Linux Command to get Domain Name from URL

Posted on by Noah Belkacem

Introduction

Working with URLs in a Linux environment often requires extracting specific components, such as the domain name. This tutorial will guide you through the process of using Linux commands to extract the domain name from a URL, providing detailed instructions, examples, and additional tips for a comprehensive understanding.

Prerequisites

Before we start, ensure you have the following:

  • A Linux operating system (such as Ubuntu, CentOS, or Debian)
  • Access to a terminal or command line interface

Understanding URLs

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network. A URL is typically composed of the following components:

  • Protocol (http or https)
  • Domain name (example.com)
  • Path (/path)

In this tutorial, we will focus on extracting the domain name from a URL.

Using the ‘cut’ Command

The ‘cut’ command is a powerful tool in Linux used for text manipulation. Here’s how you can use it to extract the domain name from a URL:

  1. Open your terminal or command line interface.
  2. Type in the following command:
$ echo "https://www.example.com" | cut -d'/' -f3

This command uses the ‘echo’ command to print the URL, which is then piped to the ‘cut’ command. The ‘-d’ option specifies the delimiter (in this case, the forward slash ‘/’), and the ‘-f’ option specifies the field to extract (the third field, which is the domain name).

After running the command, the domain name will be displayed in the terminal:

www.example.com

Using the ‘awk’ Command

‘awk’ is another versatile text processing tool in Linux. Here’s how you can use it to extract the domain name from a URL:

  1. Open your terminal or command line interface.
  2. Type in the following command:
$ echo "https://www.example.com" | awk -F/ '{print $3}'

This command uses the ‘echo’ command to print the URL, which is then piped to the ‘awk’ command. The ‘-F’ option specifies the field separator (in this case, the forward slash ‘/’), and the ‘{print $3}’ part instructs ‘awk’ to print the third field (the domain name).

After running the command, the domain name will be displayed in the terminal:

www.example.com

Additional Tips

Here are some additional tips to help you get the most out of these commands:

  • You can use these commands in scripts to automate the extraction of domain names from URLs.
  • If the URL does not start with ‘http://’ or ‘https://’, you will need to adjust the field number accordingly.
  • You can also use these commands to extract other parts of the URL by changing the field number.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I use these commands on any Linux distribution?

Yes, the ‘cut’ and ‘awk’ commands are standard on all Linux distributions.

2. Can I extract other parts of the URL using these commands?

Absolutely! You can modify the field number (the number after ‘-f’ or ‘$’) to extract different parts of the URL. For example, changing it to 2 will give you the protocol (http or https), and changing it to 4 will give you the path after the domain name.

3. What if the URL does not start with ‘http://’ or ‘https://’

If the URL does not start with ‘http://’ or ‘https://’, you will need to adjust the field number accordingly. For example, if the URL is ‘www.example.com/path’, you would use ‘-f1’ with the ‘cut’ command or ‘$1’ with the ‘awk’ command to extract the domain name.

Conclusion

Extracting the domain name from a URL in Linux is a straightforward task that can be accomplished using the ‘cut’ or ‘awk’ command. This tutorial has provided you with the knowledge and examples to do this effectively. Remember to practice and experiment with different URLs to become more comfortable with these commands. Happy extracting!