Linux seq Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to seq on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including number sequences, range generation, and loop counters.

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Table of Contents

1. seq Basics
2. Number Sequences
3. Step Size
4. Formatting
5. Troubleshooting

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seq Basics

Generate Sequence

Basic usage:

# Generate sequence
seq 5

# Output:
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5

Range

Start and end:

# Range
seq 1 5

# Output: 1 to 5

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Number Sequences

Custom Range

Specify range:

# Custom range
seq 10 15

# Output: 10 to 15

Reverse Order

Countdown:

# Reverse
seq 5 1

# Output: 5 to 1 (backwards)

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Step Size

Increment

Step size:

# Step size
seq 1 2 10

# Format: start step end
# Output: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

Decimal Steps

Decimal increments:

# Decimal steps
seq 0 0.5 2

# Output: 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0

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Formatting

Separator

Custom separator:

# Custom separator
seq -s ", " 1 5

# -s = separator
# Output: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Format String

Format output:

# Format string
seq -f "file%02g.txt" 1 5

# -f = format
# Output: file01.txt, file02.txt, etc.

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Troubleshooting

seq Not Found

Check installation:

# seq is part of coreutils
# Usually pre-installed

# Check seq
which seq

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Summary

This guide covered seq usage, number sequences, and range generation for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

• Bash Scripting Guide - Scripting basics
• for Loops - Loop constructs
• seq Documentation: man seq

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.