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Accepted
JD Isaacks
Asked: 2011-02-10 09:49:44 +0800 CST

How to append multiple lines of text to a file?

  • 772

I want to append this text:

<Directory "/var/www/*">
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>

to the file /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

I have access via SSH but I don't know how to use VIM. I would like to do this via a command.

command-line

5 Answers

  1. This syntax is called "HERE documents":

    sudo tee -a /tmp/file <<EOF
<Directory "/var/www/*">
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>    
EOF

    This solution is better than using ctrl-d since it can be used inside shell scripts.

    • 18
  2. Best Answer

    Use:

    nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

    (you may need to use sudo)

    This will give you a command line text editor that works much like normal text editors. Use the arrow keys to navigate. Backspace, enter, etc. work as normal.

    To save, press Ctrl+O and use Ctrl+X to exit. For help, press Ctrl+G from inside nano, or use man nano.

    It should look something like this:

    nano

    • 6

  3. Here's an easy way to do it, using cat . 

    % cat - >> testf
one
two
   three
four

    You terminate your input with the CTRL-D .

    This takes interactive input from cat (i.e., whatever you type in), and appends it to the existing file testf .

    testf (with two original lines intact) will now look like this:

    original line 1
original line 2

one
two
   three
four

    As other answers have illustrated, you will need special syntax when editing files which you don't have write permission on. I find it easier to just switch to the root user for this, i.e., sudo su . But another easy method is to use tee with the append flag set, and called with sudo:

    sudo tee -a >> config.conf

    • 2

  4. The nano editor is more friendly (sudo apt-get install nano if not available).

    echo "<Directory \"/var/www/*\">"  > out_file
echo "    Order allow,deny"       >> out_file
echo "    Allow from all"         >> out_file
echo "    AllowOverride All"      >> out_file
echo "</Directory>"               >> out_file

cat out_file | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
    • 0

  5. Since you asked for a Vim, here is the command to run:

    sudo vim -e +'$put = \"<Directory \\"/var/www/*\\">\n\tOrder allow,deny\n\tAllow from all\n\tAllowOverride All\n</Directory>\n\"' -cwq /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

    If you don't have vim, this is also equivalent to either vi -e or ex.

    Alternative cleaner approach:

    $ sudo ex +"r /dev/stdin" -cwq output.txt <<-EOF
<Directory "/var/www/*">
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>
EOF

    Just run the first line (without $), paste the multi line text, then type EOF to finish.

    • 0