Unix Command Summary

Summary of Common Commands

This table summarizes some common unix commands and may be printed for quick reference. Other commands may be available for the same or similar tasks.

Task	Command	Example
Working With Files
List files	ls	ls -alF
Copy	cp fromfile tofile	cp prog1 prog2
Delete	rm filename	rm data.csv
Move files	mv fromname toname	mv /scratch/big.data bigdata
Rename files	mv oldname newname	mv old.data new.data
Display the contents of a file	more filename	press the ENTER key to advance a line at a time; press the SPACE bar to advance a screen at a time; press CONTROL-C to end
Find a file	find "directory" -name "filename" -print	If you know the name of a file but not where it is, cd to your home directory and use 'find . -name "filename.txt" -print'
Working with Directories
Show working directory	pwd	pwd
Change working directory	cd dirname	cd jp
Change to home directory	cd	cd
Change to parent directory	cd ..	cd ..
Create directory	mkdir dirname	mkdir thesis
Remove directory	rmdir dirname	rmdir loveltrs
Printing
Print a file	lpr -P printername filename	lpr -P nslaser extract.sas
Printer status	lpq -P printername	lpq -P nslaser
Cancel print job	lprm -P printername jobnum	lprm -P nslaser 123
List available printers	printers -L	printers -L \| more
Other Commands
Check how much disk space you can use	quota -v	quota -v
Edit a file	pico filename	pico thesis1.do
Edit a file	vi filename	vi thesis2.do
Modify access permissions	chmod attrs filename	chmod o+r pubinfo
Display environment variables	env	env
Display a calendar	cal month year	cal
Display current date and time	date	date
Help on a command	man commandname	man cp or lookup man pages
Help on a keyword	man -k keyword	man -k mail
See who is logged on	who	who
Look up someone's email address	ph name	ph Jane Doe