http://sunsite.utk.edu/UNIX-help/quickref.html 
 
Unix Help 
UNIX Quick Reference Sheet  
This a summary of some common Unix commands. Some of these commands may not be on your Unix Systems and some commands may not work exactly as show. - The Management  
  
 
 
1 Log In Session 
 
1.1 Log In 
Enter username at login: prompt. Be carefull - Unix is case sensitive. 
Enter password at password: prompt. 
 
 
1.2 Change Password 
passwd  
 
 
1.3 Log Out 
logout or exit 
 
 
2 File System 
 
2.1 Create a File 
 
cat >  file      Enter text and end with  ctrl-D 
vi  file         Edit  file  using the  vi  editor  
 
2.2 Make a Directory 
 
mkdir   directory-name 
2.3 Display File Contents 
 
cat   file    display contents of  file  
more  file    display contents of  file one screenfull at a time. 
view  file    a read only version of vi.  
less  file    similar to, but more powerfull than more.  
              See the man page for more infomation on less. 
 
2.4 Comparing Files 
 
diff file1 file2   line by comparison 
cmp file1 file2    byte by byte comparison 
 
2.5 Changing Access Modes 
 
chmod mode file1 file2 ... 
chmod -R  mode dir (changes all files in  dir  ) 
 
 
    Mode Settings 
 
 u  user (owner) 
 g  group 
 o  other 
 
 +  add permission 
 -  remove permission 
 
 r  read 
 w  write 
 x  execute 
 
 
Example: chmod go+rwx public.html adds read, write, and execute permissions for group and other on public.html.  
 
 
2.6 List Files and Directories 
 
ls        list contents of directory 
ls -a     include files with "." (dot files) 
ls -l     list contents in long format (show modes) 
 
2.7 Move (or Rename) Files and Directories 
 
mv src-file dest-file    rename src-file to  dest-file 
mv src-file dest-dir     move a file into a directory 
mv src-dir dest-dir      rename src-dir, or move to dest-dir 
mv -i src dest           copy & prompt before overwriting 
 
2.8 Copy Files 
 
cp src-file dest-file    copy src-file to  dest-file 
cp src-file dest-dir     copy a file into a directory 
cp -R src-dir dest-dir   copy one directory into another 
cp -i src dest           copy & prompt before overwriting 
 
2.9 Remove File 
 
rm file      remove (delete) a file 
rmdir dir    remove an empty directory 
rm -r dir    remove a directory and its contents 
rm -i file   remove file, but prompt before deleting 
 
 
2.10 Compressing files 
 
compress file       encode file, replacing it with file.Z 
zcat file.Z         display compressed file 
uncompress file.Z   decode file.Z, replacing it with file 
 
 
2.11 Find Name of Current Directory 
 
pwd    display absolute path of working directory 
 
 
2.12 Pathnames 
 
simple:  
One filename or directory name for accessing local file or directory.  
Example: foo.c  
 
absolute:  
List of directory names from root directory to desired file or directory name, each separated by /.  
Example: /src/shared  
 
relative:  
List of directory names from working directory to desired file or directory name, each separated by /.  
Example: Mail/inbox/23  
 
2.13 Directory Abbreviations 
 
~           Your home (login) directory 
~username   Another user's home directory 
.           Working (current)  directory 
..          Parent of working directory 
../..       Parent of parent directory 
 
2.14 Change Working Directory 
 
cd /	   			go to the root directory 
cd        			go to your login (home) directory 
cd ~username 			go to username's login (home) directory 
				not allowed in the Bourne shell 
cd ~username/directory		go to username's indicated directory 
cd ..				go up one directory level from here 
cd ../..			go up two directory levels from here 
cd /full/path/name/from/root	change directory to absolute path named  
 				note the leading slash 
cd path/from/current/directory	change directory to path relative to here.  
				note there is no leading slash 
 
3.0 Commands 
 
3.1 Date 
 
date    display date and time 
 
3.2 Wild Cards 
 
?    single character wild card 
*    Arbitrary number of characters 
 
3.3 Printing 
 
lpr file            print file on default printer 
lpr -Pprinter file  print file on printer 
lpr -c# file        print # copies of file 
lpr -d file         interpret file as a dvi file 
lpq                 show print queue (-Pprinter also valid) 
lprm -#             remove print request # (listed with lpq) 
 
3.4 Redirection 
 
command > file		direct output of command to file instead of 
			to standard output (screen), replacing current  
			contents of file 
command > > file	as above, except output is appended to the current  
			contents of file 
command < file		command receives input from file instead of 
			from standard input (keyboard) 
cmd1 | cmd2		"pipe" output of cmd1 to input of cmd2 
script file		log everything displayed on the terminal to file;  
			end with exit 
 
4 Search Files 
 
grep string filelist 		show lines containing string in any file  
				in filelist 
grep -v string filelist 	show lines not containing string 
grep -i string filelist 	show lines containing string, ignore case 
 
5 Information on Users 
 
finger user or 
finger user@machine 	get information on a user 
finger @machine 	list users on machine 
who      		list current users 
 
6 Timesavers 
 
6.1 Aliases 
 
alias string command     abbreviate command to string 
 
6.2 History: Command Repetition 
Commands may be recalled  
 
history    show command history 
!num       repeat command with history number num 
!str       repeat last command beginning with string str 
!!         repeat entire last command line 
!$         repeat last word of last command line 
 
7.0 Process and Job Control 
 
7.1 Important Terms 
 
pid		Process IDentification number.  See section 7.2. 
job-id 	Job identification number. See section 7.2. 
 
 
7.2 Display Process and/or Job IDs 
ps       report processes and pid numbers 
ps gx    as above, but include "hidden" processes 
jobs     report current jobs and job id numbers 
 
7.3 Stop (Suspend) a Job 
 
ctrl-Z    NOTE rocess still exists! 
 
7.4 Run a Job in the Background 
 
To start a job in  background add & to the end of the command.  
Example: xv foo.gif & 
 
To force a running job into the background:  
ctrl-Z    stop the job 
bg        "push" the job into the background 
 
 
7.5 Bring a Job to the Foreground 
 
fg              bring a job to foreground 
fg %job-id      foreground by job-id (see 7.2) 
 
 
7.6 Kill a Process or Job 
 
ctrl-C                 kill foreground process 
kill -KILL pid#        see 7.2 for  
kill -KILL %job-id#    displaying  pids & job-ids  
 
 
8.0 Mail Handler (MH) 
MH commands are issued directly to the terminal.  
 
 
inc        incorporate new mail 
scan       show list of mail messages 
show       show current message 
next       show next message 
prev       show previous message 
repl       reply to current message 
forw       forward current message 
comp       compose a mail message 
rmm        remove current mail message 
cmd -help  print help on mh commmand cmd  
 
 
The file .mh_profile is used to enable/disable MH features. man mh-profile for more information.  
 
9.0 On-line Assistance 
On-line Documentation  
 
man command-name   display on-line manual pages 
man -k  string     list one-line summaries of manual pages containing string 
 
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