Common Unix Commands

Cmd	Syntax	Examples	Description
Common Unix Commands General Syntax: `$ <command name> <options> <argument1> <arg2> <arg3> ...`
pwd	`pwd`	`$ pwd`	Print the current working directory
ls	`ls <directory>`	`$ ls $ ls -a $ ls -laF ~/public`	List contents of a directory
cd	`cd`	`$ cd ../private/files`	Change current working directory
man	`man <command name>`	`$ man ls $ man pwd $ man man`	Get manual page for command
cp	`cp <src path> <destination path>`	`$ cp file1.txt public/cs110/`	Copy a File
mv	`mv <src path> <destination path>`	`$ mv file2.txt textfile.txt $ mv file1.txt ../../public/html/hello.html`	Move or Rename a file
rm	`rm <path>`	`$ rm public/html/hello.html $ rm temp.txt`	Delete a file
mkdir	`mkdir <path to create>`	`$ mkdir cs110 $ mkdir /afs/pitt.edu/home/x/x/xxx99/cs110`	Create a directory
rmdir	`rmdir <path>`	`$ rmdir /afs/pitt.edu/home/x/x/xxx99/cs110`	Remove a directory
echo	`echo <src path>`	`$ echo "A line of text" $ echo Another line of text`	Print text to the terminal
ln	`ln <src path> <destination path>`	`$ ln file.txt ../public/file.txt $ ln ../private/docs/file.doc . $ ln -s ../file.html .`	link file to another path (with -s option, it creates a shortcut)
who	`who`	`$ who $ whoami`	Display other users currently logged into the system
finger	`finger <search criteria>`	`$ finger xxx99 $ finger Smith`	Search user information
cat	`cat <path1> <path2> ...`	`$ cat file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt $ cat - $ cat file3.txt >> file4.txt`	Concatenate files
less	`less <path>`	`$ less file1.txt $ cat file1.txt \| less`	Display a file (or any output) one screen at a time with scrolling
more	`more <path>`	`$ more file2.txt $ cat file2.txt \| more`	Display a file (or any output) one screen at a time
find	`find <path> <option1> <arg1> <opt2> <arg2> ...`	`$ find ~/public -name "*.txt"`	Search for files
grep	`grep <search criteria> <path or files>`	`$ grep "<html>" ~/public/html`	Search contents of files
chmod	`chmod <new permissions> <path>`	`$ chmod 0777 file.txt $ chmod u+x file.txt $ chmod a-w ../public/file.txt`	Change file permissions (Unix only)
fs	`fs <subcommand> <args>`	`$ fs lq $ fs la $ fs help $ fs sa ~/cs110 xxx99 rlwid`	AFS utility (file permissions on AFS)
script	`script <path>`	`$ script typescript.txt $ script`	Begin recording keystrokes to a file
lpr	`lpr <path>`	`$ lpr file.txt`	Send afile to a printer
zip	`zip <destination path> <file1> <file2> ...`	`$ zip files.zip file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt`	Create a ZIP archive
unzip	`unzip <path>`	`$ unzip files.zip`	Extract files from a ZIP archive
telnet	`telnet <address>`	`$ telnet unixs.cis.pitt.edu`	connect to a remote system
ssh	`ssh <address>`	`$ ssh unixs.cis.pitt.edu $ ssh xxx99@unixs.cis.pitt.edu`	connect to a remote system (securely)
ftp	`ftp <address>`	`$ ftp unixs.cis.pitt.edu`	file transfer utility
env	`env`	`$ env`	Display shell environment variables