Quick Tip

Redirecting `stderr` to `stdout` for Unified Logging

Challenge: When debugging complex shell scripts or monitoring multiple processes, you often encounter messages from both standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr). It’s cumbersome to track and aggregate these messages separately, especially when trying to capture them all in a single log file.

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

command_that_might_error &> output.log

Why it works: The `&>` operator is a shorthand for redirecting both stdout and stderr to a specified file. Alternatively, `2>&1` explicitly tells the shell to redirect file descriptor 2 (stderr) to file descriptor 1 (stdout), which can then be redirected elsewhere.

Pro-Tip: You can also use `command_that_might_error &>> output.log` to append both stdout and stderr to the log file instead of overwriting it.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 5/15/2026