In this article, I will take you through 60 popular examples of sed command in Linux Part - 1. Sed is also known as Stream Editor and it can perform multiple operations on a file like searching, insertion and deletion. You will always see frequent use of sed and awk tool in Bash Scripting.

To know more about AWK Command, Check 60 Popular Examples of AWK Command in Linux Part - 1

Sed Command Examples

Also Read: How to Print Array in Bash Shell Script

1. Check Sed Command Version

If you want to check the Sed command version, then you need to use --version option with sed command in Linux as shown below. As you can check from the output, current installed version of sed is 4.2.2.

[root@localhost ~]# sed --version
sed (GNU sed) 4.2.2
Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

2. Print 1st Line of /etc/passwd

If you want to print only the 1st Line of /etc/passwd file, then you need to use 1p with -n option as shown in below sed command.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n 1p /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

-n: Suppress automatic printing of pattern space

p: Print the current pattern space.

3. Print 6th Line of /etc/passwd

If you want to print only the 6th Line of /etc/passwd file, then you need to use 6p with -n option as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n 6p /etc/passwd
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync

4. Print Line 1 to Line 6 of /etc/passwd 

If you want to print Line 1 to Line 6 of /etc/passwd, then you need to use 1,6p with -n option as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '1,6p' /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

5. Print Line 1 and Line 6 only of /etc/passwd

If you want to print only Line 1 and Line 6 of /etc/passwd file, then you need to use 1p and 6p with -e option as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n -e 1p -e 6p /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync

-e: add the script to the commands to be executed.

6. Print Last Line of /etc/passwd

Sometimes often the case that you don't know how big the file is and what is the last line number of a file. In those scenarios, using this sed command would be very much helpful where you can print the last line of a file without using the line number.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '$p' /etc/passwd
zookeeper:x:1000:1000::/home/zookeeper:/bin/bash

7. Print Last 2 Lines of /etc/passwd

If you want to print last two lines of /etc/passwd, then you need to use $!N;$!D with sed command as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed '$!N;$!D' /etc/passwd
opscode-pgsql:x:995:992::/var/opt/opscode/postgresql:/bin/sh
zookeeper:x:1000:1000::/home/zookeeper:/bin/bash

N: Read/append the next line of input into the pattern space.

D: If pattern space contains no newline, start a normal new cycle as if the d command was issued. Otherwise, delete text in the pattern space up to the first newline, and restart cycle with the resultant pattern space, without reading a new line of input. For more information, visit Sed Man Page.

8. Print Every Alternate Line of /etc/passwd

If you want to print every alternate line of /etc/passwd file, then you need to use n;d with sed command as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed 'n;d' /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin

n: Read/append the next line of input into the pattern space.

d: Delete pattern space. Start next cycle.

9. Print all Lines which contains 'root' keyword

If you want to print all the lines of /etc/passwd which contains keyword root, then you need to match the root keyword as shown below. Here, you can see three lines from /etc/passwd file which contains root keyword.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/root/p' /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
dockerroot:x:997:994:Docker User:/var/lib/docker:/sbin/nologin

10. Print all Lines which does not contain 'root' keyword

If you want to print all Lines that does not contain root keyword, then you need to use exclamation(!) with p as shown below. As you can see from below output, there are multiple lines which does not have root keyword.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/root/!p' /etc/passwd
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

11. Print all Lines which starts with 'root' Keyword

If you want to print only those lines which starts with root keyword, then you can use ^ operator in the matching pattern as shown below. As you can see, there is only one line which contains root keyword in the beginning.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/^root/p' /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

12. Print all Lines which does not start with 'root' Keyword

If you want to print only those lines which does not start with root keyword, then you need to use exclamation mark(!) with print(p) as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/^root/!p' /etc/passwd
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

13. Print all Lines which ends with 'bash' Keyword

If you want to print only those lines which ends with bash keyword, then you need to use $ operator at the end of bash keyword in the matching pattern as shown below. As you can see from the output, there are only two such lines which has bash keyword at the end of that line.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/bash$/p' /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
zookeeper:x:1000:1000::/home/zookeeper:/bin/bash

14. Print all Lines which does not end with 'bash' Keyword

If you want to print only those lines which does not end with bash keyword, then you need to use exclamation mark(!) with print(p) as shown below. You can see from below output that there are multiple lines in /etc/passwd file which does not end with bash keyword.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/bash$/!p' /etc/passwd
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

15. Print all Lines which contain either 'root' or 'bash' keyword in /etc/passwd

If you want to print only those lines which contains either root or bash keyword, then you need to use /root\|bash/ in the matching pattern as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/root\|bash/p' /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
dockerroot:x:997:994:Docker User:/var/lib/docker:/sbin/nologin
zookeeper:x:1000:1000::/home/zookeeper:/bin/bash

16. Print all Lines which does not contain either 'root' or 'bash' keyword in /etc/passwd

If you want to print only those lines which does not contain either root or bash keyword, then you need to use exclamation mark(!) with print(p) as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/root\|bash/!p' /etc/passwd
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

17. Print all Lines which contains digit '4' or '5'

If you want to print only those lines which contains digit 4 or 5, then you need to use range /4-5/ in matching pattern as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/[4-5]/p' /etc/passwd
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
ftp:x:14:50:FTP User:/var/ftp:/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:74:74:Privilege-separated SSH:/var/empty/sshd:/sbin/nologin
dockerroot:x:997:994:Docker User:/var/lib/docker:/sbin/nologin
opscode-pgsql:x:995:992::/var/opt/opscode/postgresql:/bin/sh

18. Print all Lines which does not contain digit '4' or '5'

If you want to print only those lines which does not contain digit 4 or 5, then you need to use exclamation mark(!) with print(p) as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/[4-5]/!p' /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
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
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:192:192:systemd Network Management:/:/sbin/nologin

19. Print all Lines which contains character 'y' or 'z'

If you want to print only those lines from /etc/passwd file which contains character y or z, then you can use /[y-z]/ in the matching pattern as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/[y-z]/p' /etc/passwd
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:192:192:systemd Network Management:/:/sbin/nologin
dbus:x:81:81:System message bus:/:/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:74:74:Privilege-separated SSH:/var/empty/sshd:/sbin/nologin
chrony:x:998:996::/var/lib/chrony:/sbin/nologin
zookeeper:x:1000:1000::/home/zookeeper:/bin/bash

20. Print all Lines which does not contains character 'y' or 'z'

If you want to print all the lines from /etc/passwd file which does not contains character y and z, then you need to use exclamation mark(!) with p to achieve that as shown below.

[root@localhost ~]# sed -n '/[y-z]/!p' /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
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

 

 

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