ApiDemos™Linux head command: displays the first few lines of the specified file
Linux head command Function Description
Use the head command to display the first few lines of the specified file. If no specific line value is given, the default setting is 10 lines.
Linux head command Syntax
head [Option] [Value]The meaning of each option in the command is shown in the table:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-n <K> |
The first K lines of each file are displayed; if the - parameter is appended, all remaining content is displayed except for the last K lines of each file, where the number of K |
-c <K> |
Display the first K bytes of each file; if the - parameter is appended, all the remaining content is displayed in addition to the last K bytes of data in each file, where K is the number |
| -v | Always display the file header containing the given file name |
Linux head command Demo
View the first 10 lines of data in the file /etc/passwd
View the first 3 lines of data in the file /etc/passwd
[root@rhel ～]# head -n 3 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
[root@rhel ～]# head -3 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologinView all the data in the file /etc/passwd except for the last 20 lines
[root@rhel ～]# head -n -20 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/sbin/nologin
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin
gopher:x:13:30:gopher:/var/gopher:/sbin/nologinView the first 100 bytes of data in the file /etc/passwd
[root@rhel ～]# head -c 100 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nolView the contents of the file /etc/passwd except for the last 100 bytes of data
[root@rhel ～]# head -c -100 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/sbin/nologin
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin
gopher:x:13:30:gopher:/var/gopher:/sbin/nologin
ftp:x:14:50:FTP User:/var/ftp:/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:/sbin/nologin
dbus:x:81:81:System message bus:/:/sbin/nologin
usbmuxd:x:113:113:usbmuxd user:/:/sbin/nologin
vcsa:x:69:69:virtual console memory owner:/dev:/sbin/nologin
rpc:x:32:32:Rpcbind Daemon:/var/cache/rpcbind:/sbin/nologin
rtkit:x:499:497:RealtimeKit:/proc:/sbin/nologin
avahi-autoipd:x:170:170:Avahi IPv4LL Stack:/var/lib/avahi-autoipd:/sbin/nologin
abrt:x:173:173::/etc/abrt:/sbin/nologin
rpcuser:x:29:29:RPC Service User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
nfsnobody:x:65534:65534:Anonymous NFS User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
haldaemon:x:68:68:HAL daemon:/:/sbin/nologin
gdm:x:42:42::/var/lib/gdm:/sbin/nologin
ntp:x:38:38::/etc/ntp:/sbin/nologin
apache:x:48:48:Apache:/var/www:/sbin/nologin
saslauth:x:498:76:''Saslauthd user'' :/var/empty/saslauth:/sbin/nologin
postfix:x:89:89::/var/spool/postfix:/sbin/nologin
pulse:x:497:496:PulseAudio System Daemon:/var/run/pulse:/sbin/nologinView the file contents of the file /etc/passwd and display the filename
[root@rhel ～]# head -v /etc/passwd
==> /etc/passwd <==
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/sbin/nologin