how.wtf

shuf command in Linux

· Thomas Taylor

What is the shuf command in Linux?

What is the shuf command?

The shuf command in Linux is a utility for shuffling lines of input files. It allows users to shuffle contents of a file or produce random output based on supplied arguments.

How is the shuf command used?

Given a file named quotes.txt with the following contents:

1"The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
2"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln
3"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
4"Believe you can and you're halfway there." - Theodore Roosevelt
5"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde

the shuf command allows for a random permutation of all the lines.

1% shuf quotes.txt
2"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
3"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln
4"The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
5"Believe you can and you're halfway there." - Theodore Roosevelt
6"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde

In addition, it can be used in the following scenarios as well:

List 1 random quote:

1% shuf -n 1 quotes.txt
2"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

List random numbers between a range of numbers:

1% shuf -i 0-5
24
31
40
52
63
75

Give shuf a list of options using -e and outputing 1 chosen line using -n:

1% shuf -e option1 option2 option3 -n 1
2option3

Standard input works as well:

1% seq 5 | shuf
25
32
44
51
63

#Linux  

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