Basic Unix Language
This page was created to provide basic Unix or Linux commands for prompt reference. The simple commands will be helpful as you work on your web server with a secure shell (SSH) environment.
Many users opt for File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and other methods in uploading files to their hosting accounts. However, technical-minded individuals choose SSH because it is faster and secure. We do not recommend SSH unless you already have the experience and capability of typing SSH commands.
SSH Client Software
You must install a SSH client software on your computer before connecting to the web server. You can find SSH client software on the Internet depending on your requirements. Jolt recommends PUTTY, a free telnet and SSH client that many web masters and server administrators use.
Here are direct links that you can download. It is recommended, however, that you visit the official website for the latest updates. The download files were posted on this page on the 16th of March, 2017.
Windows x86
PuTTY: https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/w32/putty.exe
Windows Installer
Installer: https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/w32/putty-0.68-installer.msi
Basic Unix Commands
A
alias Create an alias apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k) apt-get Search for and install software packages (Debian) aspell Spell Checker awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index
B
bash GNU Bourne-Again SHell bc Arbitrary precision calculator language bg Send to background break Exit from a loop builtin Run a shell builtin bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s)
C
cal Display a calendar case Conditionally perform a command cat Display the contents of a file cd Change Directory cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux chgrp Change group ownership chmod Change access permissions chown Change file owner and group chroot Run a command with a different root directory cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts clear Clear terminal screen cmp Compare two files comm Compare two sorted files line by line command Run a command - ignoring shell functions continue Resume the next iteration of a loop cp Copy one or more files to another location cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces cut Divide a file into several parts
D
date Display or change the date & time dc Desk Calculator dd Convert and copy a file, write disk headers, boot records ddrescue Data recovery tool declare Declare variables and give them attributes df Display free disk space diff Display the differences between two files diff3 Show differences among three files dig DNS lookup dir Briefly list directory contents dircolors Colour setup for `ls' dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path dirs Display list of remembered directories du Estimate file space usage
E
echo Display message on screen egrep Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression eject Eject removable media enable Enable and disable builtin shell commands env Environment variables ethtool Ethernet card settings eval Evaluate several commands/arguments exec Execute a command exit Exit the shell expect Automate arbitrary applications accessed over a terminal expand Convert tabs to spaces export Set an environment variable expr Evaluate expressions
F
false Do nothing, unsuccessfully fdformat Low-level format a floppy disk fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux fg Send job to foreground fgrep Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string file Determine file type find Search for files that meet a desired criteria fmt Reformat paragraph text fold Wrap text to fit a specified width. for Expand words, and execute commands format Format disks or tapes free Display memory usage fsck File system consistency check and repair ftp File Transfer Protocol function Define Function Macros
G
gawk Find and Replace text within file(s) getopts Parse positional parameters grep Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern groups Print group names a user is in gzip Compress or decompress named file(s)
H
hash Remember the full pathname of a name argument head Output the first part of file(s) history Command History hostname Print or set system name
I
id Print user and group id's if Conditionally perform a command ifconfig Configure a network interface ifdown Stop a network interface ifup Start a network interface up import Capture an X server screen and save the image to file install Copy files and set attributes
J
join Join lines on a common field
K
kill Stop a process from running
L
less Display output one screen at a time let Perform arithmetic on shell variables ln Make links between files local Create variables locate Find files logname Print current login name logout Exit a login shell look Display lines beginning with a given string lpc Line printer control program lpr Off line print lprint Print a file lprintd Abort a print job lprintq List the print queue lprm Remove jobs from the print queue ls List information about file(s) lsof List open files
M
make Recompile a group of programs man Help manual mkdir Create new folder(s) mkfifo Make FIFOs (named pipes) mkisofs Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem mknod Make block or character special files more Display output one screen at a time mount Mount a file system mtools Manipulate MS-DOS files mv Move or rename files or directories
N
netstat Networking information nice Set the priority of a command or job nl Number lines and write files nohup Run a command immune to hangups nslookup Query Internet name servers interactively
O
open Open a file in its default application op Operator access
P
passwd Modify a user password paste Merge lines of files pathchk Check file name portability ping Test a network connection popd Restore the previous value of the current directory pr Prepare files for printing printcap Printer capability database printenv Print environment variables printf Format and print data ps Process status pushd Save and then change the current directory pwd Print Working Directory
Q
quota Display disk usage and limits quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage quotactl Set disk quotas
R
ram ram disk device rcp Copy files between two machines. read read a line from standard input readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly renice Alter priority of running processes remsync Synchronize remote files via email return Exit a shell function rm Remove files rmdir Remove folder(s) rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
S
screen Multiplex terminal, run remote shells via ssh scp Secure copy (remote file copy) sdiff Merge two files interactively sed Stream Editor select Accept keyboard input seq Print numeric sequences set Manipulate shell variables and functions sftp Secure File Transfer Program shift Shift positional parameters shopt Shell Options shutdown Shutdown or restart linux sleep Delay for a specified time slocate Find files sort Sort text files source Run commands from a file `.' split Split a file into fixed-size pieces ssh Secure Shell client (remote login program) strace Trace system calls and signals su Substitute user identity sudo Execute a command as another user sum Print a checksum for a file symlink Make a new name for a file sync Synchronize data on disk with memory
T
tail Output the last part of files tar Tape ARchiver tee Redirect output to multiple files test Evaluate a conditional expression time Measure Program running time times User and system times touch Change file timestamps top List processes running on the system traceroute Trace Route to Host trap Run a command when a signal is set(bourne) tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters true Do nothing, successfully tsort Topological sort tty Print filename of terminal on stdin type Describe a command
U
ulimit Limit user resources umask Users file creation mask umount Unmount a device unalias Remove an alias uname Print system information unexpand Convert spaces to tabs uniq Uniquify files units Convert units from one scale to another unset Remove variable or function names unshar Unpack shell archive scripts until Execute commands (until error) useradd Create new user account usermod Modify user account users List users currently logged in uuencode Encode a binary file uudecode Decode a file created by uuencode
V
v Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b') vdir Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b') vi Text Editor vmstat Report virtual memory statistics
W
watch Execute/display a program periodically wc Print byte, word, and line counts whereis Report all known instances of a command which Locate a program file in the user's path. while Execute commands who Print all usernames currently logged in whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un') Wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP
X
xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s) yes Print a string until interrupted . Run a command script in the current shell ### Comment / Remark
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