How to Use the Linux xargs Command: A Quick Guide
Introduction:
The Linux xargs command is a powerful and sometimes overlooked tool that allows Linux users to run commands with arguments read from the standard input. It is an efficient and versatile way to run batch operations on a large number of directories or files. In this article, we will provide you with a quick guide on how to use xargs, including some syntax, options, and examples.
Syntax:
The basic syntax of the Linux xargs command is as follows:
The pipe symbol "|" is used to redirect the output of the first command to xargs. The xargs command then reads the input and passes it as arguments to the command specified after it. The options are used to modify the behavior of the xargs command, and the command and arguments are the ones that xargs will execute.
Options:
The xargs command has several options that can be used to modify its behavior. Some of the most commonly used options are:
- -I replace-str: This option specifies a string to replace with the input arguments. For example, if we use "-I {}" and the input is "file.txt", the command will be executed as "command {}" where {} is replaced by "file.txt".
- -n max-args: This option specifies the maximum number of arguments to be passed to each command. For example, if we use "-n 2", the command will be executed with two arguments at a time.
- -P max-procs: This option specifies the maximum number of processes to run simultaneously. For example, if we use "-P 4", xargs will execute up to four commands at a time.
- -a, --arg-file=FILE: Reads input from a file instead of standard input
- -0: Considers filenames to be null-terminated and ignores spaces and strange characters
- -L, --max-lines=NUM: Passes no more than NUM arguments to each invocation of the command
Examples:
Let's look at some examples of how to use the xargs command:
1: To find all files with a specific extension and delete them, we can use the following command shown in Figure 1.
This command will find all files with the ".txt" extension in the current directory and its subdirectories and delete them. The first part uses the find command to search for files that match the given pattern and prints their names. The second part uses the xargs command to pass those names as arguments to the rm command, which deletes them
Figure 1.
2: To copy all files from one directory to another, we can use the following command shown in Figure 2.
This command will copy all files from the source directory to the destination directory.
Figure 2.
3: To compress all files with a specific extension, we can use the following command shown in Figure 3.
This command line finds all the files with the extension ".txt" in the current directory and all its subdirectories, pipes it to xargs, which passes them as arguments to gzip and then compresses all of them.
Figure 3.
Conclusion
The xargs command is a powerful and versatile tool in the Linux command-line arsenal. It allows users to execute commands with arguments read from standard input, making it a valuable tool for performing batch operations on a large number of files or directories. By understanding the syntax, options, and examples of the xargs command, users can take full advantage of its capabilities and streamline their workflow.