{"id":7176,"date":"2021-06-12T13:14:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T13:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/?p=7176"},"modified":"2021-06-12T13:14:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T13:14:38","slug":"linux-whereis-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/centos\/linux-whereis-command\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux Whereis Command"},"content":{"rendered":"

The whereis<\/strong> command is a command-line tool that helps you locate the source or binary and manual pages of a Linux command. In this brief guide, we will try and provide insights into how you can use the whereis command.<\/p>\n

Whereis command basic syntax<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The whereis utility takes the syntax shown.<\/p>\n

$ whereis [OPTIONS] filename<\/strong><\/pre>\n
Let\u2019s now take a few examples.<\/p>\n
Search for binary and man pages of a command<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Without any options, the whereis utility provides both the path to the binary and the man pages of a Linux command.<\/p>\n
Suppose you want to find the binary location of the ls <\/strong>command including the man pages. To achieve his, run the command:<\/p>\n
$ whereis ls<\/strong><\/pre>\n
From the output, the binary is found in \/usr\/bin\/<\/strong> path and manual pages in the \/usr\/share\/man\/man1\/ls.1.gz <\/strong>path.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take yet another example. To locate the binary path & man pages of cat <\/strong>command, execute:<\/p>\n
$ whereis cat<\/strong><\/pre>\n
Likewise, the binary is found in \/usr\/bin\/cat<\/strong> path and manual pages in \/usr\/share\/man\/man1\/cat.1.gz <\/strong>path.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Provide more than one command as an argument<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Additionally, you can provide multiple commands as arguments as follows:<\/p>\n
$ whereis command1 command2 \u2026<\/strong><\/pre>\n
For example, to simultaneously find the binary location and man pages of two commands: pwd <\/strong>and uptime <\/strong>run the command:<\/p>\n
$ whereis pwd uptime<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Locate the man pages only<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Use the -m<\/strong> option o only view the path to the man pages of the command. The example below provides the path to the man pages of the ls<\/strong> command.<\/p>\n
$ whereis -m ls<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Search for the binary paths only <\/strong><\/h2>\n
If you only want to search for the binary paths only and leave out the man pages, use the -b <\/strong>option as shown below.<\/p>\n
$ whereis -b ls<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n
Search for the source files only <\/strong><\/h2>\n
To search for source files only, use the -s <\/strong>option as shown.<\/p>\n
$ whereis -s cp<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Limit places that whereis can search for man pages<\/strong><\/h2>\n
By default, the whereis <\/strong>utility retrieves all the man pages for a command. To restrict the utility to search in specific man pages, use the -M <\/strong>option followed by the man page and thereafter the -f <\/strong>option followed by the command.<\/p>\n
In the example below, the whereis <\/strong>utility searches for man pages of the mkdir <\/strong>command in twp paths: \/usr\/share\/man\/man2\/mkdir.2.gz <\/strong>and \/usr\/share\/man\/man1\/mkdir.1.gz.<\/strong><\/p>\n
$ whereis mkdir<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Here, we have limited the whereis <\/strong>utility to search for the man pages in the \/usr\/share\/man\/man2<\/strong> path only and ignore the other location.<\/p>\n
$ whereis -M \/usr\/share\/man\/man2 -f mkdir<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Limit places that whereis can search for binaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Similarly, you can limit the location that whereis <\/strong>searches for binaries. In the command below, whereis <\/strong>searches for binaries in two locations: \/usr\/bin\/pwd<\/strong> and \/usr\/include\/pwd.h<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
$ whereis pwd<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Using the -B <\/strong>option, as shown, we have restricted the utility to search for the binaries in the \/usr\/bin <\/strong>path only.<\/p>\n
$ whereis -B \/usr\/bin -f pwd<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Check the version <\/strong><\/h2>\n
To check the version of the whereis<\/strong> command, execute:<\/p>\n
$ whereis --version<\/strong><\/pre>\n
OR<\/p>\n
$ whereis -V<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Get help with whereis utility<\/strong><\/h2>\n
For additional whereis <\/strong>command options, run the command.<\/p>\n
$ whereis --help<\/strong><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Wrapping up<\/strong><\/h2>\n
That was a quick overview of the whereis <\/strong>command. Hopefully, you have learned the ropes and can use the utility to locate the binaries and manual pages for various commands.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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