2

I am trying to output the ps command to a file in /home/username/ps.txt. I want to create the file on the go, write the output of ps to it and also read the same in a single command. I tried this:

ps > /home/username/ps.txt | less /home/username/ps.txt

It writes to the file after creating it but does not output it. But using less seperately gives proper output.

Could I perform this in a single command?

forquare
  • 3,496
Bismeet singh
  • 43

2 Answers2

2

tee writes both to file and stdout , use that:

ps -ef | tee psoutput.txt | less

Or just use && to open file with less upon successful completion of ps

ps -ef > psoutput.txt && less psoutput.txt
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  • 16,527
  • Why && ? Shouldnt piping have been the same thing? – Bismeet singh May 04 '16 at 06:31
  • So what you do in the example you have is command > output.txt | another_command . You cannot do that. The stdout of the command won't go to pipe, but to file. It only goes one way. That's why you want to redirect first, then open file , that's why && , to know when command is finished. Now, if you want to both redirect to file AND to pipe, use tee as I've shown – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy May 04 '16 at 06:34
0

Just too brief. tee can be used for this purpose

ps | tee ps-info.txt
Hafiz Muhammad Shafiq
  • 603