Windows
Linux
Text Processing
Windows type (awk — no equiv) equivalent in Linux
A powerful text-processing tool that splits lines into fields and lets you extract, transform, and report on structured text.
Windows
→
type (awk — no equiv)
Linux equivalents
awk
awk
awk
Overview
What this command does
A powerful text-processing tool that splits lines into fields and lets you extract, transform, and report on structured text.
Migration tip:
awk is a mini programming language. $1, $2, $3 refer to space-separated columns. $NF is always the last column. Incredibly useful for log files and CSV data.Practical tasks
Common use cases
Process and extract columns from structured text
A powerful text-processing tool that splits lines into fields and lets you extract, transform, and report on structured text.
awk '{print $1}'
Print first column
awk '{print $NF}'
Print last column
awk -F ',' '{print $2}'
Use comma as separator (CSV)
Ready to run
Copyable Linux commands
Review paths, device names, package names and permissions before running any command.
awk -F ':' '{print $1}' /etc/passwd
awk '{print $1}' /var/log/nginx/access.log
awk '{sum += $1} END {print sum}' numbers.txt
Walkthrough
Examples with explanations
# No direct Windows CMD equivalent
# Print usernames from /etc/passwd:
awk -F ':' '{print $1}' /etc/passwd
# Print IPs from log (column 1):
awk '{print $1}' /var/log/nginx/access.log
# Sum a column of numbers:
awk '{sum += $1} END {print sum}' numbers.txtReference
Common options and variations
| Command or option | Use |
|---|---|
awk '{print $1}' | Print first column |
awk '{print $NF}' | Print last column |
awk -F ',' '{print $2}' | Use comma as separator (CSV) |
awk '/pattern/ {print}' | Print lines matching pattern |
awk 'NR>1' | Skip header (first line) |
Distro differences
Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch
This command is the same on Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux when the relevant tool is installed.
| Distribution | Package manager / base | Equivalent command | Difference to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian/Ubuntu | same command | awk |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Fedora | same command | awk |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Arch | same command | awk |
Same command on this distribution. |
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