Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9
Configuration files often contain more comments than settings. These commands show only the active lines. They work on any Linux system.
Hide comments and empty lines
grep -Ev '^\s*(#|$)' /etc/ssh/sshd_config # files that use # comments grep -Ev '^\s*(;|$)' /etc/php/8.3/cli/php.ini # PHP uses ; (on AlmaLinux/Rocky: /etc/php.ini) grep -Ev '^\s*(#|;|$)' /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf # both kinds
See the settings that are really in effect
Several programs can print their complete active configuration, including defaults and included files. This is more reliable than reading one file:
sshd -T # OpenSSH nginx -T # Nginx apachectl -S # Apache virtual hosts (httpd -S on AlmaLinux/Rocky) php -i | grep memory_limit # PHP (command-line settings) mariadbd --print-defaults # MariaDB options from config files
Tip: Before editing a configuration file, copy it: cp -a file file.bak.
Save a clean copy
To compare your settings with another server or with the defaults, write the active lines to a file and use diff:
grep -Ev '^\s*(#|$)' /etc/ssh/sshd_config > /tmp/sshd.active diff /tmp/sshd.active /tmp/sshd.other-server
