Day: January 25, 2022

xargs understanding – linux

xargs pass the output(stdout) of first command to second command as argument. 

ls | xargs rm -f

This will remove all file listed by ls command

  • To understand properly what xargs is doing. use -p flag. It’s like dry-run.
[root@lp-k8control-1 xargs]# ls
test  test2  test3
[root@lp-k8control-1 xargs]# ls | xargs -p rm -f
rm -f test test2 test3 ?...

flag -n1 = one at a time

[root@lp-k8control-1 xargs]# ls | xargs -p -n1 rm -f
rm -f test ?...

flag -I % = run multiple command

[root@lp-k8control-1 xargs]# ls | xargs -p -n1 -I % /bin/bash -c 'ls %; ll %  '
/bin/bash -c ls test; ll test   ?...y
test

More : https://flaviocopes.com/linux-command-xargs/