Miscellaneous
wall
Send a broadcast message to all logged-in users' terminals.
Synopsis
syntax
wall [OPTION]... [MESSAGE|FILE]
Examples
Broadcast a message to all users
wall 'System will reboot in 5 minutes'
Broadcast from pipe
echo 'Maintenance at 10pm' | wall
Send without header banner
wall -n 'Quick notice'
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -n | Suppress banner |
| -t | Timeout for write in seconds |
About wall
The `wall` command send a broadcast message to all logged-in users' terminals. Utility commands cover a broad range of everyday tasks from date manipulation and arithmetic to terminal control and system documentation.
These tools fill in the gaps between major categories and are frequently used in shell scripts, cron jobs, and interactive sessions. The command accepts 2 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man wall`).
The 3 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
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Other commands in the Miscellaneous category