whereis Command in Linux: Find Executable, Source Code and Manual

The whereis command in Linux searches the directories specified in the $PATH and $MANPATH variables for executables, source code, or manuals of a specified word.

Its most common options are:

• -b: search only for binaries;
• -m: search only for manuals;
• -s: search only for source code

Example:

$ whereis ifconfigifconfig: /sbin/ifconfig /usr/share/man/man8/ifconfig.8.gz

The whereis command is useful for showing the full path of commands that are in the directories listed in the PATH variable.

In some situations, when there is more than one version of a program installed, it's good to use whereis to find out which executable the shell invokes.

Another example:

$ whereis phpphp: /usr/bin/php /usr/lib64/php /etc/php.d /etc/php.ini /usr/include/php /usr/share/php /usr/share/man/man1/php.1.gz

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