Comments on: Add “sudo” to the Last Command Typed

By: Sudo !! | I Learned Something New

Sudo !! | I Learned Something New — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 15:16:51 +0000

[...] in Linux where I run them but I forgot to run them with sudo. It turns out (thanks to this website http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2007/07/13/add-sudo-to-the-last-command-typed/) you can run the last command with sudo using sudo [...]

By: said, said,

said, said, — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:52:04 +0000

More on that.

!! for last command.
!$ for last argument of last command.
!-2 for second last command.
!:0 for 0th part (i.e. command name) of last command.
!:3 for 3rd part (i.e. 3rd argument) of last command.
!:3-5 for 3rd to 5th parts of last command.
!-2:3-5 for 3rd to 5th parts of second last command.

For more, see EXPANSION section on bash’s manpage.

I always forget what is keyword for last argument, is it !$, is it $!, is it !!? Can’t memorize all the syntax.

Suppose I type the following code and I’m not sure !$ is what I want, so I’m afraid to press enter, thinking “what if !$ is the whole last command?”
mv *.txt !$

In that case echo is useful.

echo mv *.txt !$

Or add following line to ~/.bashrc :

bind Space:magic-space

Now things like !! and !$ expands automatically after spaces.

By: iampriteshdesai

iampriteshdesai — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:54:52 +0000

You can also try to type the same command again with minimal effort:
First type sudo and then hit the up arrow key. That will print the previous command