UNIX Commands

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands

passwd

logout

who

who am I

clear

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands
Passwd
The passwd command changes passwords for user
accounts. A normal user may only change the password
for his/her own account, while the superuser may change
the password for any account.

OPTIONS
-d, --delete
Delete a user's password (make it empty).
-e, --expire
Immediately expire an account's password.
-l, --lock
Lock the password of the named account.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Login Commands
-u, --unlock
Unlock the password of the named account.

Example :
Change your own password:
$ passwd

output:
$ passwd
Changing password for ubuntu.
(current) UNIX password:
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands
logout
logout command allows you to programmatically logout
from your session. causes the session manager to take
the requested action immediately.

EXAMPLES
Example:
To logout from current user session:
$ logout

output:
no output on screen, current user session will be logged
out.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands
who
who - show who is logged on

OPTIONS
-l, --login
print system login processes
-q, --count
all login names and number of users logged on
-u, --users
list users logged in

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands
whoami
whoami prints the effective user ID.
This command prints the username associated with the
current effective user ID.

syntax
whoami [OPTION]

OPTIONS
--help
Display a help message, and exit.
--version
Display version information, and exit.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Login Commands
clear
clear the terminal screen.

EXAMPLE

Clear the terminal

$ clear

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
ls - list directory contents.
ls List information about the FILEs (the current directory
by default).

Options
-l
use a long listing format
--author
with –l, print the author of each file.
-C
list entries by columns
-g
like -l, but do not list owner
-G, --no-group
in a long listing, don't print group names
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
-m
fill width with a comma separated list of entries
-S
sort by file size
-r, --reverse
reverse order while sorting
-t
sort by modification time
-x
list entries by lines instead of by columns

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
Example:

To list all files of current directory:

$ ls
output:
# ls

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
cat
The cat (short for “concatenate“) command is one of the
most frequently used command in Linux/Unix like
operating systems. cat command allows us to create
single or multiple files, view contain of file, concatenate
files and redirect output in terminal or files.
SYNTAX
cat [Options] [File]…
Example :
Create two sample files
#sample.txt
This is a sample text file

#sample1.txt
This is a another sample text file
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
To display content of a file.
$ cat sample.txt
This is a sample text file

To display content of all txt files.

$ cat *.txt
This is a another sample text file This is a sample text file

To concatenate two files.

$ cat sample.txt sample1.txt > sample2.txt
$ cat sample2.txt
This is a sample text file
This is a another sample text file

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
To display content of a file.
$ cat sample.txt
This is a sample text file

To display content of all txt files.

$ cat *.txt
This is a another sample text file This is a sample text file

To concatenate two files.

$ cat sample.txt sample1.txt > sample2.txt
$ cat sample2.txt
This is a sample text file
This is a another sample text file

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
cd
To change directory - change the current working
directory to a specific Folder.
If directory is given, changes the shell's working directory
todirectory.

EXAMPLES
Move to the sample folder
$ cd /usr/local/sample

Move up one folder

$ cd ..

Get back to original location

$ cd
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
pwd
print name of current/working directory.
The current directory is nothing but the directory in
which you are currently operating while using bash or
ksh.

Syntax
pwd [options]

Example
To print current working directory, enter:
$ pwd

output:
/home/user
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
mv
The mv command allows you to move and rename files.

Syntax
The syntax for the mv command is:
mv [options] sources target

Options
Option Description
-f Forces the move.
-i Prompt for a confirmation before
overwriting any files.

Example
mv -f tech /usr
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
cp
To copy one or more files to another location.

SYNTAX
cp [options]... Source Dest

EXAMPLES
Copy sample.txt to sample.bak.
$ cat sample.txt
This is a sample file

$ cp sample.txt sample.bak
$ cat sample.bak
This is a sample file

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
ln
creates links between files. ln creates a link to file
TARGET with the name LINKNAME.

Syntax
$ ln file1 file2

Example
$ cat target.txt
target file

$ ln target.txt link.txt
$ cat link.txt
target file

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
rm
rm removes each specified file. By default, it does not
remove directories.
SYNTAX
rm [OPTION]... FILE...

Example-1:
Remove the file myfile.txt. If the file is write-protected,
you will be prompted to confirm that you really want to
delete it:
$ rm myfile.txt

Example-2:
Remove the file myfile.txt.You will not be prompted, if
the file is write-protected .
$ rm -f myfile.txt
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
rmdir
Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.

Syntax :
rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...

Example :
rmdir command will delete the empty directories. i.e
directory without any sub-directories or files:

$ rmdir test

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
mkdir
Create the DIRECTORY(ies), if they do not already exist.

Syntax :
mkdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...

Example :
Creates a new directory called mydir whose parent is
the current directory.

$ mkdir mydir

output:
$ls
mydir
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
umask
a new file's permissions may be restricted in a specific way
by applying a permissions "mask" called the umask. The
umask command is used to set this mask, or to show
you its current value.

Syntax
$ umask [-S] [mask]

Options
-S Accept a symbolic representation of a mask, or
return one.

To view your system's current umask value, enter the

command:
$ umask Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
which will return your system's umask as a four-digit
octal number, for example:

0002
0002 is the same as 002.

To view this as a symbolic representation, use the -S flag:

$ umask -S

Which will return the same value symbolically, for

example:
u=rwx,g=rwx,o=rx

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
chmod
chmod changes the permissions of each given file
according to mode, where mode describes the
permissions to modify. Mode can be specified with octal
numbers or with letters.

chmod [Options]... Mode

Numeric mode
A numeric mode is from one to four octal digits (0-7),
derived by adding up the bits with values 4, 2, and 1.
Permissions for the user who owns the file: read (4),
write (2), and execute (1).

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
EXAMPLES
Read by owner only
$ chmod 400 sample.txt

Read by group only

$ chmod 040 sample.txt

Read by anyone
$ chmod 004 sample.txt

Write by owner only

$ chmod 200 sample.txt

Write by group only

$ chmod 020 sample.txt
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
Write by anyone
$ chmod 002 sample.txt

Execute by owner only

$ chmod 100 sample.txt

Execute by group only

$ chmod 010 sample.txt
Execute by anyone
$ chmod 001 sample.txt

Allow read permission to owner and group and anyone.

$ chmod 444 sample.txt
Allow everyone to read, write, and execute file.
$ chmod 777 sample.txt
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
chown
To change owner, change the user and/or group
ownership of each given File to a new Owner.

chown [Options]... NewOwner File...

EXAMPLES
Change the owner of file.
$ chown user sample.txt

Change the group of file.

$ chown :mygroup file.txt

Change both the owner and group of file in single

command.
$ chown user:mygroup file.txt Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
chgrp
To change group ownership. 'chgrp' command changes
the group ownership of each given File to Group (which
can be either a group name or a numeric group id).

chgrp [Options]... {Group} File...

EXAMPLES
To Make oracleadmin the owner of the database
directory
$ chgrp oracleadmin /usr/database

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
find
The find command in UNIX is a command line utility for
walking a file hierarchy. It can be used to find files and
directories and perform subsequent operations on them.
It supports searching by file, folder, name, creation date,
modification date, owner and permissions.
To find a single file by name pass the -name option to find
along with the name of the file you are looking for.

Suppose the following directory structure exists shown

here as the output of the tree command.
user
├── abc
├── mydir
| └── user.txt
└── xyz Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
The file user.txt can be located with the find by using the
-name option.

find ./user -name user.txt

./user/mydir/user.txt

How to find and delete a file

To find and delete a file pass the --delete option to find.
This will delete the file with no undo so be careful.

find ./user -name user.txt --delete

How to find a directory

To find a directory specify the option -type d with find.
find ./user -type d -name mydir
./user/mydir Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
pg
Pg is a pager: it allows you to view text files one page at
a time. pg displays a text file on a CRT one screenful at
once. After each page, a prompt is displayed. The user
may then either press the newline key to view the next
page or one of the keys described below.

pg [options] [file...]

Options
-number : The number of lines per page. Usually, this is
the number of CRT lines minus one.
-c : Clear the screen before a page is displayed, if the
terminfo entry for the terminal provides this capability.
-e : Do not pause and display "(EOF)" at the end of a file.
-f : Do not split long lines. Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
Example

$ pg myfile.txt

Displays the first screenful of the contents of text file

myfile.txt, and a prompt (":"). Pressing the Return key
displays the next page.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
more
more is a filter for paging through text one screen at a
time. The RETURN key displays the next line of the file.
The spacebar displays the next screen of the file.

Syntax
more [options] [files]

Options
-c : Page through the file by clearing the
window. (not scrolling).
-d : Displays "Press space to continue, 'q' to quit“
-w : Waits for a user to press a key before
exiting.
-n : Displays n lines per window.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
examples
more +3 myfile.txt
Display the contents of file myfile.txt, beginning at line 3.

more +/"hope" myfile.txt

Display the contents of file myfile.txt, beginning at the
first line containing the string "hope".

ls | more
List the contents of the current directory with ls, using
more to display the list one screen at a time.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
less
This command is used to see the information of the
document page wise. This command work just like more
command and it is older version.

Syntax

$less File Name Press q to exit

Example

$less abc.txt

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
Navigation of less Command

f or spacebar To move page forward

b To move back one page

Enter or j One line forward

k One line back

p Beginning of file

G End of file

q Quit
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
head
head command help in viewing lines at the beginning of
the file respectively.

Syntax:
$head –Line Number File Name

Unless otherwise specified the head command

assumes that you want to display first 10 lines in the file.
Should you decide to view first fifteen lines you simply
have to say.
$head -15 myfile

Here with head command we can specify the

number of lines if we decide to override this default
value. Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
tail
tail command help in viewing lines at the ending of the file
respectively.
Syntax:
$tail –Line Number File Name
Unless
Unless
otherwise specified the tail command assumes
that you want to display last 10 lines in the file. Should
you decide to view last fifteen lines you simply have to
say.

$tail -15 myfile

Here with tail command we can specify the
number of lines if we decide to override this default
value.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
File & Directory Commands
wc (Word Count)
This command is used to count number of characters,
words and lines in an given input file. If file is not given, it
takes input from standard input.

Syntax

$wc [Option] File Name

Options
-l Counts number of lines
-w Counts number of words
-c Counts number of characters

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
Example

A file abc.txt having following data

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

$ wc abc.txt

Output

2 20 42 abc.txt

Note: Spacebar and Enter also known as on character

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
touch (Changing the time stamp)

This command is used to change the time stamp.

Syntax

$touch File Name

Timestamp Description
Access time The last time the file was read. - atime
Modification The last time the contents of
the file were modified. - mtime
Change time The last time the file's Status,
was changed. - ctime

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

File & Directory Commands
With no options, touch will change the atime, mtime, and
ctime of file to the current system time.

Examples
$ touch file.txt

$ touch -c file.txt

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Redirection & Piping
Redirection is a feature in Linux such that when executing
a command, you can change the standard input/output
devices. The basic workflow of any Linux command is that
it takes an input and give an output.

The standard input (stdin) device is the keyboard.

The standard output (stdout) device is the screen.

Output Redirection
The '>' symbol is used for output (STDOUT) redirection.

Example:
ls -l > listings

Here the output of command ls -l is re-directed to file

"listings" instead of your screen. Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Redirection & Piping
>> : Does the same as >, except that if the target file
exists, the new data are appended.

command >> out.txt

If out.txt exists, the output of command will be appended

to it, after whatever is already in it. If it does not exist it
will be created.

Input redirection
The '<' symbol is used for input(STDIN) redirection.

Example: The mail program in Linux can help you send

emails from the Terminal.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Redirection & Piping
You can type the contents of the email using the standard
device keyboard. But if you want to attach a File to email
you can use the input re-direction operator in the
following format.

Mail -s "Subject" to-address < Filename

<< : A here document. It is often used to print multi-line

strings.

command << WORD Text WORD Here, command will

take everything until it finds the next occurrence of
WORD, Text in the example above, as input .

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Redirection & Piping
Pipe operator
|
The pipe operator, it passes the output of one command
as input to another. A command built from the pipe
operator is called a pipeline.

command1 | command2

Any output printed by command1 is passed as input to

command2.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Finding Pattern in Files
grep, fgrep, egrep

grep (globally search a regular expression and print)

This command can be used to search a pattern in one or
more files directly from the command line.

SYNTAX
grep [OPTIONS] PATTERN [FILE...]

EXAMPLE
$ grep "Linux" input.txt
Welcome to Linux.

In the output above, the line in the file input.txt

containing the pattern or string "Linux" was displayed as
output. Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Finding Pattern in Files
The pattern matching done by grep command is case
sensitive. For example, if the argument to grep command
is "LINUX" (instead of "Linux") then grep will not match
the lines containing string "Linux".

$ grep "LINUX" input.txt

$

If it is desired that grep command should ignore the case

sensitiveness then the option -i can be used.

$ grep -i "LINUX" input.txt

Welcome to Linux.

So we see that this time the string "LINUX" matched

with the line containing the string "Linux".
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Finding Pattern in Files
If more than one file is supplied in argument list then grep
searches for the pattern or string in all the files.

For example :
$ grep "Linux" input.txt output.txt

input.txt:Welcome to Linux.
output.txt:I hope you enjoyed working on Linux.

The grep command also allows the usage of regular

expressions in pattern matching.
# grep -r ".*Linux" output.txt output1.txt
output.txt: I hope you enjoyed working on Linux.
output1.txt:Welcome to Linux.
output1.txt:I hope you will have fun with Linux.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Finding Pattern in Files
fgrep
fgrep searches for fixed-character strings in a file or files.
fgrep is useful when you need to search for strings which
contain lots of regular expression metacharacters, such as
"$", "^", etc.

Syntex:

$fgrep [options] string [files]

Running fgrep is the same as running grep with the -F

option.

example
$ fgrep "support" myfile.txt
Search for "support" in the file myfile.txt.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Finding Pattern in Files
egrep
Search for a pattern using extended regular expressions.
A regular expression is a pattern that describes a set of
strings.
egrep is essentially the same as running grep with the -E
option.

syntax
egrep [options] PATTERN [FILE...]

Example 1
$ egrep "support|help|windows" myfile.txt

Search for patterns of support help and windows in the

file myfile.txt.
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami
Finding Pattern in Files
Example 2
$ egrep '^[a-zA-Z]+$' myfile.txt

Match any lines in myfile.txt which begin a line with an

alphabetic word which also ends the line.

Example 3
$ egrep -c '^begin|end$' myfile.txt

Count the number of lines in myfile.txt which begin

with the word 'begin' or end with the word 'end'.

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Working with columns and fields
Cut – Removes sections from each line of files.
Prints selected parts of lines from each file to standard
output.

Options
-f Extract a set of specified fields.
-d Used with the -f option. Use a specified delimiter
rather than default tab.

Imagine we’ve got a file numbers.txt, which consist of

three columns:
col_1 col_2 col_3
one two three
four five six

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Working with columns and fields
In the following example cut will return only column
(col_2) :

$ cut -f2 numbers.txt

col_2
two
Five

in the next example cut will return columns 2 and 3:

$ cut -f1,3 numbers.txt

col_1 col_3
one three
four six

Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami

Working with columns and fields
We’ve got the following file: fileone.txt
01234:567;89
ABCD:EFGH;IJ

display everything in first column

before delimiter “;”

$ cut -d ";" -f1 fileone.txt

01234:567
ABCDE:FGH
Created By: Prof. Mital Goswami