How do I create Files in Linux From a Bash Shell Prompt

Linux / UNIX like operating system offers many command line tools and text editors for creating text files. You can use vi or joe text editor. It is a terminal-based text editor for Linux/Unix like systems, available under the GPL. It is designed to be easy to use. In short, you can use any one of the following tool:

 

 

Tutorial details 
Difficulty Easy (rss)
Root privileges No
Requirements None
Estimated completion time 5m
  1. cat command
  2. echo or printf command
  3. vi text editor
  4. joe text editor
  5. Any other console based text editor

Create a Text File using cat command

To create a text file called foo.txt, enter:
$ cat > foo.txt
Output:

This is a test.
Hello world!
press CTRL+D to save file

To display file contents, type:
$ cat foo.txt

Create a text file using echo or printf

To create a file called foo.txt, enter:

 
echo 'This is a test' > foo.txt
 

OR

 
printf 'This is a test\n' > foo.txt
 

OR

 
printf 'This is a test\n Another line' > foo.txt
 

To display file contents, type:
$ cat foo.txt

Create a Text File using joe text editor

JOE is text editor. To create a file called foo.txt, type:
$ joe -help foo.txt
You will see help menu on screen. Next type something. To save the file and leave joe, by typing ^KX (press CTRL+K+X).

Create a Text File using vi / vim text editor

vi / vim is another text editor. To create a file called bar.txt, type:
$ vi bar.txt
Press 'i' to insert new text. To save the file and leave vi, type ESC+:+x (press ESC key, type : followed by x and [enter] key).

credits to http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/create-files-in-linux-unix-from-bash/ for an awesome guide.

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