CO132 Introduction to UNIX
Commonly Used UNIX Commands


Command Description
   
at Execute commands at a specified time
awk A pattern scanning and processing language
bdiff Compares two large files
calendar Daily events reminder service
cat Concatenate or display files
cd Change to another directory
chmod Change file protection mode
cmp Print lines common in two sorted files
cp Copy contents of files
cpio Copy files in and out
crontab  System Scheduler
cut Cut fields from a file
date Displays system date and time
dd convert and copy a file
df Displays number of free disk blocks
diff Compares two files on a line-by-line basis
dircmp Compares directories and reports differences
du Displays amount of disk usage
echo Print a line of text or variables
eqn Text processing for mathematical expressions
file Determines file type
find Searches for files in file hierarchy
finger List information about users
grep Searches files for a pattern
join Joins fields from two sorted files
kill Terminates a process/program
ln Link two files
lp Print files on the line printer
ls List a set of files
mailx Send and receive electronic mail
make  Creates programs using description file
man Print on-line manual
mesg Permit or deny interactive communications
mkdir Make or Create new directories
mm Memorandum macros document preparation
Command Description
   
more Display file a page at a time
mv  Move or Rename files
nice Changes a commands priority
nl Number lines in a file
nohup Runs a command immune from disconnects
nroff Document preparation
od Display files in Octal, Hex or ASCII
passwd Change users password
paste Merges lines of files
pr Print file in a format
ps Displays currently active processes
pwd Print working directory
rm Remove files or directories containing files
rmdir Remove directories
set Force values into position parameters
sort Sort files
spell  Spell Checker
split Split a file into pieces
stty Setting characteristics of terminal
tail Prints lines of a growing file
tee Splits output to a terminal and pipeline
time Times a command
tr Substitutes characters from string1 to string2
tty Display current tty device
umask Sets default file mode at creation
uname Displays information about system
uniq Removes repeated lines of a sorted file
vi UNIX visual full screen editor
wc Counts characters, words, and lines in a file
who Identifies active users
write  Allows interactive communications between users