what does “ 2>&1 ” mean?

• File descriptor 1 is the standard output (stdout).
• File descriptor 2 is the standard error (stderr).

Here is one way to remember this construct (although it is not entirely accurate): at first, 2>1 may look like a good way to redirect stderr to stdout. However, it will actually be interpreted as “redirect stderr to a file named 1”. & indicates that what follows is a file descriptor and not a filename. So the construct becomes: 2>&1.

From https://stackoverflow.com/a/818284/8137610