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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-30T11:21:06+00:00

I’d like a simple one liner with sed to update a java property value.

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I’d like a simple one liner with sed to update a java property value. Without knowing what the current setting of the java property is, and it may be empty)

before

example.java.property=previoussetting

after

example.java.property=desiredsetting
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  1. Editorial Team

    Assuming Linux Gnu sed, 1 solution would be

    Edits escaped ‘.’ chars i.e. s/example\.java.../ per correct comment by Kent

     replaceString=desiredsetting
 sed -i "s/\(example\.java\.property=\).*\$/\1${replaceString}/" java.properties

    If you’re using BSD sed on a Mac for instance, you’ll need to supply an argument to the -i to indicate the backup filename. Fortunately, you can use

     sed -i '' "s/\(example\.java\.property=\).*\$/\1${replaceString}/" java.properties

    as an argument, and avoid having to manage .bak files in your workflow. (BSD sed info added 2018-08-10)

    If your sed doesn’t honor the -i, then you have to manage tmp files, i.e.

        sed "s/\(example\.java\.property=\).*\$/\1${replaceString}/" java.properties > myTmp
    /bin/mv -f myTmp java.properties

    I hope this helps.

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