A List of UNIX commands

Essential:
ls 		-- list directory (show files and subdirectories)
mkdir progs	-- make a subdirectory 'progs'
cd progs 	-- change directory to subdirectory 'progs' (move down)
cd ..		-- change to parent directory (move up in tree)
rmdir progs	-- remove directory 'progs' (must be empty)
rm file 	-- remove a file
mv file progs	-- move file called 'file' into the subdirectory
		   called 'progs'.  (If 'progs' doesn't exist, this
		   will rename 'file' as 'progs'.)
mv file new	-- rename 'file' as 'new' (leaves one copy)
cp orig copy 	-- copy 'orig' to 'copy' (leaves two copies)
more file	-- display a text file page by page
a.out		-- execute binary file 'a.out' (standard name of compiled
		   programs)
lp file		-- print out a file on the laser printer
mail username	-- send a message to username
man ls		-- get manual page (help screen) for 'ls' command
man -k keyword	-- get a list of manual pages containing the word 'keyword'
man intro	-- introductory manual page
alias dir ls	-- set the command 'dir' to mean 'ls'

vi   		-- standard UNIX editor 
emacs		-- use full-fledged emacs editor (very powerful)
jove		-- use the emacs-based jove editor (very fast)
gcc program.c	-- GNU C compiler


Useful (repeats some of the essential commands with more explanation):
pwd             "print working directory" --  prints out the full pathname
                of the current directory you are in.

cd [pathname]   "change directory" -- changes the current directory to be
                the directory specified by [pathname].
                Examples:  cd sub1
                           cd /export/home/users/joeschmo

cd ..           change to the current directory's parent directory (i.e.,
                move "up" one level in the filesystem hierarchy)

cd              change to your top-level "home" directory

ls              list files in the current directory (except those whose
                names begin with ".")

ls -l           list files using "long" format, showing file permissions,
                ownership, size, modification date, etc.

ls -a           list all files in the current directory, including files
                whose names begin with "."

ls [pathname]   list files in the directory specified by [pathname]

ls .            list files in the current directory

ls ..           list files in the current directory's parent directory

man [command]   print manual pages for a command.
                Example:  man ls

mv [p1] [p2]    rename (move) file specified by pathname [p1] to be [p2]
                Examples:  mv oldfile newfile (renames oldfile to be newfile)
                           mv sub1/oldfile .. (moves oldfile to a different directo
ry)

cp [p1] [p2]    make a new copy of the file specified by pathname [p1],
                and call the new copy [p2]
                Examples:  cp oldfile newfile (afterwards, oldfile still exists)

rm [pathname]   delete file specified by [pathname]

mkdir [dir]     create a new directory called [dir]

rmdir [dir]     remove directory specified by pathname [dir] (which must be empty)

mvdir [d1] [d2] rename (move) entire directory [d1] to be [d2]

who             find out who else is logged onto the system

w               find out who is on the system and what they're doing

finger [user]   find out information about a specific user

cat [file]      print out contents of [file] on the screen

cat [f1] [f2]   concatenate the contents of the files [f1] and [f2] and print
                the result on the screen
                Example:  cat data1 data2

cat [f1] [f2] > [f3]    concatenate the contents of files [f1] and [f2] and
                        store the result in a new file called [f3] (if [f3]
                        already exists then its contents are overwritten)
                        Example:  cat data1 data2 > alldata

cat [f1] [f2] >> [f3]   concatenate the contents of files [f1] and [f2] and
                        append the result to the end of file [f3] (without
                        overwriting any existing data in [f3])

more [file]     print out contents of [file] on the screen a page
                at a time, pausing at each screenful

less [file]     another pager (like more) for viewing files a page at a time

chmod 700 [dir]   change permissions on directory [dir] so that it is accessible
                  only to the owner. 
chmod 600 [file]  change permissions on file [file] so that it is readable and
                  writable to the owner. 

chmod 755 [dir]   change permissions on directory [dir] so that it is readable
                  to anyone (owner, group, and others), and writable by owner
          
chmod 644 [file]  change permissions on file [file] so that it is readable
                  to anyone (owner, group, and others), and writable by owner

chmod [ugo]+[rwx] [file] set specific permissions to [file] for owner, group or
                         others  (e.g. "chmod g+r blah" sets read permission 
                         for group on file "blah")
                
chmod [ugo]-[rwx] [file] remove specific permissions from [file] for owner, 
                         group or others (e.g. "chmod o-rw blah" removes read 
                         and write permission for others from file "blah") 
passwd          change your account's password

exit/logout     log off the system

date            show the current date and time

lpr [file]      print out [file] on the local printer (the printer in the CS
                Lab is called "TheDicer")

enscript -2rG [file]    print out [file] nicely in two-column format in
                        "landscape" orientation (paper rotated clockwise by
                        90 degrees, like this printout)

lpq             show the printer requests currently being processed (each
                request is assigned a "job number" and goes to the "printer
                queue", where it waits until it has finished printing)

lprm [job#]     remove job number [job#] from the printer queue

mail/mailx      a very primitive UNIX program for reading/sending mail
                (not recommended)

elm             a better mail program, but still not so great 

pine            probably the easiest of the UNIX mail programs to learn and
                use (recommended)