Compgen Command on Linux with Examples

The compgen command is a very handy tool available in major Linux distributions that can help you find your system aliases, shell built-ins, commands, directories, groups, jobs, users, etc.

In this article, you will learn how to use the compgen command with practical examples.

Tutorial Details

Listing All Aliases

Execute the following command to get the list of all aliases that refer to an existing command.

$ compgen -a

Output:

Listing the Names of Shell Built-In

The following command will list the shell’s built-in commands.

$ compgen -b

Output:

Listing the Names of All Commands

The following command will display a list of all commands that are executable from the command line or can be used in shell scripts.

$ compgen -c

Output:

Listing the Names of Directories

It will output all the visible and hidden directories (except files) in your current working directory.

$ compgen -d

Output:

Listing the Names of Exported Shell Variables

The following command will display the list of all shell environment variables for the logged-in user.

$ compgen -e

Output:

Listing All the Files and Directories

Unlike the “-d” flag, the following command will list all the files and directories in your current working directory.

$ compgen -f

Output:

Listing the Names of Groups

The following command will read the “/etc/group” file to give you the list of all groups in your system.

$ compgen -g

Output:

Listing the Names of Jobs

Check all the background jobs or suspended programs using the “Ctrl+z” shortcut key by executing the following command.

$ compgen -j

Output:

Listing the Names of Shell Reserved Words

The Linux shell reserves a few keywords that you are prohibited from using while creating functions, environment variables, files, or directories.

Execute the following command to get the list of all reserved keywords by shell:

$ compgen -k

Output:

Listing the Names of Service

The following command will display the list of system services that you can manage with the systemctl command.

$ compgen -s

Output:

Listing the Names of Users in Your System

The following command will read the “/etc/passwd” file to give you the list of usernames created by you or by the system services.

$ compgen -u

Output:

That’s all for now. We’ll talk to you in the next article.