Enhancing efficiency with history
Command Line – Bash History

© Photo by Federico Di Dio photography on Unsplash
The versatile Bash history command can save you time and effort at the command line.
If you work in a terminal, you've likely used Bash's history
command to save yourself the trouble of retyping a command [1] (Figure 1). However, if you're like most people, your use of history
may have been confined to scrolling through the list of previously used commands. If all you are interested in are the most recently used commands, the arrow keys may be all that you need. However, the history
command is capable of doing much more and in an economical way – especially if you have a good memory. You can start by adjusting history
's environmental variables and then learn how to modify history entries for easier searching and for repurposing them using three types of editing options: event designators, word designators, and modifiers. The flexibility of all these options can be combined so that, with a little memorization, you can make the Bash history work for you to save time with minimal effort.
Environmental Variables
The history
commmand has several environmental variables. All are added or modified in .profile
or .bashrc
in your home directory, depending on the distribution. The size of the history file is limited by HISTSIZE
, which sets the number of entries in the history, and/or by HISTFILESIZE
, the maximum memory to allot for the history. Both have similar structures:
HISTSIZE=NUMBER HISTFILESIZE=NUMBER
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.
-
Critical Linux Vulnerability Found to Impact SMB Servers
A Linux vulnerability with a CVSS score of 10 has been found to affect SMB servers and can lead to remote code execution.
-
Linux Mint 21.1 Now Available with Plenty of Look and Feel Changes
Vera has arrived and although it is still using kernel 5.15, there are plenty of improvements sure to please everyone.