{"id":125,"date":"2026-10-12T10:01:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2009\/04\/06\/vi-vim-editor-commands\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T10:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:01:45","slug":"vi-vim-editor-commands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/vi-vim-editor-commands\/","title":{"rendered":"VI\/Vim Command Reference for DevOps Engineers: Modes, Search, Replace, Files, and Shell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This guide is for DevOps engineers who edit configuration, scripts, and manifests directly on remote systems. It gives you a practical VI\/Vim command reference organized by real tasks, so you can move faster in terminal-only environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on 2009-04-06; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"VI<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quick terminal tip: exporting a man page to a text file<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The original post mentions man ls | col -b > ...<\/code>. In practice, provide an output filename. This writes a plain-text version of the man page (without backspace formatting characters):<\/p>\n\n\n

man ls | col -b > ls-manpage.txt<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
How Vim editing typically flows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Vim is modal. Most production editing follows a repeatable cycle: open, navigate, edit, search\/replace, save, and quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  • Normal mode<\/strong>: navigation and commands<\/li>
  • Insert mode<\/strong>: typing text<\/li>
  • Command-line mode<\/strong>: commands like :w<\/code>, :q<\/code>, and substitutions<\/li>
  • Visual mode<\/strong>: selecting text ranges<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \nflowchart TD\n    A[Open file in Vim] --> B[Navigate in normal mode]\n    B --> C[Search or jump to target]\n    C --> D[Enter insert mode and edit]\n    D --> E[Run substitute or format commands]\n    E --> F{Need shell command}\n    F -- yes --> G[Run :!cmd or :sh]\n    G --> H[Return to Vim]\n    H --> I[Write file]\n    F -- no --> I[Write file]\n    I --> J[Quit editor]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Save and quit commands compared<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Task<\/th>Command<\/th>When to use<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Quit (only if no unsaved changes)<\/td>:q<\/code><\/td>Safe exit when buffer is clean<\/td><\/tr>
    Force quit without saving<\/td>:q!<\/code> or ZQ<\/code><\/td>Discard local edits<\/td><\/tr>
    Write and quit<\/td>:wq<\/code> or ZZ<\/code><\/td>Standard save-and-exit flow<\/td><\/tr>
    Write to another file and exit<\/td>:wq {file}<\/code><\/td>Save as a new path, then leave<\/td><\/tr>
    Write selected range and quit<\/td>:[range]wq<\/code><\/td>Partial write workflows<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Essential Vim commands by task<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Open, read, and write files<\/h3>\n\n\n
    :e<\/span> filename<\/span>\n:e<\/span>!\n:w<\/span>\n:w<\/span> newfile<\/span>\n:1<\/span>,10 w<\/span> outfile<\/span>\n:1<\/span>,10 w<\/span> >> outfile<\/span>\n:r<\/span> infile<\/span>\n:23r<\/span> infile<\/span>\ngf<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Insert and edit text<\/h3>\n\n\n
    a\nA\ni\nI\no\nO\n\nCtrl+a\nCtrl+x<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Search patterns<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \/word\n?word\n\/jo[ha]n\n\/\\<fred\\<\/span>><\/span>\n\/\\d\\{4}\n\/^\\n\\{3}\n:bufdo \/searchstr\/<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Replace and bulk edits<\/h3>\n\n\n
    :%s\/old\/new<\/span>\/g\n:%s\/old\/new<\/span>\/gc\n:2<\/span>,35<\/span>s\/old\/new<\/span>\/g\n:5<\/span>,$s\/old\/new<\/span>\/g\n:%s\/^\/hello\/g<\/span>\n:%s\/$\/Harry\/g\n:%s\/ *$\/\/g<\/span>\n:g\/string\/d\n:v\/string\/d\n:%s\/\\r\/\/g<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Buffers, splits, tabs, and explorer<\/h3>\n\n\n
    :ls\n:b 2\n:e .\n:Sex\n:split filename\n:vsplit filename\n:hide\n:only\n\n:tabnew\ngt\n:tabfirst\n:tablast\n:tabm 2\n:tabdo %s\/foo\/bar\/g\n:tab ball\n\n:args\n:args *.php\n:grep expression *.php<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Run Unix commands from inside Vim<\/h3>\n\n\n
    :!pwd<\/span>\n:!ls<\/span>\n!!pwd<\/span>\n:r<\/span> !date<\/span>\n:sh<\/span>\nexit<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Useful options and syntax settings<\/h3>\n\n\n
    :set<\/span> all\n:set<\/span>\n:set<\/span> ai\n:set<\/span> noai\n:set<\/span> nu\n:set<\/span> nonu\n:set<\/span> list\n:set<\/span> nolist\n:set<\/span> showmode\n:set<\/span> noshowmode\n:set<\/span> ts=4\n:set<\/span> ic\n:set<\/span> noic\n:set<\/span> smartcase\n:set<\/span> autoindent\n:set<\/span> smartindent\n:set<\/span> shiftwidth=4\n:syntax on\n:syntax off\n:set<\/span> syntax=perl<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Best practices and common pitfalls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    • Use :set nu<\/code> and :set list<\/code> when editing YAML, Makefiles, or whitespace-sensitive files.<\/li>
    • Prefer :%s\/...\/...\/gc<\/code> over blind global replacement for production config changes.<\/li>
    • Remember that some commands are Vim-specific<\/strong> (tabs, netrw explorer) and may not exist in minimal vi<\/strong>.<\/li>
    • When you run shell commands via :!<\/code> or :sh<\/code>, verify your working directory and environment before writing changes.<\/li>
    • If you suspect external file changes, reload with :e!<\/code> before continuing edits.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      A practical VI\/Vim reference for day-to-day DevOps work on Linux and Unix systems. Learn the commands you actually use: editing flow, save\/quit, search\/replace, splits, tabs, buffers, and shell integration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[3066,378,3059,463,3065,3060,3064,3075,3078,3061,3085,3067,3069,3068,3063,3082,3073,3084,3079,3072,3071,3070,3081,3076,3080,3083,3074,3077,459,3062],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ides-and-editor","tag-all-features-commands-in-vi-vim-editor","tag-commands","tag-editor","tag-vi","tag-vi-and-vim-tutorial","tag-vi-vim-editor","tag-vi-vim-editor-advantages","tag-vi-vim-editor-alignment-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-auto-completion-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-commands","tag-vi-vim-editor-commands-cheatsheet","tag-vi-vim-editor-commands-guide","tag-vi-vim-editor-commands-reference","tag-vi-vim-editor-commands-tutorial","tag-vi-vim-editor-features","tag-vi-vim-editor-file-editing-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-file-explorer-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-file-inserting-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-marks-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-read-write-files-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-replace-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-search-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-syntax-highlighting-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-tabs-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-text-indent-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-text-inserting-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-unix-interaction-command","tag-vi-vim-editor-window-spliting-command","tag-vim","tag-what-is-vi-editor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78974,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/78974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}