Unix Quick Reference


Environment Control

Command Description
cd d Change to directory d
mkdir d Create new directory d
rmdir d Remove directory d
mv f1 [f2...] d Move file f to directory d
mv d1 d2 Rename directory d1 as d2
passwd Change password
alias name1 name2 Create command alias
unalias name1 Remove command alias name1
rlogin nd Login to remote node
logout End terminal session
setenv name v Set env var to value v
unsetenv name1 name2...] remove environment variable

Output, Communication, & Help

Command Description
lpr -P printer f Output file f to line printer
script [f] Save terminal session to f
exit Stop saving terminal
session
mail username Send mail to user
biff [y/n] Instant notification of mail
man name UNIX manual entry for
name
learn Online tutorial

Process Control

Command Description
Ctrl/c * Interrupt processes
Ctrl/s * Stop screen scrolling
Ctrl/q * Resume screen output
sleep n Sleep for n seconds
jobs Print list of jobs
kill [%n] Kill job n
ps Print process status stats
kill -9 n Remove process n
Ctrl/z * Suspend current process
stop %n Suspend background job n
command& Run command in background
bg [%n] Resume background job n
fg [%n] Resume foreground job n
exit Exit from shell

Environment Status

Command Description
ls [d] [f...] List files in directory
ls -1 [f...] List files in detail
alias [name] Display command aliases
printenv [name] Print environment values
quota Display disk quota
date Print date & time
who List logged in users
whoami Display current user
finger [username] Output user information
chfn Change finger information
pwd Print working directory
history Display recent commands
! n Submit recent command n

File Manipulation

Command Description
vi [f] Vi fullscreen editor
emacs [f] Emacs fullscreen editor
ed [f] Text editor
wc f Line, word, & char count
cat f List contents of file
more f List file contents by screen
cat f1 f2 > f3 Concatenates f1 & f2 into f3
chmod mode f Change protection mode of f
cmp f1 f2 Compare two files
cp f1 f2 Copy file f1 into f2
sort f Alphabetically sort f
split [-n] f Split f into n-line pieces
mv f1 f2 Rename file f1 as f2
rm f Delete (remove) file f
grep ptn f Outputs lines that match ptn
diff f1 f2 Lists file differences
head f Output beginning of f
tail f Output end of f

Compiler

Command Description
cc [-o f1] f2 C compiler
lint f Check C code for errors
f77 [-o f1] f2 Fortran77 compiler
pc [-o f1] f2 Pascal compiler