Sed replace specific line in file

Solution 1:

It is straightforward. Use the s command in sed to search and replace.

sed 's/# autologin=dgod/autologin=ubuntu/' /path/to/file

If you see what you want, add -i to change the file in place

sed -i 's/# autologin=dgod/autologin=ubuntu/' /path/to/file

Solution 2:

I've found the most effective way to do this is actually to use the change syntax to set the exact value you want unless you are explicitly trying to enable a two way toggle. You can use this to change as well as uncomment a line no matter how it is commented, with # or // or <!--.

sed 's%searchTerm=% c searchTerm=desiredValue%' targetFile.txt