Unit-9

Unix Commands

Subject Code: 3140702

Subject Name: Operating System

cd (Change Directory) Command

• The cd command is used to change the current directory (i.e., the
directory in which the user is currently working)

▪ Syntax :
cd [-Options] [Directory]

▪ Example :
Option Use
cd .. Change Current directory to parent directory
cd ~ Move to users home directory from anywhere
cd lab_1 Change from current working directory to lab_1
cd ../downloads If we are currently in /home/username/documents then
we would be placed in /home/username/downloads.

cd Command Example
cd .. Change Current directory to parent directory
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cd Command Example
cd ~ Move to users home directory from anywhere

cd Command Example
cd lab_1 Change from current working directory to lab_1
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cd Command Example
cd ../downloads If we are currently in /home/student/documents then
we would be placed in /home/student/downloads

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ls Command
• List directory contents.

▪ Syntax :
ls [Options] [file|dir]

▪ Example :
Option Use
ls -l To show long listing information about the file/directory
ls -a List all files including hidden file starting with '.'
ls -r List in reverse order
ls -t Sort by time & date
ls -s Sort by file size
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name of the file/dir
ls Command $ ls -l
specifies owner of the
/etc/hosts

Output:
file/dir

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 337 Oct 4 11:31 /etc/hosts

-rw- r-- r--

pu o
number of links for dir/file
files o

r
date and time modification
specifies the of the last of the file
re

g
sr

h
w

o
specifies group of the indicates the file/dir size in
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file/dir bytes.
ls Command Example
ls -l To show long listing information about the file/directory
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ls Command Example
ls -a List all files including hidden file starting with '.'
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ls Command Example
ls -r List in reverse order
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man Command
• It is the interface used to view the system's reference manuals.

▪ Syntax :

man [command name]

▪ Example
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echo Command
• Display a line of text/string on standard output or a file.

▪ Syntax :

echo [option] [string]

▪ Example :
Option Use
echo -n Do not output a trailing newline
echo -e Enable interpretation of backslash escape sequences

Option Use
\b It removes all the spaces in between the text
\n It creates new line from where it is used
\t It create horizontal tab spaces

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echo Command Example

echo -n Do not output a trailing newline

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echo Command Example

echo -e Enable interpretation of backslash escape sequences

\b It removes all the spaces in between the text

\n It creates new line from where it is used
\t It create horizontal tab spaces
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cal Command
• Displays a simple, formatted calendar in your terminal.

▪ Syntax :

cal [options] [[[day] month] year]

▪ Example :
Option Use
cal -1 Display single month output. (This is the default.)
cal -3 Display three months spanning the date.

cal -s Display Sunday as the first day of the week.

cal -m Display Monday as the first day of the week.

Use day-of-year numbering for all calendars. These are also called
cal -j
ordinal days. Ordinal days range from 1 to 366.
cal –y Display a calendar for the whole year

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cal Command Example

Cal or cal -1 Display single month output. (This is the default.)
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cal Command Example

cal -3 Display three months spanning the date.
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cal Command Example

cal -s Display Sunday as the first day of the week.
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cal Command Example

cal -m Display Monday as the first day of the week.
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cal Command Example

cal -j Use day-of-year numbering for all calendars. These are also called
ordinal days. Ordinal days range from 1 to 366.
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cal Command Example

cal –y Display a calendar for the whole year
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date Command
• Print or set the system date and time.

▪ Syntax :
 date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]

▪ Example :
Option Use
date +%a The abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Sun)
date +%A The full weekday name (e.g., Sunday)
date +%b The abbreviated month name (e.g., Jan)
date +%B Locale's full month name (e.g., January)
date +%C The current century; like %Y, except omit last two digits
(e.g., 20)
date +%w day of week (0..6); 0 is Sunday

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date Command
Option Use
date +%d Display the day of the month
date +%m Displays the month of year (01 to 12)
date +%y Displays last two digits of the year(00 to 99)
date +%Y Display four-digit year.
date +%T Display the time in 24 hour format as HH:MM:SS
date +%H Display the hour
date +%M Display the minute
date +%S Display the seconds
date +%V ISO week number, with Monday as first day of week
(01..53)
date +%P locale's equivalent of either AM or PM
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date Command Example

date +%a The abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Sun)
date +%A The full weekday name (e.g., Sunday)

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date Command Example

date +%b The abbreviated month name (e.g., Jan)
 date +%B Locale's full month name (e.g., January)

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date Command Example

date +%c Full date with IST timing
date +%C The current century; like %Y, except omit last two digits
(e.g., 20)
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date Command Example

date +%d Display the day of the month
date +%m Displays the month of year (01 to 12)
date +%y Displays last two digits of the year(00 to 99)
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date Command Example

date +%y Displays last two digits of the year(00 to 99)
date +%Y Display four-digit year.
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date Command Example

date +%T Display the time in 24 hour format as HH:MM:SS
date +%H Display the hour
date +%M Display the minute
date +%S Display the seconds

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date Command Example
date +%V ISO week number, with Monday as first day of week
(01..53)

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date Command Example

date +%P locale's equivalent of either AM or PM
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clear Command
• Clear the terminal screen.
• If you take a detailed look after running the clear command, you'll
find that it doesn't really clear the terminal. The tool just shifts the
text upwards, out of the viewable area.

▪ Syntax :
clear
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clear Command Example

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cat Command
• It is used to create, display and concatenate file contents.

▪ Syntax :

cat [OPTION] [FILE]

▪ Example :
Option Use
cat -b Omits line numbers for blank space in the output
cat -E Displays a $ (dollar sign) at the end of each line
cat -n Line numbers for all the output lines
cat -s Suppress repeated empty output lines
cat -T Displays the tab characters as ^I in the output

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cat Command
▪ Example :
$ cat > file1.txt
• It creates file1.txt and allow us to insert content for this file.
• After inserting content you can use ctrl+c to exit the file.
$cat file.txt > newfile.txt
• Read the contents of file.txt and write them to newfile.txt,
overwriting anything newfile.txt previously contained. If
newfile.txt does not exist, it will be created.
$cat file.txt >> newfile.txt
• Read the contents of file.txt and append them to the end of
newfile.txt. If newfile.txt does not exist, it will be created.
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cat Command
▪ Example :
cat file1.txt file2.txt
• It will read the contents of file1.txt and file2.txt and display the
result in the terminal.
cat file1.txt file2.txt > combinedfile.txt
• It will concatenate the contents of file1.txt and file2.txt and write
them to a new file combinedfile.txt using the (>) operator. • If the
combinedfile.txt file doesn’t exist the command will create it.
Otherwise it will overwrite the file.
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cat Command Example

▪ $ cat > file1.txt
• It creates file1.txt and allow us to insert content for this file. • After
inserting content you can use ctrl+c to exit the file.
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cat Command Example

cat -b Omits line numbers for blank space in the output
cat -E Displays a $ (dollar sign) at the end of each line

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cat Command Example

▪ $cat file.txt > newfile.txt
• Read the contents of file.txt and write them to newfile.txt,
overwriting anything newfile.txt previously contained. • If newfile.txt
does not exist, it will be created.

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1

cat Command Example

▪ $cat file.txt >> newfile.txt
• Read the contents of file.txt and append them to the end of
newfile.txt. If newfile.txt does not exist, it will be created.
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cat Command Example

▪ cat file1.txt file2.txt
• It will read the contents of file1.txt and file2.txt and display the result
in the terminal.
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3

cat Command Example

▪ cat file1.txt file2.txt > combinedfile.txt
• It will concatenate the contents of file1.txt and file2.txt and write
them to a new file combinedfile.txt using the (>) operator. • If the
combinedfile.txt file doesn’t exist the command will create it
otherwise it will overwrite the file.
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4

pwd (Print working directory) Command

• It prints the current working directory name with the complete path
starting from root (/).

▪ Syntax :
pwd [-OPTION]
▪ Example :
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who Command
• It display the users that are currently logged into your Unix
computer system.

▪ Syntax :
who [-options] [filename]

▪ Example :
Optio Use
n who Display the time of the last system boot
-b
who -H Print a line of column headings
who -q Displays all login names, and a count of all logged-on users
who -a Display all details of current logged in user

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who Command Example

who -b Display the time of the last system boot

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who Command Example

who -H Print a line of column headings

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who Command Example

 who -q Displays all login names, and a count of all logged-on users

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who Command Example

who -a Display all details of current logged in user
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whoami Command
• This command prints the username associated with the current
effective user ID.

▪ Syntax :
whoami [-OPTION]
 ▪ Example :
Option Use
whoami --help Display a help message, and exit
whoami --version Display version information, and exit

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whoami Command Example

whoami --help Display a help message, and exit
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whoami Command Example

whoami --version Display version information, and exit
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uname (unix name) Command

• Print information about the current system.

▪ Syntax :
uname [-OPTION]
▪ Example :
Option Use
uname -s Print the kernel name
uname -n Print the network node hostname
uname -v Print the kernel version
uname -m Print the machine hardware name
uname -o Print the operating system

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uname Command Example

uname -s Print the kernel name
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uname Command Example

uname -n Print the network node hostname

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uname Command Example
uname -v Print the kernel version

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uname Command Example

uname -m Print the machine hardware name
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uname Command Example

uname -o Print the operating system

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passwd Command
• The passwd command is used to change the password of a user
account.
▪ Syntax :
passwd [-options] [username]
▪ Example :

mkdir Command
• This command is used to make Directories.

▪ Syntax :
mkdir [-OPTION] DIRECTORY
▪ Example :
Option Use
mkdir -v Print a message for each created directory
mkdir -p No error if existing, make parent directories as needed
mkdir -m To control the permissions of new directories

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mkdir Command Example

mkdir -v Print a message for each created directory
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mkdir Command Example

mkdir -p No error if existing, make parent directories as needed
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mkdir Command Example

mkdir -m To control the permissions of new directories

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rmdir Command
• This command removes empty directories from your filesystem.

▪ Syntax :

rmdir [-OPTION] DIRECTORY

▪ Example :
Option Use
Remove directory and its ancestors… e.g.,‘rmdir -p a/b/c’ is
rmdir -p
similar to ‘rmdir a/b/c a/b a’

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rmdir Command Example

rmdir -p Remove directory and its ancestors…
e.g.,‘rmdir -p a/b/c’ is similar to ‘rmdir a/b/c a/b a’
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cp(copy) Command
• This command is used to copy files and directories.

▪ Syntax :
 cp [option] source destination/directory

▪ Example :
Option Use
cp -i Interactive - ask before overwrite
cp -f Force copy by removing the destination file if needed
cp -n Do not overwrite an existing file
cp -u Update - copy when source is newer than destination
cp -s Make symbolic links instead of copying
cp -R Copy directories recursively
cp -v Print informative messages

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cp Command Example
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cp Command Example
cp -i Interactive - ask before overwrite
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cp Command Example
cp -v Print informative messages

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cp Command Example
cp -s Make symbolic links instead of copying
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mv(move) Command
• mv command is used to move files and directories.

▪ Syntax :

mv [-options] source dest

▪ Example :
Optio Use
n mv - Interactive prompt before overwrite
i
mv -f Force move by overwriting destination file without prompt
mv -n Never overwrite any existing file
mv -u Update - move when source is newer than destination
mv -v Print informative messages

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mv Command Example
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rm(remove) Command
• The ‘rm’ command is used to delete files and directories.

▪ Syntax :

rm [-OPTION] Filename

▪ Example :
Optio Use
n rm - Prompt before every removal
i
rm -d Delete a empty directory
rm -r Remove directories and their contents recursively
rm -f To remove the file forcefully

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rm Command Example
rm -i Prompt before every removal
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cut Command
• The cut command extracts a given number of characters or
columns from a file.

▪ Syntax :
cut [-options] [file]

▪ Example :
Optio Use
n cut - Select only the characters from each line as specified in LIST
c
cut -b Select only the bytes from each line as specified in LIST
cut -f Cuts the input file using list of field. The default field to be used
TAB. The default behavior can be overwritten by use of -d option
cut -d Specifies a delimiter to by used as a field. Default field is TAB and
this option overwrites this default behavior

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cut Command Example

cut -c Select only the characters from each line as specified in LIST
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cut Command Example

cut -b Select only the bytes from each line as specified in LIST
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cut Command Example

cut -f Cuts the input file using list of field. The default field to be used
TAB. The default behavior can be overwritten by use of -d option
cut -d Specifies a delimiter to by used as a field. Default field is TAB
and this option overwrites this default behavior
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paste Command
• The paste command displays the corresponding lines of multiple
files side-by-side.

▪ Syntax :
paste [-options] [file]
▪ Example :
Optio Use
n Reuse characters from LIST instead of tabs
paste -
d
paste -s Paste one file at a time instead of in parallel

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paste Command Example

paste -d Reuse characters from LIST instead of tabs
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