Quick Tip

Redirecting `stderr` to `stdout` for Unified Logging

Challenge: You’re running a script or command that produces output on both standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr), and you want to capture or process all of it together, for example, for logging purposes.

The Solution: Use the `2>&1` redirection operator.

your_command &> logfile.txt

Why it works: The `&>` operator is a shorthand that redirects both stdout (file descriptor 1) and stderr (file descriptor 2) to the specified file. This is cleaner than explicitly writing `your_command > logfile.txt 2>&1`.

Pro-Tip: To append both stdout and stderr to a log file, use `your_command &>> logfile.txt`.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 4/27/2026