How to Use the rename Command on Linux

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The rename command is used to rename files and directories on Linux. The syntax for the rename command is as follows:

rename [OPTIONS] PATTERN NEW_NAME
The PATTERN is a regular expression that is used to match the files that you want to rename. The NEW_NAME is the new name that you want to give the files.

For example, to rename all files that end in .txt to .html, you would use the following command:

rename 's/\.txt$/.html/' *.txt
The rename command has a number of options that you can use to control how it works. For example, the -n option tells the rename command to not actually rename the files, but to only print out what it would do. This can be useful for testing the rename command before you actually use it to rename your files.

Here is a list of some of the most commonly used options for the rename command:

  • -n: Do not actually rename the files, but only print out what would be done.
  • -i: Interactive mode. Prompt before overwriting existing files.
  • -v: Verbose mode. Print out what is being done.
  • -s: Use a substitution expression instead of a regular expression.
  • -l: Replace the last occurrence of the pattern instead of the first one.
  • -c: Count the number of files that are renamed.
  • -f: Force the rename, even if the new file already exists.

For more information on the rename command, you can use the following command:

man rename