Alias your cd commands and save time

Opinion and Editorial | Systems Administration Blog

ByOscar Gonzalez Published on:September 15, 2009August 25, 2012 Updated on:August 25, 2012 Opinion and Editorial, Systems Administration Blog Reading Time: 1 minute

When you're bouncing around from one directory to another in Linux or OSX, or even Cygwin in windows, remember you can use alias to save you time.

For example, I've been working a lot on these two directories in my pxeboot server ((The xxxx is just a placeholder)).

/opt/xxxx/sources/linuxdistros/centos/x86_64/5.3
/opt/xxxx/sources/linuxdistros/centos/x86/4.4

Typing those in each time, using tabs, and even using relative paths can be quite a pain in the butt. So I set two alias to get me back to those directories quickly after I wonder off and need to come back.

I added these two lines to my .bashrc file:

alias nn='cd /opt/xxxx/sources/linuxdistros/centos/x86_64/5.3/'
alias oo='cd /opt/xxxx/sources/linuxdistros/centos/x86/4.4'

Then either source .bashrc, or logout and log back in. Now when I type "nn" or "oo" I get sent to those directories.

Oscar Gonzalez

Oscar Gonzalez is an IT and Web veteran with over 20 years of experience working in marketing, technology, and infrastructure, seeking, designing, and implementing solutions for businesses and individuals.