The script command

There are two different questions here. The first is in the title:

How do I save terminal output to a file?

The second question is in the body:

How do I save the output of a command to a file?

All the answers posted here address the second question but none address the first question which has a great answer in Unix & Linux:

• Save all the terminal output to a file

This answer uses a little known command called script which saves all your shell’s output to a text file until you type exit. The command output still appears on your screen but also appears in the text file.

The process is simple. Use:

$ script ~/outputfile.txt
Script started, file is /home/rick/outputfile.txt
$ command1
$ command2
$ command3
$ exit
exit
Script done, file is /home/rick/outputfile.txt

Then look at your recorded output of commands 1, 2 & 3 with:

cat ~/outputfile.txt

This is similar to earlier answer of:

command |& tee ~/outputfile.txt

• But you don’t have to use |& tee ~/outputfile.txt after each commnd.
• The script command has added benefit (or disadvantage) of reloading ~/.bashrc when it starts.
• The script command shows the command prompt ($PS1) followed by the command(s) you entered.
• The script command records all the details in full color.

Send output to clipboard

Many times we want the output to go to the clipboard so we can paste it later. From this answer you can use:

cat ~/.bashrc | xclip -selection clipboard

Now you can use Ctrl+V in almost any application to paste the terminal output into your document. To paste the terminal output in the clipboard back into your terminal use Ctrl+Shift+V instead.