The banner command in Linux prints text in large letters made of the # character, which is a quick way to put a loud message on the terminal. People use it for login messages and script headers.
The version on Debian and Ubuntu takes no options and prints only the first 10 characters of each word. This guide covers install steps, usage, version differences and better alternatives such as figlet.
Installing the banner command in Linux
To install banner use the apt command as shown below:
sudo apt install sysvbanner
Output:
The package lives in the universe repository on Ubuntu 24.04 and provides two commands with the same function (banner and sysvbanner). Debian’s man page credits Brian Wallis as the original author, with David Frey improving it and packaging it for Debian.
Install banner on Fedora
Fedora ships a different program under the same name. The package is called banner, and dnf (the package manager on Fedora and RHEL-based distros) installs it:
sudo dnf install banner
Fedora’s package page says this build copies the behavior of the banner tool from Solaris and AIX. It also lists an EPEL 8 build (EPEL is Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux), so RHEL-based systems can get it too.
Man page for banner command
To display the man page, use the man command:
man banner
Output:
The description says that it only displays the first 10 characters.
The same page is online as banner(1) on Debian Manpages, which helps if you want to read it before installing anything. It says the text must be plain ASCII (basic English letters, digits and symbols) and other characters show up as blank space.
For a one-line summary instead, the whatis command prints the short description from a man page. Run whatis banner after installing the package and it prints that single line without opening the full page.
Banner command syntax and limits
The syntax is a single line. Type banner, then one or more words of text:
banner text [text ...]
The Debian and Ubuntu version has no flags. It prints the first 10 characters of each word and puts every word on its own large line, so a long sentence becomes a stack of short lines.
Banner draws capital letters, so typing hello or HELLO gives the same banner. Digits work as well. The 10-character cap still applies to numbers. Anything outside ASCII turns into blank space.
Using the banner command
Let’s try using banner command to output some string to the terminal.
banner Hello
Output:
Let’s try printing another string.
banner LinuxForDevices
Output:
We can see that only the first 10 characters of the string are printed in the banner. This is in accordance with what we read above in the man page.
Luckily, we can output words into separate lines in the output using the banner command.
Output text across multiple lines using banner
Banner by default displays separate words across separate lines. So we just have to make sure that our string doesn’t have any word that has more than 10 characters.
We can see this by running the following command :
banner Linux For Devices
Quotes change the result. Writing banner "Linux For Devices" passes the whole phrase as a single argument, so banner applies the 10-character cap to the full phrase instead of to each word.
Use the banner command in scripts and login messages
Large block letters make banner handy for script headers and login messages. One classic use was printing separator pages between print jobs, as Wikipedia notes. Both uses reward short text.
Print a banner in a shell script
Put banner at the top of a script so each run announces itself in large letters:
#!/bin/bash
banner Backup
banner $(hostname)
echo "Starting the backup..."
Save it as backup.sh and run chmod +x backup.sh to make it executable, then start it with ./backup.sh. The shell replaces $(hostname) with the machine name before banner runs, so a name such as prod-web-01 prints as prod-web-0 because of the 10-character cap.
Show a banner after login with motd
Linux prints the /etc/motd file (the message of the day) after a successful login. Pipe banner through sudo tee so the write happens with root rights:
banner Welcome | sudo tee /etc/motd
Log in again to see the result. Check ls -l /etc/motd first. On some systems the file is a symlink (a shortcut to another file) and tee would overwrite the target instead. SSH can also show text before login through the Banner setting in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, which points to a file.
Banner command versions on different systems
Not every banner is the same program. Three versions turn up on Linux and Unix-like systems, so the options in an example you copy may not exist on your machine.
- Debian and Ubuntu (sysvbanner): no options, and each word is cut at 10 characters.
- BSD banner(6): written by Mark Horton for printers. The default width is 132 columns and the
-woption shrinks it for a narrow terminal. Several symbols such as<and>are undefined, according to the BSD man page. - Fedora banner: takes only a string. It cuts output that does not fit the terminal and reads the
COLUMNSvariable for the width.
Run man banner to see which one you have. Some online examples show a -f font option or a -w width option. The sysvbanner man page lists no options at all, so treat those examples with care if you are on Ubuntu.
Banner command alternatives: figlet and toilet
Banner cannot change fonts or colors. That is where figlet and toilet come in. Debian’s banner man page lists both as related tools. Install them with one of these commands (the first is for Debian and Ubuntu and the second is for Fedora):
sudo apt install figlet toilet
sudo dnf install figlet toilet
These examples show the most useful flags:
figlet "Hello Linux"
figlet -c "Hello Linux"
figlet -f banner "Hello"
toilet -f future "Hello Linux"
figlet reads fonts from /usr/share/figlet. The -c flag centers the text and -f picks a font including one named banner. toilet takes similar flags and adds color filters through -F. FIGlet is short for Frank, Ian and Glenn’s Letters.
Fix the banner command not found error
If the shell prints banner: command not found, the package is not installed yet. Run the install command for your distro from the earlier sections, then open a new terminal and try again.
which banner
dpkg -L sysvbanner
which banner prints the path of the program when the shell can find it. The whereis command does a similar lookup in its configured locations. dpkg -L sysvbanner lists every installed file so you can see where the binary landed.
On Ubuntu the package sits in the universe repository (the community-maintained software section). If apt cannot find it, enable that repository and refresh the package list:
sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update
Key takeaways
- The banner command in Linux prints text as large ASCII letters.
- Install it with sudo apt install sysvbanner on Debian and Ubuntu.
- On Fedora the package is called banner.
- The Debian version has no options.
- Each word is cut at 10 characters.
- Separate words print on separate lines.
- Pipe banner into sudo tee /etc/motd for a login message.
- Use figlet or toilet for fonts and colors.
Frequently asked questions
What does the banner command do in Linux?
It prints text as large letters on the terminal, drawn with # characters. The Debian and Ubuntu version takes no options and shows the first 10 characters of each word.
How do I install the banner command on Ubuntu?
Run sudo apt install sysvbanner. The package lives in Ubuntu’s universe repository and provides both the banner and sysvbanner commands, so either name works after installing.
Why does banner cut my text after 10 characters?
The Debian man page says banner prints only the first 10 characters of each word. Split long text into separate words or switch to figlet for longer text.
Can I change the font or size of the banner command?
No. The Debian and Ubuntu banner has no options, so you cannot change font or size. Use figlet -f to pick a font or toilet for colors.
How do I show a banner when a user logs in?
Write it to /etc/motd with banner Welcome | sudo tee /etc/motd. The message of the day appears after a successful login. Check that /etc/motd is not a symlink first.
Is the banner command available on Fedora?
Yes. Fedora packages a program called banner, installed with sudo dnf install banner. It imitates the Solaris and AIX version and takes only the text to print.
Conclusion
The banner command in Linux prints text as large ASCII letters. On Debian and Ubuntu you install it with sudo apt install sysvbanner. It takes no options and caps each word at 10 characters, so use figlet or toilet when you need fonts, colors or longer text.