| command | action |
|---|---|
| man command | show the manual page for a command |
| man -k keyWord | list commands related to a keyword |
Some commands are built into the shell (csh). For these, see man csh.
| command | action |
|---|---|
| cat file1 file2 ... cat > fileName |
copy (concatenate) files to standard output copy standard input (keyboard) into fileName |
| cp oldFile newFile cp file1 file2 .. destDir |
copy a file copy lots of files to destination directory |
| mv oldName newName mv file1 file2 ... destDir |
move (rename) a file move lots of files to destination directory |
| ln origName linkName | link (add a new directory entry) for a file similar effect to cp |
| rm file1 file2 ... rm * |
remove (delete) a file(s) be careful with wildcharacters |
| chmod [ugo][+|-][rwx] | change the mode (protection codes) for a file(s) |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| more fileName less fileName |
show a file, one screenful at a time, on standard output |
| lpr fileName | print a file on a printer |
| vi fileName ee fileName pico fileName |
character based text editors |
| nedit fileName | windows based text editor |
| spell fileName ispell fileName |
spelling checkers ispell is interactive |
| wc fileName | count characters, words and lines in a file |
| grep pattern file(s) | search files for patterns and words |
| diff file1 file2 | find differences between files |
| sort file1 file2 .. | combine and sort the files contents |
| uniq fileName | remove duplicate lines |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| ls [-al] | list directory contents |
| cd destDir | change current working directory |
| pwd | show working directory |
| mkdir newDirName | make a new directory |
| rmdir dirName | remove a directory (it must be empty first) |
| rm -r dirName | remove a directory tree (all its files - be very careful) |
| find startDir -name fileName -print | search a directory tree for a file and print result |
| command | action |
| lp fileName | print file to default printer (itlab3) |
| lpr -Pprinter fileName | print to named printer printers are: itlab3, itlab5, englab |
| lpq lpq -Pprinter |
view queue of default printer view queue on named printer |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| exit ^D |
log out of session |
| passwd | change your password (this needs to be done on ironbark and redgum separately) |
| who | list current users on the computer |
| whodo | list current users and what they are doing |
| who am i | identify the current user |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| lynx | WWW browser (text based) |
| netscape netscape & |
WWW browser (windows based) |
| talk | talk to another user on the internet |
| elm | send & read electronic mail |
| ftp compName | transfer files across the internet |
| rlogin compName | remote login to another computer via your current login |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| cc, gcc, lint, cb, indent | C compilers, verifiers & formatter |
| CC fileName.c++ CC -o exeFile inFile.c++ g++ -o exeFile fileName.c++ |
C++ compilers |
| make fileName.mak | automatic system building |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| env | list the process environment (contents of variables) |
| setenv | set the value of an environment variable |
| ps | list processes on the computer |
| kill pid | kill (interrupt) a process |
| ^C | interrupt the current foreground process |
| ^Z | stop (freeze) the current foreground process (job) |
| stop | stop (freeze) a background process (job) |
| fg | resume a stopped job in the foreground |
| bg | resume a stopped job in the background |
| jobs | list your current jobs |
| nice | execute a job at low priority |
| time | time a command |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| sc | spreadsheet calculator |
| date | show date & time |
| du | show disk usage |
| df | show disk free space |
| script | capture a terminal session to a file |
| characters | action |
|---|---|
| echo | echo back the string entered, after any meta characters are processed |
| > file | redirect standard output to a file |
| < file | redirect standard input from a file |
| >> file | redirect standard output and append to a file |
| << mark | input from a here document (continues to next occurrence of mark) |
| c1 | c2 | pipe the standard output of command c1 to the standard input of c2. |
| * | match any string of characters |
| ? | match any one character |
| [xyz] | match one of x, y, or z |
| $var | replaced by the contents of the variable var |
| 'string' | string is literal (not interpreted) |
| c1 ; c2 | do command c2 after completing c1 |
| command & | do command as a background job, eg: netscape & |
| . | interpreted as the current working directory |
| .. | interpreted as the parent of the current working directory |
| ~ | interpreted as the user's home directory |
| command | action |
|---|---|
| set filec | enable filename completion |
| <Escape> | complete partly typed filename |
| history | list the last few commands used |
| !! | repeat the last command |
| !97 | repeat command no 97 (from history list) |
| !-3 | repeat third last command |
| !str | repeat last command which started with str |
| ^ttt^sss | substitute sss for ttt in last command, and redo |
| !97:s/ttt/sss/ | substitute sss for ttt in command 97, and redo |
This file was created by Peter Goddard.