UNIX/LINUX
Command
Reference
Sheet
File
Commands
Process
Management
cat –
concatenates
and
displays
files at/batch–
execute
commands
at
a
later
time
cat > file –
places
standard
input
into
file bg –
lists
stopped
or
background
jobs;
resume
a
cd –
change
current
directory stopped
job
in
the
background
cmp –
compares
two
files cron –
clock
daemon
that
executes
commands
at
cp –
copies
a
file
or
a
directory specified
dates
and
times
cut –
removes
columns
or
fields
from
the
specified
crontab –
modifies
the
user's
crontab
file,
which
is
file(s) used
by
cron
diff –
displays
line‐by‐line
differences
between
two
fg –
brings
the
specified
job
to
foreground
text
files kill pid –
kill
process
id pid
head –
displays
the
first
lines
of
the
specified
file(s) killall proc –
kill
all
processes
named
proc1
join –
joins
two
files nice –
invoke
a
command
with
an
altered
scheduling
jot –
print
sequential
or
random
data priority
ln –
make
hard
or
symbolic
links
to
files ps –
display
your
currently
active
processes
ls -al –
formatted
listing
with
hidden
files renice –
alter
priority
of
running
processes
ls –
directory
listing top –
display
all
running
processes
mkdir dir –
create
a
directory dir
more/less –
output
the
contents
of
the
specified
File
&
Group
Permissions
file(s)
in
pages chmod octal file –
change
the
permissions
of
mv –
rename
or
move
a
file file
to
octal,
which
can
be
found
separately
for
nl –
put
line
numbers
on
a
file user,
group,
and
world
by
adding:
od –
sequentially
copies
each
file
to
standard
output,
•
4
–
read
(r)
displaying
it
according
to
the
specified
arguments;
for
•
2
–
write
(w)
example,
in
hexadecimal
(often
useful
in
conjunction
•
1
–
execute
(x)
with
diff) Examples:
paste –
merge
same
lines
of
several
files
or
chmod 777 –
read,
write,
execute
for
all
subsequent
lines
of
one
file
chmod 755
–
rwx
for
owner,
rx
for
group
and
world
pr –
produces
a
printed
listing
of
one
or
more
files
For
more
options,
see man chmod.
suitable
for
printing chgrp –
change
the
group‐ID
of
the
specified
files
or
pwd –
print
current
working
directory directories
rm –
remove
the
specified
file(s);
using
the
-rf
flag
groups –
show
group
memberships
allows
a
directory
to
be
removed1
Searching
sort –
sort,
merge
or
sequence
check
text
files
grep –
search
for
a
pattern
in
the
specified
files
split –
split
a
file
into
pieces
command | grep pattern
–
search
for
pattern
tail –
displays
the
last
lines
of
the
specified
file(s)
in
the
output
of
command
tail -f file –
output
the
contents
of
file
as
it
find file –
find
all
instances
of
file (UNIX)
grows,
starting
with
the
last
10
lines
locate file –
find
all
instances
of
file
touch –
change
file
access
and
modification
times;
xargs ‐
construct
argument
lists
and
invoke
utility
can
be
used
to
create
a
new
0‐byte
(empty)
file
tr –
translate
characters
from
one
string
to
another Compression
uniq –
report
or
filter
out
repeated
lines
in
a
file You
can
find
a
number
of
compression
and
wc –
display
a
count
of
lines,
words
and
characters
in
decompression
utilities.
Check
the
man
pages
for
tar,
a
file compress/uncompress,
gzip/gunzip
and
zip/unzip.
Others
are
also
available.
SSH
&
Secure
File
Copying
scp –
copies
files
between
hosts
on
a
network
tar cf [Link] files –
create
a
tar
named
sftp –
an
interactive
file
transfer
program
[Link]
containing
files
ssh user@host –
connect
to host
as
user
tar xf [Link] –
extract
the
files
from
ssh-copy-id user@host –
add
your
key
to
[Link]
host
for
user
to
enable
a
keyed
or
passwordless
gzip file –
compresses
file
and
renames
it
to
login [Link]
gunzip [Link] –
decompresses [Link]
back
to
file
1
Use with extreme caution!
UNIX/LINUX
Command
Reference
Sheet
Version
Control
.snapshot –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
A
backup
system
is
See
the
manual
pages
for
cvs,
svn
or
rcs.
in
place
in
the
[Link]
and
[Link]
environments
where
hourly,
daily,
weekly
and
System
Information
monthly
backups
are
made.
See
absolute –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
convert
file
names
to
[Link]
Snapshots
absolute
path
names
alias –
create
a
pseudonym
for
a
command
or
absolute `which app` –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
series
of
commands
show
the
full
path
to
the app
that
will
be
run
by
apropos
–
locate
commands
by
keyword
lookup
default
clear –
clear
the
terminal
screen,
if
possible
cal –
show
this
month's
calendar
dos2unix
–
convert
text
file
from
DOS
format
to
ISO
chfn –
change
the
user's
finger
information
format
date –
show
the
current
date
and
time
init_home –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
reinitialize
your
diskquota –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
display
the
user's
home
directory
disk
quota
ispell –
interactive
spelling
checking
du –
show
disk
usage
of
each
file
,
recursively
lock –
lock
a
terminal
when
you
are
away
finger user –
display
information
about user
man ascii –
displays
the
map
of
the
ASCII
history –
displays
the
list
of
recently
entered
character
set
commands
oed –
look
things
up
in
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary
hostselect –
consult
a
configuration
file
to
return
script –
makes
a
typescript
of
everything
printed
an
optimal
host
name
based
upon
the
specified
on
your
terminal.
attribute
scriptfix – clean
up
script
output
files
lpr –
submit
a
print
request
spell –
outputs
words
from
the
named
documents
lpq –
display
the
contents
of
a
print
queue
that
are
not
in
the
spelling
list
nor
derivable
from
man command –
show
the
manual
for
command
words
in
the
spelling
list
mesg –
permit
or
deny
messages
unalias –
remove
a
pseudonym
for
a
command
or
passwd –
change
the
user's
password
series
of
commands
ruptime –
show
current
uptime
of
other
hosts
unix2dos – convert
text
file
from
ISO
format
to
uname -a –
show
kernel
information
DOS
format
uptime –
show
current
uptime
xlock
–
locks
the
local
X
display
until
a
password
is
w –
display
who
is
online
entered
whereis app –
show
possible
locations
of
app
which app –
show
which
app
will
be
run
by
default Shortcuts
whoami –
who
you
are
logged
in
as Ctrl+C –
halts
the
current
command
Ctrl+Z –
stops
the
current
command,
resume
with
Compilation
&
Debugging
fg
in
the
foreground
or
bg
in
the
background
ddd –
graphical
front
end
to
gdb
Ctrl+D –
log
out
of
current
session,
similar
to
gcc –
GNU
project
C
and
C++
compiler
exit;
used
to
signal
end‐of‐file
when
running
an
g++ –
front‐end
to
gcc
to
explicitly
compile
C++
code application
that
reads
from
standard
input
gdb –
GNU
debugger Ctrl+W –
erases
one
word
in
the
current
line
gmake –
GNU
version
of
make Ctrl+U –
erases
the
whole
line
make – utility
to
maintain
groups
of
programs Ctrl+R –
type
to
bring
up
a
recent
command
xxgdb –
graphical
front
end
to
gdb;
exists
on
cpu- ^pre1^pre2 –
repeats
the
last
command
with
linux
leading
text
pre1
replaced
with
pre2
Generally
Useful
Tools
!:gs/pre1/pre2–
repeats
the
last
command
with
MFCF FAQ ‐
located
at
all
occurrences
of
text
pre1
replaced
with
pre2
[Link] !! ‐
repeats
the
last
command
MFCF_FAQ !com
–
repeats
the
most
recent
command
entered
that
[Link] –
can
be
uniquely
identified
as
starting
with
com
a
list
of
the
servers
available
in
the
undergraduate
!num –
repeats
the
command
numbered
num
environment,
highlighting
the
round‐robin
server
exit –
log
out
of
current
session
names
(recommended
for
access
to
a
particular
server
type)