Increase reverse-i-search history length

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Is there a way to increase the default amount of history reverse-i-search (CTRL+R) keeps? In Ubuntu 16.04, it doesn't seem to have a very long "memory", sometimes even commands from yesterday are already gone from its history, ie. will not appear even after cycling through all entries with repeated CTRL+R.

I'm using Terminator as the console.

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

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up vote
1
down vote

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I'm using Terminator as the console.

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

I'm using Terminator as the console.

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

I'm using Terminator as the console.

command-line search terminator

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

asked Feb 14 at 9:26

Juha Untinen

1135

add a commentÂ |Â

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

up vote
1
down vote

accepted

The size of the history is specified with the two variables HISTSIZE (history of a single terminal session, saved in RAM) and HISTFILESIZE (size of the history file, usually ~/.bash_history). This size is set in number of lines in your ~/.bashrc file, e.g.:

HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=10000

This saves 1000 lines (= commands) per terminal session and 10000 in the history file.

The reverse-i-search searches the history of the current session as well as the history file, but it can't include commands from other sessions that are still opened.

Further reading:

How to change history size for ever?

How do I search my command-line history for commands I used before?

How do I access my Bash History?

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

It is really easy, just change your HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE variables in you .bashrc

HISTSIZE=-1
HISTFILESIZE=-1

In bash 4.3 and later you can also use HISTSIZE=-1 HISTFILESIZE=-1 to set it to be unlimited.

Consider that HISTSIZE is the number of lines or commands that are stored in memory in a history list while your bash session is ongoing.

HISTFILESIZE is the number of lines or commands that (a) are allowed in the history file at startup time of a session, and (b) are stored in the history file at the end of your bash session for use in future sessions.

Take a look at this link

Regards,

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

There is no time limit but rather a line or size limit on the history of the commandline.

You can modify that in your ~/.bashrc

export HISTSIZE=500000
export HISTFILESIZE=500000

Would mean a "memory" of 500.000 lines in your history, both currently (HISTSIZE) and written to your history file (HISTFILESIZE).

However, keep in mind that the file is only written when you exit a terminal.

You can reverse-i-search your commands in the same terminal, before the history is written to the history file, but cannot find your commands in any new terminals before you have not exited the original one!

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

1

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

add a commentÂ |Â

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3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

up vote
1
down vote

accepted

HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=10000

This saves 1000 lines (= commands) per terminal session and 10000 in the history file.

The reverse-i-search searches the history of the current session as well as the history file, but it can't include commands from other sessions that are still opened.

Further reading:

How to change history size for ever?

How do I search my command-line history for commands I used before?

How do I access my Bash History?

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

accepted

HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=10000

This saves 1000 lines (= commands) per terminal session and 10000 in the history file.

The reverse-i-search searches the history of the current session as well as the history file, but it can't include commands from other sessions that are still opened.

Further reading:

How to change history size for ever?

How do I search my command-line history for commands I used before?

How do I access my Bash History?

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

accepted

HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=10000

This saves 1000 lines (= commands) per terminal session and 10000 in the history file.

The reverse-i-search searches the history of the current session as well as the history file, but it can't include commands from other sessions that are still opened.

Further reading:

How to change history size for ever?

How do I search my command-line history for commands I used before?

How do I access my Bash History?

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=10000

This saves 1000 lines (= commands) per terminal session and 10000 in the history file.

The reverse-i-search searches the history of the current session as well as the history file, but it can't include commands from other sessions that are still opened.

Further reading:

How to change history size for ever?

How do I search my command-line history for commands I used before?

How do I access my Bash History?

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

edited Feb 14 at 9:46

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

answered Feb 14 at 9:40

dessert

20k55795

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

add a commentÂ |Â

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

Thanks, this solves the issue and you had the first answer.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:50

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

It is really easy, just change your HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE variables in you .bashrc

HISTSIZE=-1
HISTFILESIZE=-1

In bash 4.3 and later you can also use HISTSIZE=-1 HISTFILESIZE=-1 to set it to be unlimited.

Consider that HISTSIZE is the number of lines or commands that are stored in memory in a history list while your bash session is ongoing.

Take a look at this link

Regards,

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

It is really easy, just change your HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE variables in you .bashrc

HISTSIZE=-1
HISTFILESIZE=-1

In bash 4.3 and later you can also use HISTSIZE=-1 HISTFILESIZE=-1 to set it to be unlimited.

Consider that HISTSIZE is the number of lines or commands that are stored in memory in a history list while your bash session is ongoing.

Take a look at this link

Regards,

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

It is really easy, just change your HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE variables in you .bashrc

HISTSIZE=-1
HISTFILESIZE=-1

In bash 4.3 and later you can also use HISTSIZE=-1 HISTFILESIZE=-1 to set it to be unlimited.

Consider that HISTSIZE is the number of lines or commands that are stored in memory in a history list while your bash session is ongoing.

Take a look at this link

Regards,

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

It is really easy, just change your HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE variables in you .bashrc

HISTSIZE=-1
HISTFILESIZE=-1

In bash 4.3 and later you can also use HISTSIZE=-1 HISTFILESIZE=-1 to set it to be unlimited.

Consider that HISTSIZE is the number of lines or commands that are stored in memory in a history list while your bash session is ongoing.

Take a look at this link

Regards,

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

answered Feb 14 at 9:44

Alvaro NiÃ±o

2337

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

There is no time limit but rather a line or size limit on the history of the commandline.

You can modify that in your ~/.bashrc

export HISTSIZE=500000
export HISTFILESIZE=500000

Would mean a "memory" of 500.000 lines in your history, both currently (HISTSIZE) and written to your history file (HISTFILESIZE).

However, keep in mind that the file is only written when you exit a terminal.

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

1

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

There is no time limit but rather a line or size limit on the history of the commandline.

You can modify that in your ~/.bashrc

export HISTSIZE=500000
export HISTFILESIZE=500000

Would mean a "memory" of 500.000 lines in your history, both currently (HISTSIZE) and written to your history file (HISTFILESIZE).

However, keep in mind that the file is only written when you exit a terminal.

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

1

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

There is no time limit but rather a line or size limit on the history of the commandline.

You can modify that in your ~/.bashrc

export HISTSIZE=500000
export HISTFILESIZE=500000

Would mean a "memory" of 500.000 lines in your history, both currently (HISTSIZE) and written to your history file (HISTFILESIZE).

However, keep in mind that the file is only written when you exit a terminal.

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

There is no time limit but rather a line or size limit on the history of the commandline.

You can modify that in your ~/.bashrc

export HISTSIZE=500000
export HISTFILESIZE=500000

Would mean a "memory" of 500.000 lines in your history, both currently (HISTSIZE) and written to your history file (HISTFILESIZE).

However, keep in mind that the file is only written when you exit a terminal.

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

answered Feb 14 at 9:43

Robert Riedl

2,740623

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

1

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

add a commentÂ |Â

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

1

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

the file is only written when you exit a terminal. Ah, I think that explains it. I generally leave it "running" with the host OS (virtualbox) in hibernation. In my .bashrc there was HISTSIZE=1000 and HISTFILESIZE=2000 from some team template.
â€“Â Juha Untinen
Feb 14 at 9:48

history -a writes it "on demand", if you need it
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:51

There is also a hacky solution to write history immediately, with PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a" in the .bashrc described here. Although I'm not sure I can recommend that... what I would recommend is setting a HISTTIMEFORMAT like this export HISTTIMEFORMAT='[%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S] ' so you see exactly when you executed the command
â€“Â Robert Riedl
Feb 14 at 9:56

add a commentÂ |Â

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