How do I paste multi-line bash codes into terminal and run it all at once?

Question

I need to paste a multi-line bash code into terminal, but whenever I do, each line gets run as a separate command as soon as it gets pasted.

score 135 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 08 '20 at 21:39

135

Try putting \ at the end of each line before copying it.

Example:

echo "Hello world" && \
script_b.sh

echo $?

The exit code ($?) is now the full sequence of commands, and not just the last command.

edited Oct 08 '20 at 21:39

Melroy van den Berg

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answered Jul 15 '11 at 21:00

opsguy

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39

Note: trailing spaces will break it! – Max Reeder Jun 08 '18 at 01:38

TryTryAgain · Answer 2 · 2020-06-17T16:32:45.947

96

I'm really surprised this answer isn't offered here, I was in search of a solution to this question and I think this is the easiest approach, and more flexible/forgiving...

If you'd like to paste multiple lines from a website/text editor/etc., into bash, regardless of whether it's commands per line or a function or entire script... simply start with a ( and end with a ) and Enter, like in the following example:

If I had the following blob

function hello {
    echo Hello!
}
hello

You can paste and verify in a terminal using bash by:

Starting with (
Pasting your text, and pressing Enter (to make it pretty)... or not
Ending with a ) and pressing Enter

Example:

imac:~ home$ ( function hello {
>     echo Hello!
> }
> hello
> )
Hello!
imac:~ home$

The pasted text automatically gets continued with a prepending > for each line. I've tested with multiple lines with commands per line, functions and entire scripts. Hope this helps others save some time!

edited Jun 17 '20 at 16:32

answered Apr 02 '17 at 03:08

TryTryAgain

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6

easiest method IMO – Hobroker Jun 25 '17 at 03:16
1

@Toolkit for the simple things it will work as you described, but the solution I've offered will work for more complex situations (line breaks, multiple functions, entire scripts, etc.) – TryTryAgain Jan 09 '18 at 17:52
1

This runs the pasted commands in a subshell, so it often doesn't actually do what you want. You can use braces instead of parentheses to force it to run in the current shell; but really, just don't do either. The shell can cope. – tripleee Jan 31 '18 at 10:26
I also really like this option. – darul75 Sep 15 '22 at 06:51

score 47 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 02 '17 at 03:27

47

If you press C-x C-e command that will open your default editor which defined .bashrc, after that you can use all powerful features of your editor. When you save and exit, the lines will wait your enter.

If you want to define your editor, just write for Ex. EDITOR=emacs -nw or EDITOR=vi inside of ~/.bashrc

edited Apr 02 '17 at 03:27

mklement0

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answered Oct 10 '15 at 22:05

itirazimvar

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The technique is useful, but note that the editor must run _synchronously_ (as `emacs` and `vi` do), and on saving and exiting the commands are executed _instantly_. – mklement0 Apr 02 '17 at 03:28

score 20 · Answer 4 · answered May 02 '17 at 03:55

20

Add parenthesis around the lines. Example:

$ (
sudo apt-get update
dokku apps
dokku ps:stop APP # repeat to shut down each running app
sudo apt-get install -qq -y dokku herokuish sshcommand plugn
dokku ps:rebuildall # rebuilds all applications
)

answered May 02 '17 at 03:55

abrkn

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Do note, like paranthesis `(`, braces `{` would also work the same in the above example – GypsyCosmonaut Jul 16 '17 at 20:48
2

This seems to duplicate [an earlier answer on this page](https://stackoverflow.com/a/43164204/874188) – tripleee Jan 31 '18 at 10:26

score 19 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 15 '18 at 08:38

19

Another possibility:

bash << EOF
echo "Hello"
echo "World"
EOF

answered Oct 15 '18 at 08:38

Lenar Hoyt

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My favored method. Also, check out [this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/547990/356252) to see how to pipe/redirect when using heredocs – eltbus Oct 08 '21 at 07:48

score 19 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 16 '11 at 00:22

19

In addition to backslash, if a line ends with | or && or ||, it will be continued on the next line.

answered Jul 16 '11 at 00:22

glenn jackman

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score 7 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 06 '15 at 12:34

7

To prevent a long line of commands in a text file, I keep my copy-pase snippets like this:

echo a;\
echo b;\
echo c

edited Sep 06 '15 at 12:34

Gajus

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answered May 14 '14 at 18:48

nvd

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This answer seems to achieve the same as accepted answer with just 2 instead of 3 (&&\) characters. Why is the accepted answer so much preferable? – al-ash Nov 19 '20 at 18:27

score 2 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 17 '20 at 05:58

2

iTerm handles multiple-line command perfectly, it saves multiple-lines command as one command, then we can use Cmd+ Shift + ; to navigate the history.

Check more iTerm tips at Working effectively with iTerm

edited Jan 17 '20 at 05:58

J. Scott Elblein

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answered Jun 21 '18 at 00:03

jeffery.yuan

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score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 17 '21 at 18:40

2

I'm surprised no one's said this, but you can use fc to paste all the commands in an editor and run them at once

answered Dec 17 '21 at 18:40

Patrick Stetz

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An example would be helpful. – ragurney Sep 07 '22 at 16:19
I'm confused what an example would look like? You just type `fc` in the command line – Patrick Stetz Dec 21 '22 at 19:34
And what do you do after that? – majorgear Dec 28 '22 at 16:19
1

You paste all the commands you want to run and that's it. I wish I could give examples, but I think running `fc` in Terminal will show how simple it is – Patrick Stetz Dec 31 '22 at 22:41

Chris Allen · Answer 10 · 2022-02-12T15:25:17.220

So I think for very long command (namely compiling a file with llvm!) this has given me the most ease of us over the others Ive tried in the past. I use it all the time to thrash out a command in an editor over multiple lines:

cat | paste -sd " "  - | xargs echo

This will open up cat standard input in the terminal, paste in the code and follow up with ctrl-d (mentioned before this adds a EOF char and ends CAT process). Paste takes in the cat input and scoops up all multi lines into a space char. This will ONLY echo out the command.

To execute the command just add sh to the end:

cat | paste -sd " "  - | xargs echo | sh

Or alternatively I like to make the output an alias command, place in .zshrc

alias mcmd='cat | paste -sd " "  - | xargs echo'

then to execute

> mcmd | sh

this will open cat, paste in your multi line command, ctrl d and will execute the multi lines as a one line command :)

Example command

>    mcmd;
# now paste in your long command
> llvm-g++
    main.mm
    -o
    buildApp
    -w
    -g
    -std=c++14
    -L/System/Library/Frameworks/
    -framework
    CoreServices
     # now key press ctrl + d

whoop! outputs single line

 llvm-g++ main.mm -o buildApp -w -g -std=c++14 -L/System/Library/Frameworks/ -framework CoreServices

This helped me - I needed to paste a long list of arguments for a single command. I think there's other ways to do it, but this is useful for what I needed. — Mat Carlson, Dec 19 '22 at 18:57

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 09 '18 at 08:49

1

Try this way:

echo $( 
    cmd1
    cmd2
    ...
)

answered Feb 09 '18 at 08:49

voltento

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score -1 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 06 '15 at 15:04

-1

Try

out=$(cat)

Then paste your lines and press Ctrl-D (insert EOF character). All input till Ctrl-D will be redirected to cat's stdout.

answered Sep 06 '15 at 15:04

sspprroo

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try this: `$ out=$(cat) && eval "$out"`. hit enter after last line then CTRL+D as suggested above. – Mohamed Bana Mar 10 '17 at 03:09

score -1 · Answer 13 · answered Mar 27 '21 at 05:39

I have vi key bindings set in my shell. I don't recall, offhand, how I configured this. But when entering a command, I can switch from editing into command mode, type v and have the command automatically pop up in a vim session. Exiting the session (:wq) submits the command to bash for execution.

How do I paste multi-line bash codes into terminal and run it all at once?

13 Answers13

Example command

whoop! outputs single line

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