GNU/Linux Command-Line Tools Summary

1 GNU/Linux command line Tools SummaryGareth Anderson<somecsstudent(at) >Chris Karakas Conversion from LyX to DocBook SGML, Index generationRevision HistoryRevision April 2006 Revised by: GACorrected typing errors, generated new, much smaller index (more accurate in my opinion). Updated errors indocument for February 2006 Revised by: CKCorrected typos, generated new index (9000 index entries!).Revision February 2006 Revised by: GAMajor restructuring, now in a docbook book format. Removed large chunks of content and revised other parts(removed chapters and sectioned some areas more). This is likely the final release by the author, I hope thatsomeone finds this guide useful as I do not intend to continue work on this February 2005 Revised by: CKSet special characters in math mode, produced PDF and PS with Computer Modern fonts in OT1 encodingand created correct SGML for key December 2004 Revised by: GAUpdated document with new grammatical review.

2 Re ordered the entire Text section. Removed a fairamount of April 2004 Revised by: GAAttempted to fix document according to TLDP criticisms. Added notes and tips more sectioning. Nowcomplying to the open group standards for the UNIX system trademark. Document should be ready for TLDP October 2003 Revised by: GAFixed a variety of errors as according to the review and made some consistency improvements to July 2003 Revised by: GAMade small improvements to the document as suggested (so far) by the thorough TLDP review, improvedconsistency of document and made small content June 2003 Revised by: GAMinor errors fixed, updated the appendix with information for finding where a tool is from. Fixedreferencing/citation problems and improved further reading and intro sections, added an audio April 2003 Revised by: GAThis is the initial public release.

3 Added more code style then before, broke text section into moresubsections. Improved consistency of document and fixed various index March 2003 Revised by: GAThis is the initial draft release (the first release to be converted from LyX to DocBook SGML).This document is an attempt to provide a Summary of useful command line Tools available to a GNU/Linuxbased operating system, the Tools listed are designed to benefit the majority of users and have being chosen atthe authors discretion. This document is not a comprehensive list of every existent tool available to aGNU/ linux based system, nor does it have in depth explanations of how things work. It is a Summary whichcan be used to learn about and how to use many of the Tools available to a GNU/Linux based of ContentsChapter 1. Who would want to read this guide?.. Who would not want to read this guide?

4 Availability of Conventions used in this Resources used to create this 2. 3. The Unix Tools 4. Shell General Shell The command line Other Key Virtual Terminals and 5. 6. Directing Concept command Performing more than one 7. Working with the file Moving around the Finding Working with files and Mass Rename/copy/link 8. Finding information about the Date/ Finding information about 9. Controlling the Mounting and Unmounting (Floppy/CDROM/Hard drive Partitions).. Shutting Down/Rebooting the Controlling Controlling 10. Managing command line Tools SummaryiTable of ContentsChapter 11. Text Related Text Text Viewing Text Information Text manipulation Text Conversion/Filter Conversion Finding Text Within 12. Mathematical 13. Network Network Internet Specific Remote Administration 14.

5 Some basic Security File 15. Archiving tar (tape archiver).. 16. Graphics Tools ( command line based)..74 Chapter 17. Working with MS DOS 18. Scheduling Commands to run in the 19. 20. Mini RPM: Redhat Package Management Checking the Hard Disk for Duplicating Standard Wildcards (globbing patterns).. Regular Useful categories of characters (as defined by the POSIX standard)..85 Appendix A. Finding Finding more useful Finding a particular tool (s).. Finding package(s).. Further command line Tools SummaryiiTable of ContentsAppendix A. General Further Specific Further Online Manual And Info GNU Free Documentation APPLICABILITY AND VERBATIM COPYING IN COMBINING COLLECTIONS OF AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS command line Tools SummaryiiiChapter 1. IntroductionThis document is an attempt to summarise the many command line based Tools available to a GNU/Linuxbased operating system.

6 This guide is not a complete listing (I doubt it's possible to document all availableprograms), this document lists many Tools which are available to GNU/Linux systems and which are, or canbe useful to the majority of tool description provides a quick overview of it's function and some useful options for that Tools listed that require a GUI, usually the X windowing system, are those listed in the Graphics Toolssection. All other Tools are completely command line based and do not require a GUI to you are looking for information on GUI based Tools you will need to look note that a few of the Tools in this guide are bash (the Bourne Again SHell) specific, Tools specific toother shells are not listed in this some of the Tools that are harder to use, or perform a more complex task, there are several mini tutorials(or mini guides; Chapter 20) within this a mini guide was considered unncessary, detailed descriptions that explain in detail how a particulartool works, and some examples of how to use it are note that the word " tool " is used interchangeably with the word " command ", both have the samemeaning (at least in this guide).

7 For a more detailed explanation, read about the UNIX Tools Philosophy here:Chapter 3 or visit the links in the appendix, Section find out which Tools are bash specificTo find out which Tools are bash specific you can type:enable Who would want to read this guide?Anyone who is interested in learning about the Tools (also known as commands) available to them when usingtheir GNU/Linux based operating would you want to learn how to use the command line (and available Tools )? The CommandLine Interface (CLI), while difficult to learn, is the quickest and most efficient way to use a computer formany different tasks. The CLI is the normal method of use for most UNIX system administrators,programmers and some power users. While a GUI is better suited to some tasks, many operations are bestsuited to the major motivation behind learning the GNU/Linux CLI is the authors idea that, with software in general,the more time spent learning something equals less time spent performing that particular task (authors opiniononly).

8 Chapter 1. Introduction1 This guide is aimed at beginners to intermediate users who want to learn about the command line toolsavailable to them. Advanced users may wish to use it as a command reference, however this document aims tolist commands of interest, as judged by the authors opinion, it is not designed to be completelycomprehensive, see the appendix, Section for further information. Or if you are not looking for acommand reference guide, but a more gentle introduction to GNU/Linux you may be interested in theIntroduction to linux guide authored by Machtelt guide could also be considered a summarised version of the linux Cookbook. If you are looking for abook with more detailed descriptions of each tool have a look at the linux Cookbook Homepage, also checkout the command list from " linux in a Nutshell 3rd Edition" for an index of 300+ commands and Who would not want to read this guide?

9 Anyone who is not interested in the command line , or anyone looking for a detailed reference to all availableGNU/ linux Tools should look elsewhere. This is only a Summary , while it does list many commands, it's not acomplete listing (I don't think it's possible to make a complete listing anyway).This document would not be of interest to those who already have an expert knowledge of the command lineinterface and do require any reference information. Or those readers who require detailed lists of options foreach command , the man pages are better suited to this Availability of sourcesThe modifiable sources of the original book (in english), are available in LyX format (LyX DocumentProcessor) or Machine translated SGML (SGML markup language).LyX is a completely free document processor based on LaTeX, downloadable from the LyX for the modifiable sources of this document.

10 These are the official versions. We (the translators andcurrent maintainers) plan to continue work on this document and add new chapters and enhancements. If youwant to see the version we are currently working on (the "bleeding edge" version), check the GNU/LinuxCommand line Tools Summary Homepage from time to time (kindly hosted by Chris Karakas). Conventions used in this guideThe following conventions are used within this guide:italicAnything appearing in italic, like this is either an executable command or emphasized text. Tools (executable commands) are in italics to prevent confusion. Some Tools have names which are realenglish words, such as the "locate" combinationsAre represented by using a ' ' (dash sign) in between the key(s), which must be used in combinations are also printed in italics to improve clarity. For example CTRL Z means holddown the Control key and press the z are little pictures used to emphasize something of importance to the command line Tools SummaryChapter 1.