Unix Cheat Sheet
This page contains a very abbreviated description of some of the most
important Unix commands.
cd directory_name
changes your current (working) directory to the named directory.
cd
(cd with no arguments) changes
your current directory to be your home directory.
logout
Logs you out of the system.
ls
(ls with no arguments) lists the
names of files in your current directory.
ls -CF
lists the names of the files in your current directory,
listing them in multiple columns and appending a '*' to executable files and '/'
to directories.
ls -l
shows a long-form listing
which includes a character indicating whether the file is a directory ('d')
or an ordinary file ('-'), 9 characters describing the file permissions,
the name of the file's owner, the file's size in bytes, when the file
was last modified, and the file's name.
mkdir directory_name
creates a directory with the given name.
passwd
prompts you for information in order to change your password.
pwd
displays the name
of your current directory on the screen.
rm file_name
removes (deletes, erases) the named file.
pr -f file_name | lpr -Pmsd
This command line, a so-called pipeline, can be used to print
the named file on the line printer in the lab in Walker Hall room 205.
(The line printer is behind the partition; it is not one of the printers
at the end of the first double table.)
lpq -Pmsd
This command line asks the system to display a list of what is in
the msd print queue.
cat file_name
displays the named file on the screen.
cp file_1 file_2
copies the content of file_1 to a file named file_2.
date
prints the current
date and time.
finger
(with no arguments) displays some information
about people who are currently logged on.
finger user_name
displays some information about the named user.
finger real_name
where real_name
is part of some user's real name, should show some information
about that user.
finger user@internet_address
asks the system
at internet_address for finger information on user.
more file_name
less file_name
These two commands are "pagers". A "pager" is a program
that displays a file on your screen a screen-full at a time.
If you type a lower case 'h' to either of these programs, you should
see a "help screen".
mv file_1 file_2
moves file_1 to a file named file_2.
mv file_1 file_2 ... directory_name
moves the files, file_1, file_2, ..., to the directory directory_name.
rmdir directory_name
removes the named directory if the directory is empty.
If there are files in the named directory, the command will tell you that
the directory isn't empty and will not remove the directory.
who
lists the login name, terminal
name, and login time for each current UNIX user.