If you're just beginning to work on a Unix system, the abundance of commands might prove daunting. To help orient you, the following lists present a small sampling of commands on various topics.
ftp | File transfer protocol. |
login | Sign on to Unix. |
mailx | Read or send mail. |
rlogin | Sign on to remote Unix. |
talk | Write to other terminals. |
telnet | Connect to another system. |
vacation | Respond to mail automatically. |
cmp | Compare two files, byte by byte. |
comm | Compare items in two sorted files. |
diff | Compare two files, line by line. |
diff3 | Compare three files. |
dircmp | Compare directories. |
sdiff | Compare two files, side by side. |
cat | Concatenate files or display them. |
cd | Change directory. |
chmod | Change access modes on files. |
cp | Copy files. |
csplit | Break files at specific locations. |
file | Determine a file's type. |
head | Show the first few lines of a file. |
ln | Create filename aliases. |
ls | List files or directories. |
mkdir | Create a directory. |
more | Display files by screenful. |
mv | Move or rename files or directories. |
pwd | Print working directory. |
rcp | Copy files to remote system. |
rm | Remove files. |
rmdir | Remove directories. |
split | Split files evenly. |
tail | Show the last few lines of a file. |
wc | Count lines, words, and characters. |
banner | Make posters from words. |
bc | Arbitrary precision calculator. |
cal | Display calendar. |
calendar | Check for reminders. |
clear | Clear the screen. |
man | Get information on a command. |
nice | Reduce a job's priority. |
nohup | Preserve a running job after logging out. |
passwd | Set your login password. |
script | Produce a transcript of your login session. |
spell | Report misspelled words. |
su | Become a superuser. |
cancel | Cancel a printer request. |
lp | Send to the printer. |
lpstat | Get printer status. |
pr | Format and paginate for printing. |
cb | C source code “beautifier.” |
cc | C compiler. |
cflow | C function flowchart. |
ctags | C function references (for vi). |
ctrace | C debugger using function call tracing. |
cxref | C cross-references. |
lint | C program analyzer. |
ld | Loader. |
lex | Lexical analyzer generator. |
make | Execute commands in a specified order. |
od | Dump input in various formats. |
strip | Remove data from an object file. |
truss | Trace signals and system calls. |
yacc | Parser generator. Can be used with lex. |
egrep | Extended version of grep. |
fgrep | Search files for literal words. |
find | Search the system for filenames. |
grep | Search files for text patterns. |
strings | Search binary files for text patterns. |
echo | Repeat command-line arguments on the output. |
expr | Perform arithmetic and comparisons. |
line | Read a line of input. |
printf | Format and print command-line arguments. |
sleep | Pause during processing. |
test | Test a condition. |
compress | Compress files to free up space. |
cpio | Copy archives in or out. |
gunzip | Expand compressed (.gz and .Z) files (preferred). |
gzcat | Display contents of compressed files (may be linked to zcat). |
gzip | Compress files to free up space (preferred). |
tar | Tape archiver. |
uncompress | Expand compressed (.Z) files. |
zcat | Display contents of compressed files. |
at | Execute commands later. |
chgrp | Change file group. |
chown | Change file owner. |
crontab | Automate commands. |
date | Display or set date. |
df | Show free disk space. |
du | Show disk usage. |
env | Show environment variables. |
finger | Display information about users. |
kill | Terminate a running command. |
ps | Show processes. |
stty | Set or display terminal settings. |
who | Show who is logged on. |
cut | Select columns for display. |
ex | Line editor underlying vi. |
fmt | Produce roughly uniform line lengths. |
join | Merge different columns into a database. |
nawk | New version of awk (pattern-matching language for textual database files). |
paste | Merge columns or switch order. |
sed | Noninteractive text editor. |
sort | Sort or merge files. |
tr | Translate (redefine) characters. |
uniq | Find repeated or unique lines in a file. |
vi | Visual text editor. |
xargs | Process many arguments in manageable portions. |
In SVR4, all but deroff are in the compatibility packages. Solaris comes bundled with a modern version of troff and its preprocessors (pic isn't included).
deroff | Remove troff codes. |
eqn | Preprocessor for equations. |
nroff | Formatter for terminal display. |
pic | Preprocessor for line graphics. |
refer | Preprocessor for bibliographic references. |
tbl | Preprocessor for tables. |
troff | Formatter for typesetting (including PostScript printers). |
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