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# Run Multiple 'Cmds' at once in Linux.
- URL: https://snubmonkey.com/run-multiple-cmds-at-once-in-linux/
- Published: 2023-05-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-04-16T22:32:04.000Z
- Description: This is the tenth in a series of posts featuring Protips, tips, tricks, hacks, and secrets provided by Our Team 🙊 — We want to share our top tips for the growing and thriving Linux community out there. Because sometimes you need a little help...
- Author: Gabriella Bennett
- Tags: tips, audio  🔊

If you’re a newbie in Linux, chances are that you might be looking for methods to execute multiple commands at a time on your terminal shell, such as downloading, installing applications, and restarting a service. Running two or more commands in one line can save you a good deal of time and help you become more efficient and productive.

🎧 
  
  
There are three different ways to combine and execute multiple commands in one line in Linux.

###   
The Semicolon (;) Operator  
  
The semicolon (*;*) operator allows you to execute multiple commands in succession, regardless of whether each previous command failed or not. This executes all commands one after another.

```
$ ls; pwd; cd venus; whoami; date; uptime

OUTPUT

1123.jpg  backup_cron.txt  Desktop
/home/uranus
cd: no such file or directory: venus     <<<
uranus
Fri 10 Dec 2021 01:07:13 PM UTC
 13:07:13 up 2 min,  1 user,  load average: 0.91, 0.68, 0.27
```

As you can see, if one command fails in the chain, the remaining commands will always execute as shown above in the OUTPUT.

###   
The Logical AND (&&) operator  
  
Sometimes you want to ensure, that the next command only runs when the previous command ends successfully. This is where the logical *AND* operator (*&&*) comes in handy.

```
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade

OUTPUT

```

Here, the first command `sudo apt update` first refreshes the package database cache; if there is no error it will then upgrade all the packages that have newer versions available.

###   
The Logical OR Operator (||)  
  
The logical *OR* operator will decide what to do if the prior command fails or returns an error.   
Similarly, if *cmd#1* fails, *cmd#2* runs. If cmd2 runs successfully, *cmd#3* won’t run.  

```
$ cd top || cd tips || ls -lhrt

OUTPUT

cd: no such file or directory: top     <<<
cd: no such file or directory: tips    <<<
total 4.0K
-rw-rw-r-- 1 uranus uranus    0 Oct 13 15:02 1123.jpg
drwxr-xr-x 7 uranus uranus 4.0K Oct 20 15:34 Desktop
-rw-rw-r-- 1 uranus uranus    0 Oct 29 17:58 backup_cron.txt

```

Here, *cmd#3* ran successfully because *cmd#1* and *#2* failed.

  
We hope this post has been useful to you.  
Stay tuned for more Linux tips!