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The Ultimate Guide to Aliases in the Linux Terminal

Oliver Bennet
5 min readNov 14, 2024

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Introduction

Working with the Linux terminal can be powerful but, at times, repetitive. If you’ve ever found yourself typing the same long commands repeatedly, you know how tedious it can become. Enter aliases: simple shortcuts for commands you use often. Aliases are a great way to save time, reduce errors, and streamline your workflow.

This ultimate guide will cover everything you need to know about aliases, from setting them up to advanced usage and tips. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced Linux user, this guide will help you master aliases and make the terminal work for you.

What Are Aliases?

An alias is a custom shortcut that you define in your shell configuration file. When you type an alias, it is replaced by the command it represents. For instance, instead of typing ls -la every time you want a detailed directory listing, you can create an alias to run that command with just ll.

Aliases are particularly useful for:

  1. Shortening long or complex commands.
  2. Adding default options to commands.
  3. Creating custom commands to suit your workflow.

How to Create an Alias

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Oliver Bennet
Oliver Bennet

Written by Oliver Bennet

20 Years of Open-Source Experience. Currently I Write about DevOps, Programming and Linux Technologies.

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