“touch” is the most handy command to create a new file in Linux.
Note: Files in a Linux file system can exist without any extension. So don’t be surprised to see files without any extension in the file system.
Create file
To create a new file just type “touch” and then the file name-
$ touch bigboxfile.txt
$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:54 bigboxfile.txtUse “touch” on Existing File
We can issue the “touch” command again with the same file name and that will update the timestamp of the file-
$ touch bigboxfile.txt
$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:56 bigboxfile.txtCreate Multiple Files
We can create multiple files using the same “touch” command at the same time. Just pass the file names one by one after “touch”-
$ touch file1 file2 file3
$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:56 bigboxfile.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file1
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file2
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file3Alternative #1: echo
Alternative to the “touch” command we can use “echo” to create a new file-
$ echo > sample_file_1.txt
$ ls -l
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:56 bigboxfile.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 1 Jul 21 03:58 sample_file_1.txtWe can create the file using “echo” and add content at the same time, by adding the content after “echo”-
$ echo "hello bigboxcode" > sample_file_2.txt
$ ls -l
total 8
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:56 bigboxfile.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 1 Jul 21 03:58 sample_file_1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 17 Jul 21 03:59 sample_file_2.txt
$ cat sample_file_2.txt
hello bigboxcodeOr you can append the new content to existing file content using “>>”. Check the example below-
$ echo alias gohome='cd ~' >> .bash_aliasesAlternative #2: cat
Use “cat” to create a file and then adding content to the fiel at the same time.
-> After “cat” use “>” and then the file name.
Press “Enter” and the terminal will wait for content.
Add some content and then press “CTRL + D” at the end.
# Press CTRL + D when you want to end the content input
$ cat > sample_cat_file.txt
big
box
code
last line here
$ ls -l
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 03:56 bigboxfile.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file1
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file2
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 0 Jul 21 04:04 file3
-rw-r--r-- 1 bigboxcode bigboxcode 30 Jul 21 04:12 sample_cat_file.txt
# Check file content
$ cat sample_cat_file.txt
big
box
code
last line hereCommand Info
$ touch --help
Usage: touch [OPTION]... FILE...
Update the access and modification times of each FILE to the current time.
A FILE argument that does not exist is created empty, unless -c or -h
is supplied.
A FILE argument string of - is handled specially and causes touch to
change the times of the file associated with standard output.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a change only the access time
-c, --no-create do not create any files
-d, --date=STRING parse STRING and use it instead of current time
-f (ignored)
-h, --no-dereference affect each symbolic link instead of any referenced
file (useful only on systems that can change the
timestamps of a symlink)
-m change only the modification time
-r, --reference=FILE use this file's times instead of current time
-t STAMP use [[CC]YY]MMDDhhmm[.ss] instead of current time
--time=WORD change the specified time:
WORD is access, atime, or use: equivalent to -a
WORD is modify or mtime: equivalent to -m
--help display this help and exit
--version output version information and exit
Note that the -d and -t options accept different time-date formats.