grep

1. Search for string in a file

$ grep root /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

$ grep -i ROOT /etc/passwd
   # -i is for case insensitive
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

$ grep -i "gnats bug" /etc/passwd
  # you can wrap the search string around quotes
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin

$ grep -w ro /etc/passwd
   # why didn't it match root? -w whole word matching only
$

$ grep -c root /etc/passwd
    # -c for count
1

$ grep -n root /etc/passwd
     # -n for line number
1:root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

2. Recursive use of grep

$ grep -r "mydomain.com" /etc/nginx/
/etc/nginx/sites-available/mydomain.com.vhost:        if ($http_host != "www.mydomain.com") {

3. Multiple matches

$ egrep "root|news" /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin

4. Invert match

grep -v root /etc/passwd
prints everything except for lines with root

5 Match multiple patterns

$ grep -e root -e news /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin

6 Quiet output – good for coding

$ grep -q root /etc/passwd
$ echo $?
0

7. Recursive search

$ grep -d recurse root /etc
.....