Boost Productivity: Python to Run Linux Commands – Examples

Introduction

Python is a versatile programming language that can be used for a wide range of tasks, including running Linux commands. By using Python to execute Linux commands, you can streamline your workflow and boost your productivity. In this article, we will explore the benefits of using Python for running Linux commands and provide examples of how to execute various commands using Python.

Why Use Python to Run Linux Commands?

Python offers several advantages when it comes to running Linux commands. Firstly, Python is a high-level language that is known for its simplicity and readability. This makes it easier to write and understand code, even for those who are new to programming. Additionally, Python has a large and active community, which means that there are plenty of resources and libraries available to help you accomplish your tasks.

Another advantage of using Python for running Linux commands is that it allows for automation. By writing scripts in Python, you can automate repetitive tasks and save time. This can be particularly useful when working with large amounts of data or when performing complex operations.

Furthermore, Python provides a cross-platform solution, meaning that you can run your scripts on different operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. This flexibility allows you to work seamlessly across different environments without having to rewrite your code.

Examples of Linux Commands Executed Using Python

Now let’s dive into some examples of how to execute Linux commands using Python. We will cover a wide range of commands, from basic file operations to network management and system administration.

1. ls

The ls command is used to list the files and directories in a directory. In Python, you can use the os module to execute the ls command and retrieve the list of files and directories as a Python list.

Here’s an example:

import os

files = os.listdir('.')
print(files)

This code will list all the files and directories in the current directory.

2. cd

The cd command is used to change the current directory. In Python, you can use the os module to change the current directory using the chdir() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.chdir('/path/to/directory')

This code will change the current directory to the specified path.

3. pwd

The pwd command is used to print the current working directory. In Python, you can use the os module to retrieve the current working directory using the getcwd() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

cwd = os.getcwd()
print(cwd)

This code will print the current working directory.

4. mkdir

The mkdir command is used to create a new directory. In Python, you can use the os module to create a new directory using the makedirs() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.makedirs('/path/to/new/directory')

This code will create a new directory at the specified path.

5. rmdir

The rmdir command is used to remove a directory. In Python, you can use the os module to remove a directory using the rmdir() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.rmdir('/path/to/directory')

This code will remove the specified directory.

6. touch

The touch command is used to create a new file. In Python, you can use the open() function to create a new file.

Here’s an example:

file = open('/path/to/new/file.txt', 'w')
file.close()

This code will create a new file at the specified path.

7. cp

The cp command is used to copy files and directories. In Python, you can use the shutil module to copy files and directories using the copy() and copytree() functions.

Here’s an example:

import shutil

shutil.copy('/path/to/source/file.txt', '/path/to/destination/file.txt')
shutil.copytree('/path/to/source/directory', '/path/to/destination/directory')

This code will copy the specified file or directory to the destination path.

8. mv

The mv command is used to move files and directories. In Python, you can use the shutil module to move files and directories using the move() function.

Here’s an example:

import shutil

shutil.move('/path/to/source/file.txt', '/path/to/destination/file.txt')

This code will move the specified file to the destination path.

9. rm

The rm command is used to remove files and directories. In Python, you can use the os module to remove files using the remove() function and remove directories using the rmdir() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.remove('/path/to/file.txt')
os.rmdir('/path/to/directory')

This code will remove the specified file or directory.

10. cat

The cat command is used to display the contents of a file. In Python, you can use the open() function to open a file and read its contents.

Here’s an example:

file = open('/path/to/file.txt', 'r')
contents = file.read()
print(contents)
file.close()

This code will read the contents of the specified file and print them.

11. grep

The grep command is used to search for a specific pattern in a file. In Python, you can use the re module to perform regular expression matching and search for patterns in a file.

Here’s an example:

import re

file = open('/path/to/file.txt', 'r')
pattern = r'pattern'
matches = re.findall(pattern, file.read())
print(matches)
file.close()

This code will search for the specified pattern in the file and print all the matches.

12. find

The find command is used to search for files and directories in a directory hierarchy. In Python, you can use the os module to traverse a directory hierarchy and find files and directories using the walk() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

for root, dirs, files in os.walk('/path/to/directory'):
    for file in files:
        print(os.path.join(root, file))

This code will traverse the specified directory hierarchy and print the paths of all the files.

13. chmod

The chmod command is used to change the permissions of a file or directory. In Python, you can use the os module to change the permissions of a file or directory using the chmod() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.chmod('/path/to/file.txt', 0o755)

This code will change the permissions of the specified file to read, write, and execute for the owner, and read and execute for others.

14. chown

The chown command is used to change the owner and group of a file or directory. In Python, you can use the os module to change the owner and group of a file or directory using the chown() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.chown('/path/to/file.txt', uid, gid)

This code will change the owner and group of the specified file to the specified user ID (uid) and group ID (gid).

15. chgrp

The chgrp command is used to change the group of a file or directory. In Python, you can use the os module to change the group of a file or directory using the chown() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.chown('/path/to/file.txt', -1, gid)

This code will change the group of the specified file to the specified group ID (gid).

16. tar

The tar command is used to create or extract tar archives. In Python, you can use the tarfile module to create or extract tar archives using the open() function.

Here’s an example:

import tarfile

# Create a tar archive
with tarfile.open('/path/to/archive.tar', 'w') as tar:
    tar.add('/path/to/file.txt')

# Extract a tar archive
with tarfile.open('/path/to/archive.tar', 'r') as tar:
    tar.extractall('/path/to/destination')

This code will create a tar archive containing the specified file, and extract the contents of a tar archive to the specified destination.

17. gzip

The gzip command is used to compress files. In Python, you can use the gzip module to compress files using the open() function.

Here’s an example:

import gzip

with open('/path/to/file.txt', 'rb') as file_in:
    with gzip.open('/path/to/file.txt.gz', 'wb') as file_out:
        file_out.writelines(file_in)

This code will compress the specified file using gzip compression.

18. gunzip

The gunzip command is used to decompress files compressed with gzip. In Python, you can use the gzip module to decompress files using the open() function.

Here’s an example:

import gzip

with gzip.open('/path/to/file.txt.gz', 'rb') as file_in:
    with open('/path/to/file.txt', 'wb') as file_out:
        file_out.writelines(file_in)

This code will decompress the specified file that was compressed with gzip.

19. zip

The zip command is used to create or extract zip archives. In Python, you can use the zipfile module to create or extract zip archives using the ZipFile() class.

Here’s an example:

import zipfile

# Create a zip archive
with zipfile.ZipFile('/path/to/archive.zip', 'w') as zip:
    zip.write('/path/to/file.txt')

# Extract a zip archive
with zipfile.ZipFile('/path/to/archive.zip', 'r') as zip:
    zip.extractall('/path/to/destination')

This code will create a zip archive containing the specified file, and extract the contents of a zip archive to the specified destination.

20. unzip

The unzip command is used to extract files from a zip archive. In Python, you can use the zipfile module to extract files from a zip archive using the ZipFile() class.

Here’s an example:

import zipfile

with zipfile.ZipFile('/path/to/archive.zip', 'r') as zip:
    zip.extractall('/path/to/destination')

This code will extract the contents of a zip archive to the specified destination.

21. ssh

The ssh command is used to connect to a remote server using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. In Python, you can use the paramiko module to establish an SSH connection and execute commands on a remote server.

Here’s an example:

import paramiko

ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
ssh.connect('hostname', username='username', password='password')

stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command('command')
output = stdout.read().decode()

ssh.close()

This code will establish an SSH connection to the specified hostname using the specified username and password, execute the specified command on the remote server, and retrieve the output.

22. scp

The scp command is used to securely copy files between a local and a remote server using the Secure Copy (SCP) protocol. In Python, you can use the paramiko module to copy files between a local and a remote server using the SCPClient() class.

Here’s an example:

import paramiko

ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
ssh.connect('hostname', username='username', password='password')

scp = ssh.open_sftp()
scp.put('/path/to/local/file.txt', '/path/to/remote/file.txt')
scp.get('/path/to/remote/file.txt', '/path/to/local/file.txt')

scp.close()
ssh.close()

This code will establish an SSH connection to the specified hostname using the specified username and password, copy the specified local file to the remote server, and copy the specified remote file to the local machine.

23. rsync

The rsync command is used to synchronize files and directories between a local and a remote server. In Python, you can use the rsync module to synchronize files and directories using the rsync() function.

Here’s an example:

import rsync

rsync.rsync('/path/to/source', 'username@hostname:/path/to/destination')

This code will synchronize the specified source directory with the specified destination directory on the remote server.

24. ping

The ping command is used to test the reachability of a host on a network using the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP). In Python, you can use the ping3 module to send ICMP echo requests and receive ICMP echo replies.

Here’s an example:

import ping3

response_time = ping3.ping('hostname')
print(response_time)

This code will send an ICMP echo request to the specified hostname and print the response time.

25. ifconfig

The ifconfig command is used to configure network interfaces on a Linux system. In Python, you can use the netifaces module to retrieve information about network interfaces.

Here’s an example:

import netifaces

interfaces = netifaces.interfaces()
for interface in interfaces:
    addresses = netifaces.ifaddresses(interface)
    print(addresses)

This code will retrieve information about all the network interfaces on the system, including their IP addresses and other configuration details.

26. netstat

The netstat command is used to display network connections, routing tables, and network interface statistics. In Python, you can use the psutil module to retrieve information about network connections and network interface statistics.

Here’s an example:

import psutil

connections = psutil.net_connections()
for connection in connections:
    print(connection)

This code will retrieve information about all the network connections on the system, including the local and remote addresses, the state of the connection, and the process ID.

27. route

The route command is used to view and manipulate the IP routing table. In Python, you can use the netifaces module to retrieve information about the IP routing table.

Here’s an example:

import netifaces

gateways = netifaces.gateways()
print(gateways)

This code will retrieve information about the default gateway and other gateways on the system.

28. systemctl

The systemctl command is used to control the systemd system and service manager. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the systemctl command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['systemctl', 'status', 'service'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the systemctl status service command and print the output.

29. service

The service command is used to control system services. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the service command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['service', 'service', 'status'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the service service status command and print the output.

30. ps

The ps command is used to display information about running processes. In Python, you can use the psutil module to retrieve information about running processes.

Here’s an example:

import psutil

processes = psutil.process_iter()
for process in processes:
    print(process)

This code will retrieve information about all the running processes on the system, including the process ID, name, and status.

31. kill

The kill command is used to send signals to processes. In Python, you can use the os module to send signals to processes using the kill() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

os.kill(pid, signal)

This code will send the specified signal to the process with the specified process ID (pid).

32. top

The top command is used to display real-time information about system processes. In Python, you can use the psutil module to retrieve real-time information about system processes.

Here’s an example:

import psutil

cpu_percent = psutil.cpu_percent()
memory_percent = psutil.virtual_memory().percent

print(f'CPU Usage: {cpu_percent}%')
print(f'Memory Usage: {memory_percent}%')

This code will retrieve the CPU and memory usage of the system and print them.

33. df

The df command is used to display information about disk space usage. In Python, you can use the psutil module to retrieve information about disk space usage.

Here’s an example:

import psutil

disk_usage = psutil.disk_usage('/')
print(f'Total: {disk_usage.total}')
print(f'Used: {disk_usage.used}')
print(f'Free: {disk_usage.free}')

This code will retrieve information about the disk space usage of the root filesystem and print the total, used, and free space.

34. du

The du command is used to estimate file and directory space usage. In Python, you can use the os module to retrieve information about file and directory space usage using the stat() function.

Here’s an example:

import os

def get_size(path):
    total = 0
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(path):
        for file in files:
            file_path = os.path.join(root, file)
            total += os.stat(file_path).st_size
    return total

size = get_size('/path/to/directory')
print(f'Size: {size} bytes')

This code will calculate the total size of the specified directory and print it in bytes.

35. mount

The mount command is used to mount filesystems. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the mount command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['mount'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the mount command and print the output.

36. umount

The umount command is used to unmount filesystems. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the umount command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['umount', '/path/to/mountpoint'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the umount command to unmount the specified mountpoint and print the output.

37. cron

The cron command is used to schedule recurring tasks on a Linux system. In Python, you can use the croniter module to parse cron expressions and calculate the next occurrence of a task.

Here’s an example:

import croniter
import datetime

cron = croniter.croniter('*/5 * * * *', datetime.datetime.now())
next_occurrence = cron.get_next(datetime.datetime)

print(next_occurrence)

This code will calculate the next occurrence of a task based on the specified cron expression and print it.

38. awk

The awk command is used to manipulate text files. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the awk command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['awk', '{print $1}', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the awk ‘{print $1}’ /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

39. sed

The sed command is used to perform text transformations on files. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the sed command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['sed', 's/pattern/replacement/', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the sed ‘s/pattern/replacement/’ /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

40. cut

The cut command is used to extract specific columns from a file. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the cut command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['cut', '-f', '1', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the cut -f 1 /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

41. sort

The sort command is used to sort lines of text files. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the sort command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['sort', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the sort /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

42. head

The head command is used to display the first lines of a file. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the head command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['head', '-n', '10', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the head -n 10 /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

43. tail

The tail command is used to display the last lines of a file. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the tail command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['tail', '-n', '10', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the tail -n 10 /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

44. tee

The tee command is used to read from standard input and write to standard output and files. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the tee command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['echo', 'Hello, World! | tee /path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the echo ‘Hello, World!’ | tee /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

45. diff

The diff command is used to compare files line by line. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the diff command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['diff', '/path/to/file1.txt', '/path/to/file2.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the diff /path/to/file1.txt /path/to/file2.txt command and print the output.

46. wc

The wc command is used to count lines, words, and characters in a file. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the wc command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['wc', '/path/to/file.txt'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the wc /path/to/file.txt command and print the output.

47. tr

The tr command is used to translate or delete characters. In Python, you can use the subprocess module to execute the tr command and retrieve the output.

Here’s an example:

import subprocess

output = subprocess.check_output(['echo', 'Hello, World! | tr "o" "0"'])
print(output.decode())

This code will execute the echo ‘Hello, World!’ | tr “o” “0” command and print the output.

48. curl

The curl command is used to transfer data to or from a server using various protocols. In Python, you can use the requests module to send HTTP requests and retrieve the response.

Here’s an example:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com')
print(response.text)

This code will send an HTTP GET request to the specified URL and print the response content.

49. wget

The wget command is used to download files from the web. In Python, you can use the urllib module to download files using the urlretrieve() function.

Here’s an example:

import urllib.request

urllib.request.urlretrieve('https://www.example.com/file.txt', '/path/to/file.txt')

This code will download the specified file from the web and save it to the specified path.

50. git

The git command is used to manage version control repositories. In Python, you can use the gitpython module to interact with Git repositories programmatically.

Here’s an example:

import git

repo = git.Repo('/path/to/repository')
commits = repo.iter_commits()

for commit in commits:
    print(commit)

This code will open the specified Git repository and retrieve information about all the commits.

Conclusion

Using Python to run Linux commands can greatly enhance your productivity by automating tasks, simplifying complex operations, and providing a cross-platform solution. Whether you need to perform file operations, manage network connections, or administer system services, Python offers a wide range of libraries and modules to help you accomplish your goals. By leveraging the power and flexibility of Python, you can streamline your workflow and boost your productivity.

FAQs

1. Can I use Python to run Linux commands on Windows?

Yes, Python provides a cross-platform solution, which means that you can use Python to run Linux commands on Windows, as well as other operating systems like macOS. However, keep in mind that some Linux commands may have different behavior or may not be available on Windows.

2. Are there any security considerations when using Python to run Linux commands?

When using Python to run Linux commands, it’s important to ensure that your code is secure and that you have proper permissions to execute the commands. Be cautious when executing commands that involve sensitive operations or access to critical system resources. It’s also recommended to sanitize user input and validate command parameters to prevent potential security vulnerabilities.

3. Can I use Python to run Linux commands in a virtual environment?

Yes, you can use Python to run Linux commands in a virtual environment. Virtual environments provide a isolated environment for Python projects, allowing you to install specific versions of packages and manage dependencies. By creating a virtual environment, you can ensure that your Python code and the Linux commands it executes are isolated from the system environment.