Commonly used Unix commands Tech Computer Center logo The following is a short list of Unix commands most

users will need. For more information, try man command. Starting and Ending login: `Logging in' telnet: Connect to another machine logout: `Logging out' File Management emacs: `Using the emacs text editor' mkdir: `Creating a directory' cd: `Changing your current working directory' ls: `Finding out what files you have' cp: `Making a copy of a file' mv: `Changing the name of a file' rm: `Getting rid of unwanted files' chmod: `Controlling access to your files' cmp: Comparing two files wc: Word, line, and character count compress: Compress a file Communication e-mail: `Sending and receiving electronic mail' talk: Talk to another user write: Write messages to another user sftp: Secure file transfer protocol Information man: Manual pages quota -v: Finding out your available disk space quota ical: `Using the Ical personal organizer' finger: Getting information about a user passwd: Changing your password who: Finding out who's logged on Printing lpr: `Printing' lprm: Removing a print job lpq: Checking the print queues Job control ps: `Finding your processes' kill: `Killing a process' nohup: Continuing a job after logout nice: Changing the priority of a job &: `What is a background process?' Cntrl-z: Suspending a process fg: `Resuming a suspended process' Next: Selecting a Unix shell See also: Learning the basic Unix tools

Previous: Unix fundamentals Site map Index: Keyword index to help pages Help: New Mexico Tech Computer Center: Help System TCC Publications Home: About New Mexico Tech