touch Command

The touch command in Linux is used to create new, empty files or update the timestamps of existing files. It is also commonly used to create a placeholder file, or to ensure that a file exists before attempting to perform operations on it.

Example:

touch file.txt

This command will create a new, empty file named “file.txt” in the current directory, or update the timestamp of an existing file with the same name.

Another example:

touch -a file.txt

This command will update the access timestamp of the file named “file.txt”, without modifying the file’s content.

You can also use the following options to customize the touch command:

-c: Don’t create the file if it doesn’t already exist.
-m: Update the modification timestamp instead of the access timestamp.
-r [file]: Use the timestamp of the specified file instead of the current time.

Example:

touch -t 202005012359.30 file.txt

This command will change the timestamp of the file “file.txt” to May 1, 2020 11:59:30 PM

Another example:

touch -r file1.txt file2.txt

This command will change the timestamp of file2.txt to the same as file1.txt

Please note that, if the directory in which the file is to be created does not have write permissions, touch command will not be able to create a new file.

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Other Linux Commands

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Other Linux Commands

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