Quick Tips #3: Creating Alias Commands

Making your life easier with alias! :)

Look at this command:

traceroute -4 -A -T -p 443 globo.com

You have 4 options and 2 parameters. Looks like a big command then sometimes you can forget an option or parameter. To make it easier, you can create an alias (Seems like a “shortcut”) for this entire command. How about if you change the above command for:

4trace443 globo.com

Much better, right? That’s the way the alias works. Let’s check it out!

First of all, let’s create the alias:

alias 4trace443=’sudo traceroute -4 -A -T -p 443'

I needed to use sudo because the option -T (Protocol TCP) claims for root privileges.

You can see the alias created by running the command alias.

Using the command…

Works like a charm!

But if I restart the machine, will I have this alias created? The answer is NO!

To make a permanent alias, you should insert this in the .bashrc file for your user.

Reading the last 2 lines of the file .bashrc

After insert it, run the command source ~/.bashrc to activate it and voilá, you can restart your machine! :D

To make it more organized, you can create a specific file for all alias you have.

Now, you just need to mention this file in .bashrc like:

When the system reads the .bashrc file, the file .bash_aliases should be read as well.

That’s it! I hope it can help you.

See ya!