Command Summary
Table 3.13 lists the commands that were discussed in this chapter.
GNU and Unix Commands
Utility |
Default Purpose |
& |
Start a process in the background |
bg |
Move a job to the background |
cat |
Display the contents of a file |
cd |
Change from the current directory to another |
cp |
Copy a file or directory |
cut |
Extract a field from each line of a file |
dd |
Copy files between media |
egrep |
Originally combined features of grep and fgrep with new possibilities; can now be emulated with grep E |
fg |
Move a job to the foreground |
fgrep |
Originally offered features not found in grep, but can now be emulated with grep -F |
find |
Locate a file based on given criteria |
fmt |
Allows you to format the output to fit the desired display |
grep |
Displays lines that contain the given string |
head |
Display the beginning lines of a file |
jobs |
Display a list of jobs running in the background |
join |
Combine columns from two files into a single display |
kill |
End a process |
killall |
End several processes |
ls |
List files and directories on the system |
mkdir |
Make directories |
mv |
Rename/move a file or directory |
nice |
Start a process at a priority other than the default |
nl |
Number the lines of a file |
paste |
Put the contents of two files in a single display |
ps |
Show the running processes |
pstree |
Graphically depict the relationship between processes |
pwd |
Display the current directoryalways in absolute format |
renice |
Change the priority of a running process |
rm |
Remove files and directories |
rmdir |
Remove empty directories |
sed |
Allows text to be changed before being displayed |
sort |
Sorts the lines of the file |
stty |
Show the settings for the terminal |
tac |
Display the contents of a file in reverse order |
tail |
Display the last lines of a file |
tee |
Send output to default and to a file |
top |
Show and monitor system information and processes |
touch |
Change the times associated with a file |
tr |
Translate one set of characters into another |
wait |
Suspend further processing until another process completes |
wc |
Count the number of words, lines, and characters/bytes within a file |
xargs |
Pass the output of one command into another |