With the command > file.txt 2> file2.txt, where do stdout and stderr go?

• A. stdout to screen, stderr to file2.txt
• B. stdout to file.txt, stderr to file2.txt
• C. stdout to file2.txt, stderr to file.txt
• D. stdout to file.txt, stderr to screen

Answer: (B)

Redirecting stdout and stderr uses the two standard file descriptors: 1 for stdout and 2 for stderr. The operator > sends stdout to a file (and truncates it), while 2> sends stderr to a file (also truncating it). In this line, stdout goes to file.txt and stderr goes to file2.txt. Since there’s no command to run, these redirections apply to the shell itself, so the shell’s own output and error messages will be written to those files instead of the screen. Both files will be created if they don’t exist, and truncated to zero length at the moment the redirections are established.