Using the package manager

Different flavors of GNU/Linux distribution have different package-management utilities. If you are using a Debian-based GNU/Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, Mint, or Debian, then you can install it using the Advance Package Tool (APT) package manager, as follows:

[ shiwang@linux ~ ] $ sudo apt-get update -y
[ shiwang@linux ~ ] $ sudo apt-get install gawk -y

Similarly, to install AWK on an RPM-based GNU/Linux distribution, such as Fedora, CentOS, or RHEL, you can use the Yellowdog Updator Modified (YUM) package manager, as follows:

[ root@linux ~ ] # yum update -y 
[ root@linux ~ ] # yum install gawk -y

For installation of AWK on openSUSE, you can use the zypper (zypper command line) package-management utility, as follows:

[ root@linux ~ ] # zypper update -y
[ root@linux ~ ] # zypper install gawk -y

Once installation is finished, make sure AWK is accessible through the command line. We can check that using the which command, which will return the absolute path of AWK on our system:

[ root@linux ~ ] # which awk
/usr/bin/awk

You can also use awk --version to find the AWK version on our system:

 [ root@linux ~ ] # awk --version