user@bkphost:/tmp$ cat test.txt As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew i12311231231231 HOSTA As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew user@bkphost:/tmp$ echo $h HOSTA user@bkphost:/tmp$ echo $k ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2 root@HOSTA user@bkphost:/tmp$ sed -i "s#.*$h#$k#gI" test.txt user@bkphost:/tmp$ cat test.txt As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2 root@HOSTA As123312123 asdasdadasqsef3w4rfweweweffwerfew