Basic Unix Commands

Go to College of Engineering and Mathematics Home Page

Computer Facility
EMCF Web Design || EMCF Helpline || Support || Computer Lab Schedule || Student Computer
Requirements || Academic Information || Help for Basic UNIX Commands || HTML Tutorial || Room
Combinations || Change Your Password

Basic Unix Commands

More information on almost any of the commands that follow can be found
in the on-line manual pages. Type "man command-name" at the command
line to look at the manual page for the command "command-name".

Files

Environment

Display files in a directory :ls

Keep getting "Can"t open display: :0" :setenv

Copying files : cp

Display current environment variables: env

Delete file(s) : rm

Networking

What kind of file is this ? : file

Check your mail or mail someone : mail , elm,
pine

Where is this file ? : find , which, whereis

Compile a file : cc, cc++, g++, gcc, CC

Write message to persons screen: write

Debug a program : gdb, dbx, xgdb

Graphically display new mail xbiff

Whats in this file ? : more, less, cat

Information on a person : finger

Whats different with these two files ? diff, cmp

Information on people logged-on rwho

View a file in PostScript (.ps file): ghostview

Info on Printers : printers

file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (1 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

Edit a file : emacs, vi, jove

Printing a file : lpr

Change permission : chmod

Check the print queue : lpq

Finding man page : man -k

Cancel print jobs :lprm

Moving files : mv

Transfer files over Network : ftp, kermit

Did I spell that right?: spell, ispell

HOW DO I QUIT !? : logout

Information on Servers : rupall

Directories

Where am I now ?? : pwd

Moving around : cd , ln

Processes

What program is running now? jobs, ps

Passwords

Create a directory : mkdir

Delete a directory : rmdir

Change permissions to a directory : chmod

How much disk space do I have left ? quota -v

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD ! yppasswd

c++ {filename}
A compiler for the C++ programming language. Command line parameters are similar to the "cc"
compiler"s. A typical invocation might be "c++ -g file.cpp -o executablename -llib".
cat {filename}
Prints out ( to the screen ) the contents of the named file. Can also be used to concatenate files. Say
you want file1 and file2 to be all together in one file named file3. If file1 is first, then "cat file1
file2 > file3" will produce the correct file3.
cc
A compiler for the "C" programming language. "cc" is ANSI compatible on the SGI, IBM, and
newer Sun machines. You might try also try "gcc", GNU CC, which is also available on the SGI,
SUN, and IBM machines. A typical invocation might be "cc -g file.c -o executablename -llib".
file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (2 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

cd {dirname}
Change current directory. Without a "dirname", it will return you to your home directory.
Otherwise, it takes you to the directory named. "cd /" will take you to the root directory.
chmod {options}
Changes the permission modes of a file. If you type "ls -l" in a directory, you might get something
like this:
drwx-----drwxr-xr-drwxr-xr-x
-rw-r--r--rw-r--r--rwxr-xr-x

3
2
3
1
1
1

ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle

512
512
512
373
747
244

Jul 16 13:38 LaTeX/

Jun22 12:26 X/
Jul 13 16:29 Xroff/
Oct 3 1992 o.me
Nov 21 1992 profile
Jul 16 23:44 zap*

The first part of the line tells you the file"s permissions. For example, the "X" file permissions start
with a "d" which tells that it is a directory. The next three characters, "rwx" show that the owner
has read, write, and execute permissions on this file. The next three characters, "r-x" shows that
people in the same group have read and execute permission on the file. Finally, the last three
characters "r-" show that everyone else only has read permission on that file ( To be able to enter a
directory, you need read AND execute permission ). Users can use "chmod" to change these
permissions. If the user didn"t want anybody else to be able to enter the "X" directory, they would
change the permissions to look like those of the LaTeX directory, like this : "chmod og-rx X" - this
means remove the read ("r" ) and execute ("x") permissions from the group ("g") and others ("o").

cmp {file1} {file2}

Compares the contents of two files from eachother. Reports the first different character found, and
the line nummber.
cp {filename(s)}{path}
Copies files from one directory/filename to another. "cp f1 f2" makes a file "f2" identical to "f1".
"cp *.c src/" copies all files that end in ".c" into the "src" subdirectory.
ctags
Creates a tags file for use with ex and vi. A tags file gives the location of functions and type
definitions in a group of files. ex and vi use entries in the tags file to locate and display a
definition.
date
Shows current date and time.
dbx {executable}
file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (3 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

Source level debugger. In order to use this, you must use the "-g" option when compiling your
source code. Allows you to set break-points, single step through the program, etc.
diff {file1} {file2}
Displays all the differences between two files or directories to the screen.
elm {login-name}
Runs a screen oriented mail reader. With a "login-name", starts elm to send mail to "login-name".
Otherwise, it starts elm for an interactive session.
emacs {filename}
Runs the most recent version of the text editor named EMACS ( produced by the GNU project ). If
filename is present, it will start editing that file. Type "<CTRL>-x <CTRL>-h t" to start a tutorial.
"<CTRL>-x <CTRL>-c" will exit from emacs.
env
Prints out the values for all the current environment variables. Some typical environment variables
are "DISPLAY", "EDITOR", and "PRINTER".
xemacs {filename}
An X version of emacs.
file filename(s)
Looks at "filename(s)" and tells what type of files they are. This is useful in checking a file to be
sure that it is text before you "cat" it out ( using "cat" on binary files can be a bummer ). Example:
ertle@newton (55)> file *
useful.dvi: data
useful.hlp: English text
useful.tex: ascii text
xwin.dvi: data
xwin.tex: English text
ertle@newton (56)>

find
Searches the named directory and it"s sub-directories for files. Most frequently called like this:
find ./ -name "t*" -print
Which searches the current directory ( and all of its sub-directories ) for any files that begin with
the letter "t" and then prints them out. If you are looking for a specific filename, then replace "t*"
with "filename", and "find" will print out all incidences of this file.

file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (4 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

finger {login-name}
Without a "login-name", finger shows who is currently logged on the system, with limited
information about them. With a "login-name" you get more detailed info, along with anything that
is in that person"s ".plan" file.
ftp {address}
File Transfer Program. "ftp" transfers files to and from a remote network site. There are many ftpsites that will let you log in as "anonymous" and get software/data/documents from them for free.
After connecting, "ls" will print out the files in the current directory, and "get filename" will
transfer the named file into your local directory. Be sure to type "binary" before transferring nonascii ( executable, compressed, archived, etc ) files. To exit "ftp" type "bye". See also "xarchie".
g++
GNU project"s compiler for the C++ language. Parameters are similar to those of "cc". A typical
invocation might be "g++ -g filename.cpp -o executablename -llib". More information available
under "libg++" in the emacs information browser ( M-x info while in emacs ).
gcc
GNU project"s compiler for the C language. Command line parameters are mostly similar to those
of "cc". More information available under "gcc" in the emacs information browser ( M-x info
while in emacs ).
gdb
GNU project"s source level debugger. Must use the "-g" command line option when compiling to
use this debugger. This debugger is superior to dbx when called from inside emacs ( M-x gdb )
because it gives you a full-screen look at the source code instead of line by line, and allows you to
move around and make break-points in the source file. More information available under "gdb" in
the emacs information browser ( M-x info while in emacs ).
ghostview {filename.ps}
X PostScript previewer. PostScript is a text processing and graphics language, and ghostview is
handy for looking at the resulting page or picture before you send it to the printer.
gossip
Anonymous local message center.
ispell filename
Interactively checks the spelling of the named file, giving logical alternatives to the misspelled
words. Type "?" to get help. "ispell" can be accessed from the command line, and also through
emacs with M-x ispell-buffer.
jobs
Shows backgrounded (<CTRL>-z"ed) processes with pid #"s. If you use "jobs" to find the
file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (5 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

processes that you have suspended or are running in the background, what you get back might look
like the following:
[1] 21998 Suspended emacs useful.tex
[2] - 22804 Suspended (signal) elm
[3] + 22808 Suspended badb

jove {filename}
Johnathan"s Own Version of Emacs. Another emacs editor. Jove doesn"t have as many features as
GNU"s emacs, but some people prefer it. <CTRL>-x <CTRL>-c to exit.
less filename
Displays file with minimal space.
kermit
File transfer program. Allows you to transfer files between computers - your PC at home to/from
the computers at school, for instance. For more information, look in the online manual pages.
ln -s {source} {dest}
Creates a symbolic link from {source} to {dest}. {Source} can be a directory or a file.
Allows you to move around with ease instead of using long and complicated path names.
logout
Exits and disconnects your network connection.
lpq {-Pprintername}
Reports all print jobs in the queue for the named printer. If no printer is named with -Pprintername,
but the "PRINTER" environment variable is set to a printer name, "lpq" will report on that printer.
lpr {-Pprintername}filename
Queues file "filename" to be printed on "printer". If no printer is specified with -Pprintername, but
the "PRINTER" environment variable is set, then the job will be queued on that printer.
lprm {-Pprinter}{job-number}
Lprm removes a job or jobs from a printer"s spooling queue ( i.e. it stops it from being printed or
printing out the rest of the way ). Typically, you"d get the job number from the "lpq" command,
and then use lprm to stop that job.
ls {directory}
Shows directory listing. If no "directory" is specified, "ls" prints the names of the files in the
current directory.
ls -l {directory}
Shows long directory listing. If you type "ls -l" in a directory, you might get something like this:

file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (6 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

drwx-----drwxr-xr-drwxr-xr-x
-rw-r--r--rw-r--r--rwxr-xr-x

3
2
3
1
1
1

ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle
ertle

512
512
512
373
747
244

Jul
Jun
Jul
Oct
Nov
Jul

16 13:38 LaTeX/
22 12:26 X/
13 16:29 Xroff/
3 1992 o.me
21 1992 profile
16 23:44 zap*

The first part of the line tells you the file"s permissions. For example, the "X" file permissions start
with a "d" which tells that it is a directory. The next three characters, "rwx" show that the owner
has read, write, and execute permissions on this file. The next three characters, "r-x" shows that
people in the same group have read and execute permission on the file. Finally, the last three
characters "r-" show that everyone else only has read permission on that file ( To be able to enter a
directory, you need read AND execute permission )

mail {login-name}
Read or send mail messages. If no "login-name" is specified, "mail" checks to see if you have any
mail in your mail box. With a "login-name", "mail" will let you type in a message to send to that
person. For more advanced mail processing, you might try "elm" or "pine" at the command line, or
"M-x mail" in emacs.
mkdir dirname
Makes a sub-directory named "dirname" in the current directory.
man -k pattern
Shows all manual entries which have "pattern" in their description.
man {section}name
Shows the full manual page entry for "name". Without a section number, "man" may give you any
or all man pages for that "name". For example, "man write" will give you the manual pages for the
write command, and "man 2 write" will give you the system call for "write" ( usually from the C or
Pascal programming language ).
more filename
Displays the contents of a file with pagebreaks. Usefull to use "file" first so you don"t display
garbage.
mv filename path
Moves "filename" to "path". This might consist of a simple renaming of the file, "mv file1 file2",
moving the file to a new directory, "mv file1 /tmp/", or both "mv file1 /tmp/file2".
pine
Full featured graphical mail reader/sender. "pine" will read your mail, "pine username" will
prepare a message to "username".

file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (7 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

printers
Shows available printers and current status.
ps {options}
"ps" reports that status of some or all of the processes currently running on the system. With no
command line parameters, "ps" only shows processes that belong to you and that are attached to a
controlling terminal.
pwd
Shows current working directory path.
quota -v
Shows current disk usage and limits.
rm filename(s)
Removes files. Careful with this one - it is irreversible. It is usually aliased ( in a user"s .cshrc file )
to "rm -i" which insures that "rm" asks you if you are sure that you want to remove the named file.
rmdir dirname
Removes the directory "dirname".
rupall
Reports that status of local compute servers.
rwho
Similar to "who", but shows who is logged onto all emba machines as well as the local machine.
Without "-a", rwho shows all the people with under one hour idle time. With the "-a", rwho shows
everybody that is logged on.

setenv
Sets environment variables. Most frequently used to tell X which display you are on with "setenv
DISPLAY displayname:0". Also used in .cshrc file to set "EDITOR" and "PRINTER"
environment variables. This tells programs which editor you prefer, and which printer you want
your output to be printed on.
spell {filename}
Checks the spelling of the words in the standard input by default, checks words in "filename" if a
name is supplied on the command line. If a word is misspelled it is printed to stdout ( usually the
screen ).
trn
Threaded, full page network news reader. Quicker than vn.
file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (8 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

tin
Threaded, full page network news reader. Easier to use than trn.
vi {filename}
Runs the screen oriented text editor named "vi". If a filename is specified, you will be editing that
file. Type "[ESC]:q!" to exit without making any changes.
vn
Runs the screen oriented network news program. Old and slow - maybe try "trn" or "tin".

whereis {command}
Reports the directory in which the {command} binary redides.
which {command}
Reports the directory from which the {command} would be run if it was given as a command line
argument.
who
Shows who is currently logged on the system. The "w" command does the same thing, but gives
slightly different info.
write loginname
Send a message to another user. Each line will be sent to the other person as you hit the carriagereturn. Press <CTRL>-D to end the message. Write won"t work if the other user has typed "mesg
n".
xbiff
X mailbox flag. The xbiff program displays a little image of a mailbox. When there is no mail, the
flag on the mailbox is down. When mail arrives, the flag goes up and the mailbox beeps. This
program must be started on one of the machines that you receive mail on. This will be one of the
Suns ( griffin, sadye, newton, etc ) for most people.
xcalc
X scientific calculator.
xcalendar
X calendar. Interactive calendar program with a notebook capability.
xclock
X clock.
xforecast
X interface to national weather forecast.
file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (9 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM

Basic Unix Commands

xgdb
X interface to the gdb debugger.
xman
X interface to the online manual pages.
yppasswd
Interactively changes your password.

Click Here for more advanced UNIX commands.

If you have any questions or concerns about these pages, please contact Webmaster
Contact Info: Call 1-800-ENG-MATH OR E-Mail Student Services OR Fill out a Request Form

copyright 2000. All rights reserved. University of Vermont

file:///F|/My eBooks/unix and linux commands/Basic Unix Commands.htm (10 of 10)1/5/2006 6:13:15 PM