Files and Directories
These commands allow you to create directories and handle files.
Command Description
cat Display File Contents
cd Changes Directory to dirname
chgrp change file group
chmod Changing Permissions
cp Copy source file into destination
file Determine file type
find Find files
grep Search files for regular expressions.
head Display first few lines of a file
ln Create softlink on oldname
ls Display information about file type.
mkdir Create a new directory dirname
more Display data in paginated form.
mv Move (Rename) a oldname to newname.
pwd Print current working directory.
rm Remove (Delete) filename
rmdir Delete an existing directory provided it is empty.
tail Prints last few lines in a file.
touch Update access and modification time of a file.
Manipulating data
The contents of files can be compared and altered with the following commands.
Command Description
awk Pattern scanning and processing language
cmp Compare the contents of two files
comm Compare sorted data
cut Cut out selected fields of each line of a file
diff Differential file comparator
expand Expand tabs to spaces
join Join files on some common field
perl Data manipulation language
sed Stream text editor
sort Sort file data
split Split file into smaller files
tr Translate characters
uniq Report repeated lines in a file
wc Count words, lines, and characters
vi Opens vi text editor
vim Opens vim text editor
fmt Simple text formatter
spell Check text for spelling error
ispell Check text for spelling error
ispell Check text for spelling error
emacs GNU project Emacs
ex, edit Line editor
emacs GNU project Emacs
emacs GNU project Emacs
Compressed Files
Files may be compressed to save space. Compressed files can be created and examined −
Command Description
compress Compress files
gunzip Uncompress gzipped files
gzip GNU alternative compression method
uncompress Uncompress files
unzip List, test and extract compressed files in a ZIP archive
zcat Cat a compressed file
zcmp Compare compressed files
zdiff Compare compressed files
zmore File perusal filter for crt viewing of compressed text
Getting Information
Various Unix manuals and documentation are available on-line. The following Shell commands
give information −
Command Description
apropos Locate commands by keyword lookup
info Displays command information pages online
man Displays manual pages online
whatis Search the whatis database for complete words.
yelp GNOME help viewer
Network Communication
These following commands are used to send and receive files from a local UNIX hosts to the
remote host around the world.
Command Description
ftp File transfer program
rcp Remote file copy
rlogin Remote login to a UNIX host
rsh Remote shell
tftp Trivial file transfer program
telnet Make terminal connection to another host
ssh Secure shell terminal or command connection
scp Secure shell remote file copy
sftp secure shell file transfer program
Some of these commands may be restricted at your computer for security reasons.
Messages between Users
The UNIX systems support on-screen messages to other users and world-wide electronic mail −
Command Description
evolution GUI mail handling tool on Linux
mail Simple send or read mail program
mesg Permit or deny messages
parcel Send files to another user
pine Vdu-based mail utility
talk Talk to another user
write Write message to another user
