In the world of Linux, the split command is a powerful tool used to split or break large files into smaller pieces. This command comes in handy when dealing with large log and archive files that are difficult to handle as a whole. With the split command, you can split files based on the number of lines or the file size, customize the output file names, and more. In this article, we will explore the various options and examples of using the split command in Linux, blending information from multiple sources​.

Splitting Files Based on Number of Lines

The split command allows you to split a file into smaller files based on the number of lines. By default, each split file contains 1000 lines. However, you can customize the number of lines per file using the -l option. For example, to split a file named index.txt into files with 4 lines each, you can use the following command:

split -l 4 index.txt split_file

This command will create multiple split files, each containing 4 lines​.

Verbose Mode and Customizing Suffix

When using the split command, you can enable the verbose mode to receive a diagnostic message each time a new split file is created. Simply use the --verbose option along with the command. This can be helpful when you want to track the progress of the split operation​​.

By default, the split output files are named with alphabetic suffixes like xaa, xab, and so on. However, you can change the suffix to numeric using the -d option. This will create split files with suffixes like x00, x01, and so on​.

Splitting Files Based on File Size

The split command also allows you to split files based on their size. You can specify the file size in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes using the -b option. For example, to split a file named tuxlap.txt into files of size 2 megabytes each, you can use the following command:

split -b 2M tuxlap.txt

This command will create multiple split files, each with a size of 2 megabytes​.

Customizing Output File Names

With the split command, you have the flexibility to customize the output file names. By default, the output files are named with a prefix followed by alphabetic or numeric suffixes. However, you can specify a custom prefix for the output files using the command syntax:

split {file_name} {prefix_name}

For example, to split a file named tuxlap.txt and create output files with the prefix split_file_, you can use the following command: