Linux banner Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, we will explore the Linux banner command, which allows you to display text in a large, ASCII-art style format. This can be useful for creating eye-catching messages or banners in the terminal. We will cover how to understand the purpose of the banner command, display custom messages, and customize the banner's appearance. The banner command is a versatile tool that can be used in terminal-based scripts or applications to add visual elements.

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Skills Graph

Understand the Purpose of the banner Command

In this step, we will explore the purpose and usage of the banner command in Linux. The banner command is a utility that allows you to display text in a large, ASCII-art style format, making it useful for creating eye-catching messages or banners in the terminal.

Let's begin by running the banner command without any arguments:

$ banner
Usage: banner [-w width] [-f font-file] string

The output shows the basic syntax of the banner command, which includes options to specify the width of the banner and the font file to use. However, if you run the command without any arguments, it will simply display the usage information.

To see the banner command in action, let's try displaying a simple message:

$ banner "Hello, World!"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

The banner command has taken the text "Hello, World!" and rendered it in a large, ASCII-art style format, making it easy to display prominent messages in the terminal.

The banner command can be a useful tool for creating custom banners, headers, or other visual elements in your terminal-based scripts or applications.

Display a Custom Message Using the banner Command

In this step, we will learn how to display a custom message using the banner command.

To display a custom message, simply pass the text you want to display as an argument to the banner command:

$ banner "Welcome to the Linux Lab!"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

You can also use the -f option to specify a different font file for the banner:

$ banner -f script "Linux Rocks!"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

In this example, we used the -f script option to display the message in a different font style.

You can also adjust the width of the banner using the -w option:

$ banner -w 40 "This is a wider banner!"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

By using the -w 40 option, we've increased the width of the banner to 40 characters.

The banner command provides a simple and effective way to display custom messages in a visually striking format within your terminal.

Customize the Banner's Appearance

In this final step, we will explore how to customize the appearance of the banner created by the banner command.

One way to customize the banner is by using different font files. The banner command comes with a default font, but you can specify a different font file using the -f option:

$ banner -f script "Custom Font"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

In this example, we used the -f script option to display the banner in a different font style.

You can also adjust the width of the banner using the -w option:

$ banner -w 60 "Wider Banner"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

In this example, we used the -w 60 option to increase the width of the banner to 60 characters.

You can also combine these options to create more complex banner designs:

$ banner -f script -w 40 "Customized Banner"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

In this final example, we used both the -f script and -w 40 options to create a customized banner with a different font and width.

The banner command provides a simple and flexible way to create visually striking text-based banners and headers for your terminal-based applications and scripts.

Summary

In this lab, we explored the purpose and usage of the Linux banner command. We learned how to display a custom message using the banner command, and how to customize the banner's appearance by specifying the width and font file. The banner command is a useful tool for creating eye-catching messages or banners in the terminal, and can be leveraged in terminal-based scripts or applications.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet