Basic Unix Commands


© Robin Friedman
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I'll get back to the basics here - I'll try and give you a reference guide on the simple commands you'll need to really get around Unix or Linux.

passwd: Will change your password if you can remember your old one. It's highly suggested to use numbers and symbols!

exit: Logs off to end your Unix session. You can also use logout.

ls: To list files in a directory. Typing ls | more (Meaning ls piped to more, giving its output to more for formatting) will list your results page-by-page instead of all at once.

cd: To navigate the filetree, or to change your directory. Type cd home to go to the directory home.

cp: To copy files. Type cp [filename] [path] , for example, cp file.txt /home/file2.txt would copy file.txt to the location /home as file2.txt.

rm: To remove files. Type rm [filename] to delete them.

mv: To rename files. Type mv [oldname] [newname] , for example, mv file.txt file2.txt would rename, you guessed it, file.txt to file2.txt.

mkdir: To make a new directory, used mkdir [directoryname]

rmdir: To remove a directory, used rmdir [directoryname]

who: Will display who is logged in right now.

w: Displays what each user is doing right now.

finger: Displays information about a user. On this system, used finger [username] . Over the internet, finger [user]@[domain] , for example finger professor@stanford.edu might display info on a professor at Stanford.

chfn: Allows you to change information that would show up if someone fingered you.

talk: The advanced version of write, which allows you to 'talk' to another user. Used talk [username] . They have to type 'talk' to be able talk back to you.

man: Will display the basic manual for a command or program, i.e. man ls will display information on ls.

df: Displays how much free space is left on the disk.

These are some basic programs you may use:

ftp: Will connect to an ftp server, allowing easy file transfer.

telnet: Will telnet to a server, connecting you to their Unix system, much like the one you're typing the command from.

mail: A very basic email program.

pine: A not-so basic email program, my favorite.

vi: The basic and popular vi editor. Impossible to use without a guide.

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