How to Show Progress Bar for dd Command in Linux

This post will guide you how to show progress while using dd command in Linux. How do I monitor the progress of dd command. when you want to copy the content of a hardware disk to another or a big file to another file using dd command, there is nothing to tell you of its progresses. It just sits there at the cursor until the comand finally finishes. This tutorial explains two methods to show progress bar for dd command or linux command.

• Linux dd Command
• Linux pv Command
• Show Progress of dd Command
• Show Progress of dd or other Linux Command Using Pv

Linux dd Command

dd command can be used to copy a file, converting and formatting according to the operands on Linux.

Linux pv Command

pv command can be used to monitor the progress of data through a pipe. pv allows a user to see the progress of data through a pipeline, by giving information such as time elapsed, percentage completed (with progress bar), current throughput rate, total data transferred, and ETA.

Show Progress of dd Command

If you want to show progress using dd command, and you need to use gnu dd command from coreutils version 8.24 or above, and then pass the status=progress option to dd command so that to dispaly the progress on your Linux system. the below is a example for dd command to show progress:

dd if=/dev/unrandom of=/dev/null status=progress

Outputs:

[root@localhost ~]# dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/null status=progress
1550493696 bytes (1.6 GB) copied, 13.000031 s, 119 MB/s

To check the version of coreutils on your Linux system, and you just need to issue the following command:

$ dd --version

outputs:

[root@localhost ~]# dd --version
dd (coreutils) 8.24
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, and Stuart Kemp.

If you are not able to install the latest version of coreutils package through your default repository of Linux system, and you can install it by compling source package of coreutils with the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/coreutils/coreutils-8.24.tar.xz
tar -xf coreutils-8.24.tar.xz
cd coreutils-8.24
./configure && make -j $(nproc)

Show Progress of dd or other Linux Command Using Pv

You can also use another tool named pv to monitor the progress of dd command and check its status. before using it, and you need to install it by using the following command, type:

For Ubuntu or Debian Linux:

$ sudo apt install pv

For CentOS or Redhat Linux:

$ sudo yum install pv

outputs:

[root@localhost ~]# yum install pv
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, langpacks
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirrors.aliyun.com
* centos-sclo-rh: mirrors.aliyun.com
* centos-sclo-sclo: mirrors.ustc.edu.cn
* extras: mirrors.aliyun.com
* updates: mirrors.aliyun.com
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package pv.x86_64 0:1.4.6-1.el7 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================================================
Installing:
pv x86_64 1.4.6-1.el7 epel 47 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 1 Package

Total download size: 47 k
Installed size: 93 k
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
pv-1.4.6-1.el7.x86_64.rpm | 47 kB 00:00:00
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
Installing : pv-1.4.6-1.el7.x86_64 1/1
Verifying : pv-1.4.6-1.el7.x86_64 1/1

Installed:
pv.x86_64 0:1.4.6-1.el7

Complete!

To show progress bar using pv command for dd command, and you need to put pv command between input and output only dd commands. Let’s see the below dd command example:

$ dd if=/dev/urandom | pv | dd of=/dev/null

Outputs:

[root@localhost ~]# dd if=/dev/urandom | pv | dd of=/dev/null
244MiB 0:00:03 [82.1MiB/s] [ <=> ]


Conclusion

You should know that how to use pv command to display progress bar while using dd command or other Linux commands on your Ubuntu or Debian Linux. If you want to see more detailed information about pv or dd command, you can use the following commands:

$ man pv
$ man dd