banner Command in Linux

Introduction

This lab delves into the Linux banner command, a handy utility for displaying text in large, visually appealing ASCII art. It's perfect for creating standout messages or banners directly in your terminal. We'll cover the command's purpose, how to display your own custom messages, and how to customize the banner's appearance. The banner command provides a simple yet powerful way to add visual flair to your command-line experience and can be integrated into terminal-based scripts.

Understand the Purpose of the banner Command

This step will guide you through understanding the core function and practical use of the banner command in Linux. The banner command is designed to present text in a large, ASCII art format, making it an ideal choice for generating noticeable messages or banners within the terminal environment.

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

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

The output showcases the basic syntax of the banner command. Options are available for setting the width and selecting the desired font file. Without any arguments, the command defaults to displaying this usage information.

To witness the banner command in action, let's display a common introductory message:

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

The banner command has taken the string "Hello, World!" and presented it in a large, ASCII art format. This technique is perfect for displaying prominent messages within the terminal.

The banner command serves as a valuable tool for generating custom banners, headers, or other visual elements to enhance your terminal-based scripts and applications, even those requiring root privileges or systemadmin tasks.

Display a Custom Message Using the banner Command

In this part, we'll explore the process of displaying your own custom messages using the banner command.

To display a message of your choice, simply provide the desired text as an argument to the banner command:

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

You can also utilize the -f option to specify a different font file for the banner's appearance:

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

In this case, we used the -f script option to display the message using a distinct font style, enhancing the visual appeal of our Linux banner.

The width of the banner can be adjusted using the -w option:

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

By specifying -w 40, we increased the banner's width to 40 characters, providing more space for the text.

The banner command presents a straightforward and effective method for displaying custom messages in a visually striking manner within your terminal session, ideal for systemadmin notifications or general Linux environment enhancements.

Customize the Banner's Appearance

In this final section, we'll explore the various ways to customize the visual appearance of banners generated by the banner command.

One customization approach involves selecting different font files. The banner command defaults to a specific font, but you can specify an alternative font using the -f option:

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

Here, we used -f script to display the banner using a different font style, personalizing the output.

Adjusting the banner's width is also possible using the -w option:

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

In this example, -w 60 increases the banner's width to 60 characters, accommodating longer text strings.

Combining these options unlocks more complex banner designs and customization:

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

This final example leverages both -f script and -w 40 to generate a customized banner featuring a specific font and width, demonstrating the flexibility of the command.

The banner command offers a simple yet flexible solution for creating visually striking text-based banners and headers for your terminal-based applications and scripts, proving useful for systemadmin messaging, enhancing Linux experiences, and general command-line aesthetics.

Summary

This lab introduced you to the purpose and practical use of the Linux banner command. You learned how to display custom messages using banner and customize the banner's appearance through width and font file specifications. The banner command provides a valuable tool for creating eye-catching messages and banners within the terminal, suitable for integration into terminal-based scripts and applications, enhancing the systemadmin or user experience in Linux environments.

400+ Linux Commands