Sponsored Content
Full Discussion: unix command history
Operating Systems Solaris unix command history Post 302147803 by Lakris on Wednesday 28th of November 2007 03:12:57 PM
Old 11-28-2007
The command line history is specific for a user and for a shell. This is basically how bash works:

When You start a shell (for example at login or when starting an xterm) a file with recorded command line history is read from a file called $HOME/.bash_history. If You do something in this shell and then start another one, the new one will not yet be aware of what has been done in the other one, that is, they will have the same "history" to start with. When You close the first shell (log out or close an xterm), its "additions" is added to the .bash_history. When You close the second shell, IT'S additions will be added to the file. Next time You start a shell, You will have both "additions" available in history.

So, You can take a look in the history file.
Most shells have the history command which will give You a list of historical commands. This can be big or small, and handled differently on different shells. Size, duplicates and other things can be configured.

Some shells support using up and down arrow keys to browse through the the current shells history, which then can be edited and reused.

A lot could be said about this. Look in the bash man page and search for HISTORY.

But maybe You meant what command or program in general has been executed? Then one must rely on whether the program has logged anything with time stamp, in for example some of the /var/log/ files or its own log files.

Or search the web! Smilie

/Lakris
 

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

History Command

Hi I am using ksh shell, and I am unable to use the command !n (where n is the number in the history list). Please help me... :confused: (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: jack
2 Replies

2. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Unix History Question: Why are filenames/dirnames case sentsitive in Unix?

I tried looking for the answer online and came up with only a few semi-answers as to why file and directory names are case sensitive in Unix. Right off the bat, I'll say this doesn't bother me. But I run into tons of Windows and OpenVMS admins in my day job who go batty when they have to deal... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: deckard
3 Replies

3. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

how unix stores command history

Hi techies, I have a doubt upon the command history utilities in Unix ... As far as I know, history stores the event number and command for upto that many number of previous commands executed in the HISTSIZE variable ... my doubt here is can we get the time in which these commands were... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: Sabari Nath S
3 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

Creating a command history feature in a simple UNIX shell using C

I'm trying to write a history feature to a very simple UNIX shell that will list the last 10 commands used when control-c is pressed. A user can then run a previous command by typing r x, where x is the first letter of the command. I'm having quite a bit of trouble figuring out what I need to do, I... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: -=Cn=-
2 Replies

5. UNIX and Linux Applications

Unix History

Hi everybody Im Megadrink!!! This is my first thred. Ive recently been introduced to Unix and i was interested in Unix's History. Can anyone give me a breif History On Unix. Just when it was invented/released. Maybe someother cool things about it. Thx for the information in advance!! :D (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: Megadrink
2 Replies

6. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

vi command history

How do you look at the whole list of previous commands you have used in VI? I know you can use the up and down arrows, but I know there's a way to see the full list. (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: cokedude
5 Replies

7. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

history command

hi, i had to submit a project into a directory. i copied it from my location to the specified folder, no problemo. just one thing though. after i copied and searched for the time i copied using the history command, the system would not show. even using the up arrow key would not display my... (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: iluvsushi
0 Replies

8. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

The history command: See other users command history

Can anyone tell this: If two users are logged into the same server from different locations. Is there a way to see the history command of the other user? I tried the history command, but it is showing me only the commands I used. Thanks in advance for your help. Iamnew2solaris (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: iamnew2solaris
1 Replies

9. Shell Programming and Scripting

UNIX CO command for file version history

Hello :) I'm a newb when it comes to shell scripting and was wondering about a command(s) for a script that could be used to checkout a certain number of version/revision histories of a file. I know for the latest revison you "co filename" or for a certain revision number "co -r*.* filename"... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: MN-DBA
2 Replies

10. What is on Your Mind?

The Great History of UNIX (1969-1999) | 30 Years of UNIX History | YouTube Video

I am pleased to announce this new video in 1080 HD for UNIX lovers honoring thirty years of UNIX history spanning from 1969 to 1999 presented in 150 seconds (two and a half minutes) in 1080 HD, celebrating the 50th anniversary of UNIX. The Great History of UNIX (1969-1999) | 30 Years of UNIX... (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: Neo
8 Replies
history(n)						       Tcl Built-In Commands							history(n)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NAME
history - Manipulate the history list SYNOPSIS
history ?option? ?arg arg ...? _________________________________________________________________ DESCRIPTION
The history command performs one of several operations related to recently-executed commands recorded in a history list. Each of these recorded commands is referred to as an ``event''. When specifying an event to the history command, the following forms may be used: [1] A number: if positive, it refers to the event with that number (all events are numbered starting at 1). If the number is negative, it selects an event relative to the current event (-1 refers to the previous event, -2 to the one before that, and so on). Event 0 refers to the current event. [2] A string: selects the most recent event that matches the string. An event is considered to match the string either if the string is the same as the first characters of the event, or if the string matches the event in the sense of the string match command. The history command can take any of the following forms: history Same as history info, described below. history add command ?exec? Adds the command argument to the history list as a new event. If exec is specified (or abbreviated) then the command is also exe- cuted and its result is returned. If exec isn't specified then an empty string is returned as result. history change newValue ?event? Replaces the value recorded for an event with newValue. Event specifies the event to replace, and defaults to the current event (not event -1). This command is intended for use in commands that implement new forms of history substitution and wish to replace the current event (which invokes the substitution) with the command created through substitution. The return value is an empty string. history clear Erase the history list. The current keep limit is retained. The history event numbers are reset. history event ?event? Returns the value of the event given by event. Event defaults to -1. history info ?count? Returns a formatted string (intended for humans to read) giving the event number and contents for each of the events in the history list except the current event. If count is specified then only the most recent count events are returned. history keep ?count? This command may be used to change the size of the history list to count events. Initially, 20 events are retained in the history list. If count is not specified, the current keep limit is returned. history nextid Returns the number of the next event to be recorded in the history list. It is useful for things like printing the event number in command-line prompts. history redo ?event? Re-executes the command indicated by event and return its result. Event defaults to -1. This command results in history revision: see below for details. HISTORY REVISION
Pre-8.0 Tcl had a complex history revision mechanism. The current mechanism is more limited, and the old history operations substitute and words have been removed. (As a consolation, the clear operation was added.) The history option redo results in much simpler ``history revision''. When this option is invoked then the most recent event is modified to eliminate the history command and replace it with the result of the history command. If you want to redo an event without modifying history, then use the event operation to retrieve some event, and the add operation to add it to history and execute it. KEYWORDS
event, history, record Tcl history(n)
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:14 AM.
Unix & Linux Forums Content Copyright 1993-2022. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy