Unix is case sensitive - always type commands in lower case!
General Commands
| Login | Enter your login name at the "Login" prompt. You will be asked to enter your password. (It will not appear on the screen.) | |
| Change Password | passwd (you'll be asked for your old password, then your new password twice) | |
| Prompt | The usual Unix prompt is user_name@ directory_name. | |
| Directory Names | separated with / , e.g. /home/username/public_html | |
| Logout | logout, exit, or CTRL-D | |
| Interrupt a process | CTRL-C (try this if you're stuck) | |
| See who is logged in | who | |
| Find login name | finger real last name | See a calendar | cal 11 1996, for example, for Nov. 1996 (cal by itself prints the current month's calendar). |
Help
| Online Help | man command (e.g. man cal for calendar help) |
| Quick Help | command --help (for quick help) |
Directories
| Change Directory | cd pathname (cd .. takes you up one level) |
| Where Am I? | pwd (stands for "Print Working Directory") |
| Make Directory | mkdir directoryname |
| Remove Directory (and all the files in it) | rm -r directoryname |
| Set Directory Permissions | Click here for help with chmod |
WARNING!!! There is no way to "undelete" in Unix. Be VERY careful when deleting files or directories!!
File Management
| List File(s) | ls [ filename(s)] or ls -l [ filenames(s)] for a more informative listing |
| Edit File(s) | emacs filename(s) See help sheets on the Emacs editor or click here for more information on how to use the editor. |
| View File(s) | cat filename or less filename |
| Delete File(s) | rm filename(s) Be careful! No way to undelete!!!! |
| Move File(s) to Another Directory | mv sourcefilename(s) targetdirectory |
| Rename File | mv oldfilename newfilename |
| Copy File(s) | cp source filename(s) target pathname |
| Set File Permissions | Click here for help with chmod |
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