The UNIX operating system is case sensitive. In general, commands in UNIX are lower case. Commands can include three parts: a command, an option, and an argument.
- A command is a word or group of characters that UNIX recognizes as a request to perform a specific task.
- An option, as the name implies, is not mandatory. Options give extra functions to a command; they are always preceded by a dash (-).
- An argument is a variable supplied by the user. Often, it represents the name of a file or directory targeted for action.
For example, the UNIX command ls -l first.file uses the command
ls to request a listing, the option l to specify a long
listing, and the argument first.file to only list information about the file named
first.file.
Customizing Your Unix Environment
- Aliases allow you to define a shortcut for a command or
series of commands.
Command(s):alias - Customization allows you to set parameters for
your shell and
sessions.
Command(s):set setenv source - Finger allows you to check the user information for an
account.
Command(s):finger chfn
General Account Usage
- Printing from your Unix account.
Command(s):lpr lpq lprm enscript printers file - Process Control allows you to list and manage
processes running under your
account.
Command(s):ps kill bg fg stop jobs - Quota manages the limits placed on the amount of disk
space you can use. Commands allow
you to check your current usage and quota.
Command(s):quota ls du
File and Directory Commands
- Directory commands allow you to create, remove, and
navigate UNIX directories.
Command(s):ls mkdir rmdir rm cd pwd cp mv pushd popd dirs - File commands allow you to create, remove, and view files in
UNIX.
Command(s):ls rm mv cp more less cat file diff - File and Directory Permissions allow you to add/remove access to files and
directories in your account for other users.
Command(s):chmod - Access Control Lists allow you to give specific users (one or
more) access to a single
file and/or directory in your account.
Command(s):setfacl getfacl
File Compression and Transfer
- Tar is a file archiving command that allows you to bundle a
number of files and/or
directories together into a single file that can be easily transferred between computers.
Command(s):tar - File Compression allows you to reduce the size of a
file for storage or
transfer.
Command(s):compress uncompress pack unpack zip unzip gzip gunzip zcat zmore
zdiff zcmp gzexe zgrep - File Transfer commands allow you to move files between
systems.
Command(s):ftp kermit xyzmodem rcp
Text File Searching and Manipulation
- Grep commands allow you to search text files for a
particular expression (text string).
Command(s):grep agrep egrep fgrep zgrep - Filtering Text Files can be used to retrieve, replace or
remove certain text strings in a
UNIX file or group of files.
Command(s):awk sed grep