Quick Tip

Redirect `stderr` to `stdout` for Unified Logging

Challenge: When running complex commands or scripts, you often get output on both standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr). This can make it difficult to capture all relevant information in a single log file.

The Solution: Use the `2>&1` redirection to send standard error to standard output.

your_command 2>&1 | tee output.log

Why it works: The `2` represents standard error, and `&1` represents standard output. By redirecting `2` to `1`, you are merging stderr into stdout before it’s piped to `tee` for simultaneous display and logging.

Pro-Tip: This is incredibly useful when piping the output of a command to another command like `grep` or `awk`, ensuring you don’t miss any error messages.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 5/6/2026