UNIX/LINUX
Command
Reference
Sheet


File
Commands

 Process
Management


cat –
concatenates
and
displays
files at/batch–
execute
commands
at
a
later
time
cat > file –
places
standard
input
into
file bg –
lists
stopped
or
background
jobs;
resume
a

cd –
change
current
directory stopped
job
in
the
background
cmp –
compares
two
files cron –
clock
daemon
that
executes
commands
at

cp –
copies
a
file
or
a
directory specified
dates
and
times
cut –
removes
columns
or
fields
from
the
specified
 crontab –
modifies
the
user's
crontab
file,
which
is

file(s) used
by
cron
diff –
displays
line‐by‐line
differences
between
two
 fg –
brings
the
specified
job
to
foreground
text
files kill pid –
kill
process
id pid
head –
displays
the
first
lines
of

the
specified
file(s) killall proc –
kill
all
processes
named
proc1
join –
joins
two
files nice –
invoke
a
command
with
an
altered
scheduling

jot –
print
sequential
or
random
data priority
ln –
make
hard
or
symbolic
links
to
files ps –
display
your
currently
active
processes
ls -al –
formatted
listing
with
hidden
files renice –
alter
priority
of
running
processes
ls –
directory
listing top –
display
all
running
processes
mkdir dir –
create
a
directory dir
more/less –
output
the
contents
of
the
specified
 File
&
Group
Permissions


file(s)
in
pages chmod octal file –
change
the
permissions
of

mv –
rename
or
move
a
file file
to
octal,
which
can
be
found
separately
for

nl –
put
line
numbers
on
a
file user,
group,
and
world
by
adding:
od –
sequentially
copies
each
file
to
standard
output,
 •
4
–
read
(r)


displaying
it
according
to
the
specified
arguments;
for
 •
2
–
write
(w)


example,
in
hexadecimal
(often
useful
in
conjunction
 •
1
–
execute
(x)

with
diff) Examples:

paste –
merge
same
lines
of
several
files
or
 chmod 777 –
read,
write,
execute
for
all


subsequent
lines
of
one
file
 chmod 755
–
rwx
for
owner,
rx
for
group
and
world

pr –
produces
a
printed
listing
of
one
or
more
files
 For
more
options,
see man chmod.
suitable
for
printing chgrp –
change
the
group‐ID
of
the
specified
files
or

pwd –
print
current
working
directory directories
rm –
remove
the
specified
file(s);
using
the
-rf
flag
 groups –
show
group
memberships
allows
a
directory
to
be
removed1
Searching


sort –
sort,
merge
or
sequence
check
text
files
grep –
search
for
a
pattern
in
the
specified
files

split –
split
a
file
into
pieces
command | grep pattern
–
search
for
pattern

tail –
displays
the
last
lines
of
the
specified
file(s)
in
the
output
of
command
tail -f file –
output
the
contents
of
file
as
it

find file –
find
all
instances
of
file (UNIX)
grows,
starting
with
the
last
10
lines
locate file –
find
all
instances
of
file
touch –
change
file
access
and
modification
times;

xargs ‐

construct
argument
lists
and
invoke
utility
can
be
used
to
create
a
new
0‐byte
(empty)
file
tr –
translate
characters
from
one
string
to
another Compression


uniq –
report
or
filter
out
repeated
lines
in
a
file You
can
find
a
number
of
compression
and

wc –
display
a
count
of
lines,
words
and
characters
in
 decompression
utilities.
Check
the
man
pages
for
tar,

a
file compress/uncompress,
gzip/gunzip
and

zip/unzip.
Others
are
also
available.


SSH
&
Secure
File
Copying



scp –
copies
files
between
hosts
on
a
network
tar cf file.tar files –
create
a
tar
named

sftp –
an
interactive
file
transfer
program

file.tar
containing
files
ssh user@host –
connect
to host
as
user
tar xf file.tar –
extract
the
files
from

ssh-copy-id user@host –
add
your
key
to
file.tar
host
for
user
to
enable
a
keyed
or
passwordless
 gzip file –
compresses
file
and
renames
it
to

login file.gz
gunzip file.gz –
decompresses file.gz
back

to
file


























































1
Use with extreme caution!
UNIX/LINUX
Command
Reference
Sheet


Version
Control
 .snapshot –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
A
backup
system
is


See
the
manual
pages
for
cvs,
svn
or
rcs.
 in
place
in
the
student.math
and
student.cs

environments
where
hourly,
daily,
weekly
and

System
Information

 monthly
backups
are
made.
See

absolute –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
convert
file
names
to
 http://webtest.mfcf.uwaterloo.ca/wiki/index.php/
Snapshots
absolute
path
names

alias –
create
a
pseudonym
for
a
command
or

absolute `which app` –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)

series
of
commands

show
the
full
path
to
the app
that
will
be
run
by

apropos

–
locate
commands
by
keyword
lookup

default
clear –
clear
the
terminal
screen,
if
possible
cal –
show
this
month's
calendar
dos2unix
–
convert
text
file
from
DOS
format
to
ISO

chfn –
change
the
user's
finger
information
format

date –
show
the
current
date
and
time
init_home –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
reinitialize
your

diskquota –
(CSCF/MFCF
only)
display
the
user's

home
directory
disk
quota


ispell –
interactive
spelling
checking

du –
show
disk
usage
of
each
file
,
recursively

lock –
lock
a
terminal
when
you
are
away
finger user –
display
information
about user
man ascii –
displays
the
map
of
the
ASCII

history –
displays
the
list
of
recently
entered

character
set
commands
oed –
look
things
up
in
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary
hostselect –
consult
a
configuration
file
to
return

script –
makes
a
typescript
of
everything
printed

an
optimal
host
name
based
upon
the
specified

on
your
terminal.

attribute

scriptfix – clean
up
script
output
files

lpr –
submit
a
print
request
spell –
outputs
words
from
the
named
documents

lpq –
display
the
contents
of
a
print
queue
that
are
not
in
the
spelling
list
nor
derivable
from

man command –
show
the
manual
for
command
words
in
the
spelling
list

mesg –
permit
or
deny
messages
unalias –
remove
a
pseudonym
for
a
command
or

passwd –
change
the
user's
password
series
of
commands
ruptime –
show
current
uptime
of
other
hosts

unix2dos – convert
text
file
from
ISO
format
to

uname -a –
show
kernel
information
DOS
format
uptime –
show
current
uptime
xlock
–
locks
the
local
X
display
until
a
password
is

w –
display
who
is
online
entered

whereis app –
show
possible
locations
of
app
which app –
show
which
app
will
be
run
by
default Shortcuts


whoami –
who
you
are
logged
in
as Ctrl+C –
halts
the
current
command
Ctrl+Z –
stops
the
current
command,
resume
with
Compilation
&
Debugging
 fg
in
the
foreground
or
bg
in
the
background
ddd –
graphical
front
end
to
gdb
Ctrl+D –
log
out
of
current
session,
similar
to
gcc –
GNU
project
C
and
C++
compiler
exit;
used
to
signal
end‐of‐file
when
running
an

g++ –
front‐end
to
gcc
to
explicitly
compile
C++
code application
that
reads
from
standard
input
gdb –
GNU
debugger Ctrl+W –
erases
one
word
in
the
current
line


gmake –
GNU
version
of
make Ctrl+U –
erases
the
whole
line
make – utility
to
maintain
groups
of
programs Ctrl+R –
type
to
bring
up
a
recent
command
xxgdb –
graphical
front
end
to
gdb;
exists
on
cpu- ^pre1^pre2 –
repeats
the
last
command
with

linux

leading
text
pre1
replaced
with
pre2
Generally
Useful
Tools
 !:gs/pre1/pre2–
repeats
the
last
command
with

MFCF FAQ ‐
located
at
 all
occurrences
of
text
pre1
replaced
with
pre2
http://webtest.mfcf.uwaterloo.ca/wiki/index.php/ !! ‐
repeats
the
last
command

MFCF_FAQ !com
–
repeats
the
most
recent
command
entered
that

http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/cscf/student/hosts –
 can
be
uniquely
identified
as
starting
with
com
a
list
of
the
servers
available
in
the
undergraduate
 !num –
repeats
the
command
numbered
num
environment,
highlighting
the
round‐robin
server
 exit –
log
out
of
current
session
names
(recommended
for
access
to
a
particular
server

type)