TestOut Linux Pro Practice Test 2025 - Free Linux Pro Practice Questions and Study Guide

The command used to search for a specific pattern in a file is 'grep'. This utility stands for "global regular expression print" and is designed specifically for searching text using patterns defined by regular expressions. When you execute 'grep' followed by the desired pattern and the filename, it scans through the file content and returns lines that match the specified pattern, making it an essential tool for text processing and data extraction in Linux environments.

In contrast, the 'find' command is used to search for files and directories within a filesystem based on certain criteria like name, type, modification time, etc. It does not search for text within files. The 'search' command does not exist as a standalone command in Linux; it's a generic term that doesn't specifically relate to pattern searching in files. Lastly, 'locate' is a command used to find files based on their names, leveraging a predefined database to quickly identify paths, rather than searching through the content of files.