or 'event designators'.

Event designators

Event designators, invoked by the history expansion character are used for command substitution, that is, repeating a command from the list. ! starts history substitution. It can be escaped with a backslash (\), since it is a special character. In this example, history command 1008 -- a simple ls -- is repeated:

!1008
ls
animate
Desktop
DOWNLOADS
evolution
songs
sonu_result.png
star trek

Another useful event designator is !string, which runs the most recent command beginning with the string you specify.

Word designators

Word designators are used to select specified words from an event. A colon (:) is used to separate word designators from events. Words in a command are numbered from the beginning of the line, with the first word denoted by zero (0). Once selected, a word is inserted into the current command separated by a single space.

Some common word designators are n, which refers to the n^th word; ^ refers to the first word; $ refers to the last word and * refers to the complete line entry except for the first word, which is the command.

For example, !conv:5 displays the fifth word from the last command beginning with !conv, while !conv:$ would display the last word from the same command. Please note that !conv:* is same as !conv:1-$ - both resulting in the complete command except for the first word.

Modifying selected words

There are a number of modifiers that help you to describe how you want the selections to behave. Each modifier in a command needs to be preceeded with a colon (:) and you can use more than one modifier in a command. A very popular modifier is p which results in the command being listed instead of being executed. For example:

!l:p
ls -l

There is also a search-and-replace type modifier that you can use when you wish to replace some text with some other. This modifier is s/old/new. For example:

!!:s/-l/-a/
ls -a
[...]

Note: A !! is used to refer to the last command in the history list. The last command was ls -l and so the -l was replaced with -a and the new command, ls -a was executed. 

Conclusion

After encountering a thread in a popular forum board that just brushed on Bash and its event designators, I've since done enough reading from the man pages and the web to officially declare that it is a very cool feature which requires very little effort to get hooked on.

MandrakeUsers.org - Tips&Tricks Bash tips and tricks Some bash-history tips

The usage of the bash-history feature could be as fun as helpful, also it can save a lot of time if you are one of those who use bash-terminals for everything (if you are not, what the hell are you doing here with Linux Mr. Green ...just kidding Wink )

I'm not going to talk in extent about the usage of bash-history, I only want to show you a couple of tips. If you want to learn more about it you can take a look to the chapter 7 of the Bash Reference Manual (such as ramfree "pointed" long time ago, should be under every linux user's pillow Wink )

Here are the tips:
$ !n --Will execute the line n of the history record.
$ !-n --Will execute the command n lines back.
$ !! --Will execute the last command. As !-1 or "up-arrow + return"
$ !string --Will execute the most recent command starting with the given string. In my experience string is just the first characters of the first word of the command, so don't use space characters.
$ !?string[?] --Will execute the most recent command containing the given string. The last "?" may be omitted if the string is followed by a new line. So if the string includes space characters or similar close it with "?". This can be used to avoid the error that appears with !string when used with long strings.
$ ^string1^string2 --String2 will substitute string1 on the last command. Cool, isn't it? This is equivalent to !!:s/string1/string2/ which is cooler Wink Any one feels a bit like in vi?

$HISTIGNORE or How-To improve the history usage:

You might want to set up the shell variable $HISTIGNORE to avoid having consecutive duplicate commands or unuseful commands appended to the history list. So you'll get rid of the never ending story of hitting the up arrow trough simple and repetitive commands.

Here is an example of usage:

export HISTIGNORE="&:l[sl]:[fb]g:exit"

Setting this way the $HISTIGNORE, the consecutive duplicated commands, the simple calls to ls, ll, fg and bg commands without arguments, and calls to the exit command will not be appended to the history list, so navigate though it will be much easier.

BASH HISTORY SEARCH AND REPLACE

# BASH HISTORY SEARCH AND REPLACE
      ^string1^string2^ Quick substitution. Repeat the last command, replacing string1 with
      string2. Equivalent to ``!!:s/string1/string2/''

# MORE BASH COMMAND LINE TRICKERY (messing with the history)
make a directory then move into it:
mkdir cgi-bin; cd !#$ 
!#$ is shorthand for "the first word of this command". If I wanted to pick the third word
out of the previous command, that would be: !!:3 (don't forget there is a zeroth word).

# execute the most recent command the contains the following string: 
!?string

# globally search replace on the previous line:
!!:gs/old/new/

# HEADS AND TAILS
ever wanted to copy a few files in the same directory, all of which have same 
long prefix, like: cp /usr/local/etc/apache/file1.txt /usr/local/etc/apache/file2.txt
you can grap and reuse that prefix. It's named !#:1:h like:
cp /usr/local/etc/apache/file1.txt !#:1:h/file2.txt !#:1:h/file3.txt


# SAVING A COMMAND WITHOUT EXECUTING
While using bash, if you have typed a long command, and then realize you don't want to execute it yet, don't delete it. Simply
append a # to the beginning of the line, and then hit enter. Bash will not execute the command, but will store it in history so later
you can go back, remove the # from the front, and execute it. 

# GOING FORWARD A BACK A WORD
META-F goes forward a word
META-B goes backward a word

# COMPARE A FILE WITH IT'S VARIOUS VERSIONS IN THE SAME DIRECTORY
diff file.*

# EXAMPLE of a basic command line script
% for f in `ls | grep -v ".sh"`; { mv ${f} ${f}.sh } 

# searching the history
Cntrl-R starts a reverse incremental search 

# Keyboard shortcuts: 
CTRL-k: delete ('kill') from cursor position to the end of the line
*	CTRL-u: delete from cursor position to the beginning of the line
*	ALT-d: delete from cursor position to the end of the current 'word'
*	CTRL-w: delete from cursor position to the beginning of the current 'word'
*	CTRL-a: move cursor to the first character of the line
*	CTRL-e: move cursor beyond the last character of the line
*	ALT-a: move cursor to the first character of the current 'word'
*	ALT-e: move cursor to the last character of the current 'word'
*	CTRL-y: insert latest deleted 'word'
*	ESC-_ or !$: repeats the last argument of the previous command.
Example: You created a directory with mkdir /usr/local/bin/peter/pan. Now you want to change into that directory with cd. Instead of typing the path again, you type cd ESC-_ or

# Diff 2 files with a common base:
diff {alpha,beta}site/config/Config.pl

gh - grep history

#!/bin/bash 
#
# gh - grep history
#
# A simple script for the forgetful and lazy (I use it all the time).
#
# This script allows you to re-use bash history commands...
# 
# A: ...if you can't remember the whole command or path...
# B: ...if you don't feel like pressing the "up" arrow for 2 minutes...
# C: ...if you are too forgetful or lazy to type "grep <search-string> ~/.bash_history"!
#
# -Mike Putnam   http://www.theputnams.net
#
# Usage: gh <search-string>
#

grep $1 ~/.bash_history

exit 0

Re Page-up-Page-down keys and shell history

On Sat, 5 May 2001, Joost van der Lugt wrote:

 Hi all,
 
 I've been looking into this for a litle bit and am unable to find an
 answer. This is a feature AFAIK only implemented by SuSE:
 
 At a prompt type one or more characters then use Page Up/Page Down
 to scroll through all commands that started with these characters.
 So typing:
 
 cd
 
 would then give a 'scrollable' list of anything that started with cd
 simply hit enter when you reach the command you were looking for.
 
 I know Ctrl-r and am familiar with ! but they are not as nice, and
 really not the same.
 Would anybody have a clue as to how this could be implemented?
 
 I don't think it is shell dependent, so I don't think it's a bash
 option but I could very well be wrong.
 (Tried the dotfile generator, but don't see anything there)
 
 The option is _really_ addictive therefore my post:)
 Thanks,
 
 --
 Cheers,
 
 Joost van der Lugt
 
 
 --
 To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected]
 with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected]>

Recommended Links

Softpanorama Recommended

• Linux.com CLI Magic Using command history in the bash shell Using Bash's History Effectively linux-tips-take-control-of-your-bash_history
• The Definitive Guide to Bash Command Line History - good coders code, great reuse
• Bash HISTCONTROL
• Deadman.org Advancing in the Bash Shell

Intermediate UNIX Tutorial Notes

A history substitution begins with a !, and may occur anywhere on the command line. The power of history substitution is impressive. There are too many ways of using it to explain here, but complete details can be found in the csh man page. Some of the simpler forms are:

	!!      Refer to the previous command 
	!n      Refer to command-line n 
	!-n     Refer to the current command-line minus n.  
	!str    Refer to the most recent command starting with str.  
	!?str   Refer to the most recent command containing str. 

You can also refer to individual words of a previous command. If necessary, you can separate the event specification (above) from the word specification.

	!!:0    The first word of the previous command line 
	!!:n    The nth argument of the previous command 
	!!:$    The last argument of the previous command 
	!!:*    All of the arguments of the previous command

Further modification to the commands can be done including editing particular words, but we won't go into further detail here. Suffice it to say that there's probably a way to do whatever it is you are trying to accomplish with history substitution.

Quick substitution can be done, if all you want to do is change a single string from the previous command. For instance, if you just sent mail to dela with "mail dela", and now want to send mail to kaser, you can say

^dela^kaser^

and the string "dela" will be replaced with "kaser".

The History Mechanism

bash stores the commands you type and provides access to them through its history mechanism. This makes it possible to repeat a previous command, include portions of a previous command in the current command or re-execute a previous command after fixing a typing error.

The list of all commands currently saved by the history mechanism is displayed by executing the history command. The history commands numbers the old commands it displays. Typing

!n

will re-execute the command numbered n.

If you would rather not lookup the number of a previous command, you can type ! followed by the first characters of the command. For example,

!ls

will execute the last command that began with ls.

Another way to avoid looking up the number is to use control-p. Pressing control-p will display your previous command, which you can then edit. Repeatedly pressing control-p will go back to earlier commands.

If the command you want to execute is similar to a previous command, or you want to fix a typing mistake, you can control-p back to the command, then edit it using control-b or the left arrow key to move the cursor back a character, contol-f or the right arrow key to move forward a character, control-a to move to the beginning of a line, control-e to move to the end of a line, and control-d to delete a character. Backspace and Delete work as usual. Anything you type is inserted where the cursor is located.

Another useful function the history mechanism provides is the ability to re-use the arguments of the previous command. The characters !* occurring in a command are replaced by the arguments to the previous command. Thus, one can first check the contents of a file by typing

less somelongfilename

and then print the file by typing

lp !*

You can avoid typing somelongfilename by just typing enough of it so that the shell can recognize it, (for example ``somel'' for the filename ``somelongfilename'') and pressing tab. bash will type the rest of the filename for you. If there is another file of a similar name, such as ``somelongfile2'', and you use tab to complete the name, bash will type the beginning of the two filenames until it encounters a discrepancy. In this case, it would type ``somelongfile''. Then it will beep and wait for you to finish typing in the filename of your choice.

Finally, you can fix simple typing mistakes in a command by typing

^old-string^new-string

This causes the shell to re-execute the last command after first replacing the first occurrence of old-string by new-string.

Reference

bash reference card

History expansion is similar to csh ’s. It is enabled by default in interactive shells. History expansion

happens before the shell breaks the input into words, although quoting is recognized and quoted text is

treated as one history ‘‘word’’. History substitution is performed on history events ,  which consist of an event designator (which previous line to start with), a word designator (which word from that line to use, starting with zero), and one or more optional modifiers (which parts of the words to use).

Colons separate the three parts, although the colon between the event designator and word designator may be omitted when the word designator begins with ˆ , $ , * , − , or % . Each modifier is separated from the nextone with a colon. The histchars variable specifies the start-of-history and quick substitution characters, and also the comment character that indicates that the rest of a line is a comment. The previous command is the default event if no event designator is supplied.

The event designators are:

• !  -- start a history substitution

• !n -- command line n

• !−n -- current line minus n ( n previous)

• !! -- the previous command

• !str -- most recent command line starting withstr

• !? str [ ? ] -- most recent command line containing str

• !#  -- the entire command line typed so far

• ˆ old ˆ new ˆ quick substitution: repeat last command

• changing old to new

• The word designators are:

• 0 the zero’th word (command name)

• n word n

• ˆ the first argument, i.e., word one

• $ the last argument

• % the word matched by the most recent

• !? str ? search

• x − y words x through y . −y is short for 0−y

• * words 1 through the last (like 1−$ )

• n * words n through the last (like n −$ )

• n −words n through the next to last

The modifiers are:

• e remove all but the suffix of a filename

• g make changes globally, use with s modifier, below

• h remove the last part of a filename, leaving the ‘‘head’’

• p print the command but do not execute it

• q quote the generated text

• r remove the last suffix of a filename

• s/ old / new / substitute new for old in the text. Any delimiter may be used. An & in the replacement means the value of old. With empty old , use last old , or the most recent !? str ? search if there was no previous old

• t remove all but the last part of a filename,leaving the ‘‘tail’’

• x quote the generated text, but break into words at blanks and newline

• & repeat the last substitution

Bash Reference Manual - Bash History Builtins

Bash provides two builtin commands that allow you to manipulate the history list and history file.

fc

fc [-e ename] [-nlr] [first] [last]
fc -s [pat=rep] [command]

Fix Command. In the first form, a range of commands from first to last is selected from the history list. Both first and last may be specified as a string (to locate the most recent command beginning with that string) or as a number (an index into the history list, where a negative number is used as an offset from the current command number). If last is not specified it is set to first. If first is not specified it is set to the previous command for editing and -16 for listing. If the `-l' flag is given, the commands are listed on standard output. The `-n' flag suppresses the command numbers when listing. The `-r' flag reverses the order of the listing. Otherwise, the editor given by ename is invoked on a file containing those commands. If ename is not given, the value of the following variable expansion is used: ${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-vi}}. This says to use the value of the FCEDIT variable if set, or the value of the EDITOR variable if that is set, or vi if neither is set. When editing is complete, the edited commands are echoed and executed. In the second form, command is re-executed after each instance of pat in the selected command is replaced by rep. A useful alias to use with the fc command is r='fc -s', so that typing `r cc' runs the last command beginning with cc and typing `r' re-executes the last command (see section Aliases).

history

history [-c] [n]
history [-anrw] [filename]
history -ps arg

Display the history list with line numbers. Lines prefixed with with a `*' have been modified. An argument of n says to list only the last n lines. Options, if supplied, have the following meanings:

-w

Write out the current history to the history file.

-r

Read the current history file and append its contents to the history list.

-a

Append the new history lines (history lines entered since the beginning of the current Bash session) to the history file.

-n

Append the history lines not already read from the history file to the current history list. These are lines appended to the history file since the beginning of the current Bash session.

-c

Clear the history list. This may be combined with the other options to replace the history list completely.

-s

The args are added to the end of the history list as a single entry.

-p

Perform history substitution on the args and display the result on the standard output, without storing the results in the history list.

When the `-w', `-r', `-a', or `-n' option is used, if filename is given, then it is used as the history file. If not, then the value of the HISTFILE variable is used.

Bash Reference Manual Word Designators

Word designators are used to select desired words from the event. A `:' separates the event specification from the word designator. It may be omitted if the word designator begins with a `^', `$', `*', `-', or `%'. Words are numbered from the beginning of the line, with the first word being denoted by 0 (zero). Words are inserted into the current line separated by single spaces.

For example,

!!

designates the preceding command. When you type this, the preceding command is repeated in toto.

!!:$

designates the last argument of the preceding command. This may be shortened to !$.

!fi:2

designates the second argument of the most recent command starting with the letters fi.

Here are the word designators:

0 (zero)

The 0th word. For many applications, this is the command word.

n

The nth word.

^

The first argument; that is, word 1.

$

The last argument.

%

The word matched by the most recent `?string?' search.

x-y

A range of words; `-y' abbreviates `0-y'.

*

All of the words, except the 0th. This is a synonym for `1-$'. It is not an error to use `*' if there is just one word in the event; the empty string is returned in that case.

x*

Abbreviates `x-$'

x-

Abbreviates `x-$' like `x*', but omits the last word.

If a word designator is supplied without an event specification, the previous command is used as the event.

Bash Reference Manual Commands For Manipulating The History

accept-line (Newline or Return)

Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. If this line is non-empty, add it to the history list according to the setting of the HISTCONTROL and HISTIGNORE variables. If this line is a modified history line, then restore the history line to its original state.

 

previous-history (C-p)

Move `back' through the history list, fetching the previous command.

 

next-history (C-n)

Move `forward' through the history list, fetching the next command.

 

beginning-of-history (M-<)

Move to the first line in the history.

 

end-of-history (M->)

Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered.

 

reverse-search-history (C-r)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

 

forward-search-history (C-s)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

 

non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

 

non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the the history as necessary using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

 

history-search-forward ()

Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. This is a non-incremental search. By default, this command is unbound.

 

history-search-backward ()

Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. This is a non-incremental search. By default, this command is unbound.

 

yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)

Insert the first argument to the previous command (usually the second word on the previous line) at point. With an argument n, insert the nth word from the previous command (the words in the previous command begin with word 0). A negative argument inserts the nth word from the end of the previous command.

 

yank-last-arg (M-. or M-_)

Insert last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous history entry). With an argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg. Successive calls to yank-last-arg move back through the history list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn.

HISTCONTROL

 If the list of values includes ignorespace, lines which begin with a space character are not saved in the history list. A value of ignoredups causes lines matching the previous history entry to not be saved. A value of ignoreboth is shorthand for ignorespace and ignoredups. A value of erasedups causes all previous lines matching the current line to be removed from the history list before that line is saved. Any value not in the above list is ignored. If HISTCONTROL is unset, or does not include a valid value, all lines read by the shell parser are saved on the history list, subject to the value of HISTIGNORE. The second and subsequent lines of a multi-line compound
command are not tested, and are added to the history regardless of the value of HISTCONTROL.

In bash 3.0 HISTCONTROL can be set to `erasedups' option, which causes all lines  matching a line being added to be removed from the history list.

     export HISTCONTROL=erasedups

HISTIGNORE

You might want also to set up the shell variable HISTIGNORE to avoid useless command littering you history. Natural candidates are cd -, all variants of ls without argument, ll, etc.

     export HISTIGNORE="&:l[sl]:[fb]g:cd \-"

Setting this way the $HISTIGNORE, the consecutive duplicated commands, the simple calls to ls, ll, fg and bg commands without arguments, and calls to the exit command will not be appended to the history list, so navigate though it will be much easier.

Event Designators

An event designator references a command line stored in the history file. There are several formats of event designators, they are as follows.

Word Designators

Word designators provide a way to reference specific arguments (words) from a command line stored in the history file. A colon (:) separates the event designator and the word designator. If the word designator begins with $, %, ^, *, or - the : is not needed. If you want the word to be selected from the previous command line, the second ! is not required. For example, !!:2 and !:2 both refer to the second word on the previous command. Words are zero relative, that is, word zero is the command itself. The first argument (arg1) on the command line is word 1.

The available word designators are as follows: