What is null device Linux?
The null device is typically used for disposing of unwanted output streams of a process, or as a convenient empty file for input streams. This is usually done by redirection. The /dev/null device is a special file, not a directory, so one cannot move a whole file or directory into it with the Unix mv command.
What does >/ dev null 2 >& 1 mean?
2>&1 redirects standard error to standard output. &1 indicates file descriptor (standard output), otherwise (if you use just 1 ) you will redirect standard error to a file named 1 . [any command] >>/dev/null 2>&1 redirects all standard error to standard output, and writes all of that to /dev/null .
What does 2 Dev Null mean in Linux?
The N> syntax in Bash means to redirect a file descriptor to somewhere else. 2 is the file descriptor of stderr , and this example redirects it to /dev/null . What this means in simple terms: ignore error output from the command.
How do you clear a log file in Linux?
How to clean log files in Linux
- Check the disk space from the command line. Use the du command to see which files and directories consume the most space inside of the /var/log directory. …
- Select the files or directories that you want to clear: …
- Empty the files.
Can I read from Dev Null?
You write to /dev/null every time you use it in a command such as touch file 2> /dev/null. You read from /dev/null every time you empty an existing file using a command such as cat /dev/null > bigfile or just > bigfile. Because of the file’s nature, you can’t change it in any way; you can only use it.
Which is null command in Unix?
To begin, /dev/null is a special file called the null device in Unix systems. Colloquially it is also called the bit-bucket or the blackhole because it immediately discards anything written to it and only returns an end-of-file EOF when read.
What is the null command?
The null command is a THEN or ELSE command that is not followed by a command continuation character. If THEN or ELSE is not followed by either a continuation character or by a command in the same record, the THEN or ELSE results in no action.
Is stderr a file?
Stderr, also known as standard error, is the default file descriptor where a process can write error messages. In Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux, macOS X, and BSD, stderr is defined by the POSIX standard. Its default file descriptor number is 2. In the terminal, standard error defaults to the user’s screen.
How do I redirect a cron job?
To do this, modify the crontab entry and add the output and error redirection as shown below. In the above: > /home/john/logs/backup. log indicates that the standard output of the backup.sh script will be redirected to the backup.
How do I use find in Linux?
The find command is used to search and locate the list of files and directories based on conditions you specify for files that match the arguments. find command can be used in a variety of conditions like you can find files by permissions, users, groups, file types, date, size, and other possible criteria.
What is $? In Bash?
$? is a special variable in bash that always holds the return/exit code of the last executed command. You can view it in a terminal by running echo $? . Return codes are in the range [0; 255]. A return code of 0 usually means everything is ok.
How do I redirect a null output in Linux?
You can send output to /dev/null, by using command >/dev/null syntax. However, this will not work when command will use the standard error (FD # 2). So you need to modify >/dev/null as follows to redirect both output and errors to /dev/null.