Linux rename.ul Command

What is Linux rename.ul Command?

In this tutorial we learn how to use rename.ul command in Linux. rename.ul command is a utility used for renaming multiple files or directories based on a specified expression and replacement. It is part of the util-linux package.

Unlike the mv command, which renames one file at a time or moves files, rename.ul allows you to apply a substitution rule across many files simultaneously, making it suitable for bulk renaming tasks.

rename.ul Syntax

rename [options] expression replacement file...

Important Considerations and Safety:

No Safeguards by Default: The rename.ul command has no built-in safeguards. If you have permission to rewrite file names, the command will perform the action without prompting, which can lead to drastic and irreversible changes, especially when run as root.
Dry Run (--no-act or -n): It is highly recommended to always test your rename.ul commands using the --no-act (or -n) option first. This performs a dry run, showing what changes would occur without actually modifying any files. Only after verifying the output should you remove this option and execute the command for real.
No Directory Creation: rename.ul only renames existing files or directories; it does not create new directory structures as part of the renaming process. For instance, renaming file.txt to newdir/file.txt will fail if newdir does not already exist.
Distinction from Perl rename: Be aware that there are multiple rename commands in Linux. The rename.ul command typically refers to the version from the util-linux package. Other distributions might have a different rename command, often a Perl-based script that uses Perl-compatible regular expressions (PCRE) with s/pattern/replacement/ syntax. While rename.ul aims for compatibility with the Perl script’s s/old/new/ syntax, its direct usage is expression replacement file...

rename.ul Examples

rename.ul Command Manual / Help

We can use man and info command to see the manual page of rename.ul command. rename.ul command also have --help option to show list of options.

To open man page for rename.ul command we can use command below. To exit man or info page you can press q.

man rename.ul

To open info page for rename.ul command we can use command below.

info rename.ul

To open help page from rename.ul command we can run command below.

rename.ul --help