Open cmd.exe.

Run:

ipconfig /flushdns

If you have a massive text file you want to add a line to without opening the file, here's a quick solution:

sed -e '1i\text_to_insert' -i file.t

wget -O /dev/null http://address.com

found this helpful color scheme for ls. toss in your bash_profile.

alias ls="ls --color=auto" LS_COLORS="di=31;1:ln=36;1:ex=31;1:~=31;1:.html=

I found this command to dump just the schema.

mysqldump -u root -pmypassword test_database --no-data=true --add-drop-table=false > test_dump.sql

One of my most frequent commands is:

git commit -am "message"

I made a simple alias to save keystrokes:

alias gca="git commit -am "

Add the -R option to ls to recursively list the contents of a directroy.

Let's say you want to add comments to your php functions following the conventional format:

/** * Returns the sum of 2 variables. * * @param int

to get the actual directory, run:

/bin/pwd

On linux, filenames and directories are case sensitive. file and File are different files.

On Windows, filenames are not case sensitive. file and F

The key things you need to know:

ANSI (aka ASCII) and UTF-8 (aka "UnicodeTransformation Format" or just "Unicode") are ways to encode text files in

I used to use Python, Ruby or even PHP to write backend programs that would automate things like server management tasks, development and editing task

I've been getting this error a lot in Cygwin on Windows 7:

Could not resolve hostname X: Non-recoverable failure in name resolution

It happens

Notepad++ is my go to editor.

The default plugins are great, but if you need more just visit the notepad++ plugins list.

To install a plugin:

My post on deploying a website using rsync has gotten quite a few hits.

I thought I'd add some more tips:

• use the "--delete" option if you wan

Just type:

cd -

To go back to the last directory you were in. Basically an "undo" for the cd command.

There are two ways to organize source code files for a project: flat or nested.

Here's a simple example of a flat structure(1 directory, 4 files):

If you get this alert using JSCharts, here's a quick hack to fix it:

nullData = new Array( ); myChart.setDataArray(nullData,"null");

Add th

Change the owner of a file or folder:

chown newowner filename

Change the group of a file or folder:

chgrp newgroup filenameorfoldername

It's very simple thanks to pipes.

mysql -u username -p < sqlfile.sql

Make sure your sql file has a "use database" line.

In cygwin it can be a pain to change to a Windows directory like C:\Users\breck\Documents\My Dropbox.

I made a small bash script called wcd tha

In Linux every thing is a file. This is great because it means the Windows clipboard is a file too!

Want to copy the current cygwin directory into

I learned some new tricks with vim today.

4G - Move to line #4

mb - Mark the current spot as point b 'b - Go back to point b

vim fil

Print the contents of a file:

cat filename.txt

Pipe the contents of the file to less, so you can view it one page at a time:

cat filename

In linux, standard input refers to the stream of bits that come from your keyboard.

Standard output refers to the stream of bits that appear on you

Want to know how to run two or more linux commands sequentially? It's simple: use the semicolon ;.

For instance:

cd;ls

This will change the

What's the difference between a great programmer who acts cool around girls and a great programmer who does not use version control?

Nothing--they

You can easily grab a file off a server from the command line using secure copy:

scp user@domain.com:/home/user/fileyouwant.txt fileyouwant.txt

Just hit ctrl+l

grep is to find what sed is to replace.

Say you noticed a few typos in a file. Say you typed imposible instead of impossible a few times in a file

Display the current unix timestamp:

date +%s

Handy way to view it from the command line.

$ FIVE=5 $ echo $FIVE 5 $ echo "The number five is $FIVE"

Variable scope

A shell script will launch a new shell that has a fresh scope.

I have used the same Gmail address as my main email for over 5 years.

Since then:

I've made dozens of other emails that forward to this address. I'

Add these to your .bash_profile to speed up common tasks:

alias apr='sudo ./usr/sbin/apachectl restart' # restart apache alias www='cd /var/www/html/

the "ls" command lists all files and directories. What if you just wanted to list the directories?

ls -l | egrep '^d'

Add this to your .bash_profile

The beep on tab completion in cygwin can be annoying. Here's how to turn it off:

vim ~/.inputrc

(Then add or uncomment this line)

set bell-style no

If you're using a library from git in another project, you may want to download it without the history. Here's how:

git clone --depth 1 your_repo_url

Symbolic links are simple and can save you time.

Here's all you need to know:

ln -s actual_file_or_directory new_symbolic_link_name

Let's do a real

Creating a new user in Linux is dead simple.

useradd bob

passwd bob

This adds a user "bob" and then prompts you to enter a password.

Using aliases in Linux can save you a lot of time. Here's an example:

alias www='cd /var/www/html/'

Instead of typing "cd /var/www/html/" to enter y

Gmail encourages users to "search not sort". I do that.

Email works great for search. For files though, sorting is often better.

I have well over 20

Say you want to get just the source code of a git repository without all the history(without the ".git" directory). Use this:

git clone --depth 1 git

Here are the programs I use everyday, every week, and every month.

What software do you use the most? What are your "must haves"?

My Machines

My p

Permission problems driving you crazy? Here's a common command to fix them:

chmod -R 755 directoryname

Change the file permissions of all directorie

Say you're looking for all files starting with the word "breck". Using the linux "find" command, it's simple:

find -name "breck*"

Will search the cu

cron lets you schedule linux commands to execute on a regular basis.

For instance, say we want to run the command "wget http://yourdomain.com/backup.

grep lets you search through multiple text files at once.

I recently removed a feature from a project and wanted to make sure I removed all referen

rsync is a nifty little tool that can deploy a website to a testing or production server.

Here's a one line command to deploy brecksblog:

rsyn

On your server:

vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Make sure allow rsa and the other RSA lines are uncommented

service sshd restart

Make sure the fi

I had trouble getting VIM behaving as expected under Cygwin.

Specifically, the backspace and arrow keys were behaving badly in insert mode.

The solu

I constantly want to share little coding tidbits, snippets, or stories on how to solve specific little coding problems. Instead of clogging up the mai