How to make command line shortcuts

**rosslaird** · November 16th, 2005

I ssh into a remote server several times each day. I dutifully type in:

ssh myusername@remotehostname:/dir/I'm/looking/for.

This takes forever. Is there a way to shortcut the typing (I already have password-less login configured, so at least that is quicker). Even just a shortcut for the username and hostname would be good. I do use the up arrow to find the previous entry, but often I've done dozens of other commands since I logged into the server, so sometimes the up arrow repeating takes longer than the typing...

I'd like to be able to type: ssh web

Thanks.

Ross

**DJ_Max** · November 16th, 2005

You could add a line such as

Code:

export WEB=myusername@remotehostname:/dir/I'm/looking/for

In your ~/.bashrc file. (If you edit this in a console window, you must open a new one for changes to take effect.)

Then you can do

Code:

ssh $WEB

**Retrix** · November 16th, 2005

Bash has a number of ways to reduce typing...

First of all is aliases. Add something like the following to your ~/.bashrc file:
alias sshtox='ssh user@remote:/dir/to/be/in'
Logout and back in (or type 'source ~/.bashrc' at a shell) and you can now perform the command by just typing 'sshtox'.

Another handy trick is to use Ctrl+r. This does a search through your recently typed commands. Hit Ctrl+r and start typing a part of the command you remember typing and bash will find it for you. Hit Ctrl+r again to scroll through the choices.

Alternatively, DJ_Max's suggestion is just as valid.

**toojays** · November 16th, 2005

In general, Retrix's suggestion of using a bash alias is a good one. For the specific case of typing "ssh web" to get to your webserver, check out the documentation for ssh_config. You can modify your ssh config file so that it applies specific options when you ask to ssh to "web".