UNIX Command Summary

This document describes basic commands on the Leland Systems (Cardinal, Tree, Junior, Power, Wisdom, and the Sweet Hall workstations). The list of commands starts on page 2.

Introductory Information about Unix

Unix is a computer operating system, like DOS for IBM PCs. An operating system consists of commands that let you manage information in the form of files, or run programs that perform tasks such as word processing, e-mail, or data analysis.

A Unix file is a collection of information stored on disk, be it the text of a document, data for statistical analysis, or the executable code for a program. A file is referenced by a name. A filename in Unix can consist of any combination of characters on the keyboard except for the space bar and all of the following: * ? ! | \ / ' " { } < > ; , ^ ( ) $ ~. These characters cannot be used in filenames because they have special meaning to the shell. For example, the first two symbols are used as "wildcard" characters when you're issuing commands: the * will match any string of characters in a filename, whereas the ? matches any single character.

How to Issue Commands in Unix

The Unix environment is interactive. When you type a command at the keyboard and then press the Enter or Return key, Unix immediately begins to act on the command. More accurately, Unix interprets the command using a special program of its own called the shell. (On the Leland Systems, the default shell is tcsh.) All shells produce a shell prompt to let you know that Unix is awaiting your next command. The Leland Systems' shell prompt has the form host:~>;, where host is the name of the Unix system you are using (e.g. Elaine38:~> or Cardinal:~>). Whenever you see this prompt, you know that the Unix shell is ready for your next command.

Unix is case-sensitive. That is, Unix distinguishes between upper and lower case letters in the names of files and programs. Thus, while ls is a valid Unix command, LS is not. Login names and passwords are also case-sensitive.

Some programs, such as Pico, have their own commands that you type within the program rather than at the Unix shell prompt. However, the shell prompt reappears whenever you exit such programs.

For more information, see Getting Started in Unix (Sweet Hall, second floor, document racks), or phone a consultant at 725-2101.

Basic File Commands: These are typed at the shell prompt host:~>.

ls	List the files in the current directory
ls-a	List all the files in the current directory, even the hidden ones
ls -F	As above, but indicate sub-directories by appending a backslash (/) to their name
cp FILE1 FILE2	Make a copy of FILE1 and call the copy FILE2
mv FILE1 FILE2	Rename a file from old name FILE1 to new name FILE2
mv FILE1 DIR/	Move a file from it's present directory into another directory (DIR)
rm FILE	Remove or delete FILE
more FILE	Display the contents of FILE, pausing after each screenful

--More--(18%)
Whenever you see something like the above at the bottom of your screen, you can:

press the space bar	To see the next screenful of text
type b	To go back one screenful
type q	To quit the listing of text and return to the Unix shell prompt

Correcting Typing Mistakes: (at the Shell Prompt)

Delete or Backspace	Erase the last character you typed
Ctrl-u	Delete the last line you typed

Basic Directory Commands: These are typed at the shell prompt host:~>.
In Unix your files are organized in directories and subdirectories. When you first log in to your account, you are placed in your home directory, which you can refer to with the character ~.

cd DIR	Go to the directory called DIR
cd ..	Go to the directory above the current directory
mkdir DIR	Create a new directory called DIR
rmdir DIR	Remove the directory DIR (must be empty first; if not, use rm -r)
cd or cd ~	Go to your home directory
mv DIR1 DIR2	Move or rename a directory from old name DIR1 to new name DIR2

Use the / character to separate directory and file names when specifying a path.

Printing
You can print Unix files and mail messages to both your own printer and a network printer. The latter is easier but requires that you walk to the network printer to pick up your output.

Printing On a Sweet Hall Printer
To print a Unix text or PostScript file, type the following command at the system prompt:

lpr -PNAME FILE ->

where NAME is the name of the printer, e.g., sweet0.

Printing to Your Own Printer
To print a Unix file on your own printer, you must first "download" it to your desktop computer. Exactly how you do this depends on which communication package you use, as well as which type of computer you have. These instructions apply only to IBM PCs (and compatibles) that are running under DOS, are linked to SUNet via Ethernet, and have the ftp protocol installed.

At the DOS prompt (assumed here to be C:\>), enter:

C:\> ftp HOSTNAME	Connects your PC to HOSTNAME
(username) userid	Your account on the host
Password: xxxxxx	Replace xxxxxx with your password
ftp> cd DIRECTORY	Change to DIRECTORY
ftp> get FILENAME	Copies FILENAME to PC
ftp> quit	Exit ftp and go to DOS
C:\> copy FILENAME lpt1	Prints FILENAME on lpt1

Useful Commands

exit	Ends your work on the Unix system
Ctrl-l or clear	Clears the screen
Ctrl-c	Stops the program currently running
Ctrl-p	Retrieves the last shell command you typed
Ctrl-z	Pauses the currently running program
man COMMAND	Looks up the Unix command COMMAND in the online manual pages
find . -name FILE -print	Finds all paths containing FILE in the current directory or below it

fgrep -i PATTERN FILE	Searches for and displays all lines in file that contain PATTERN (case insensitive)
finger USER@ADDRESS	Displays login/e-mail status of a user at another host
jobs	Lists background jobs started during your current login session
ps	Lists all jobs (background and foreground) started during your login session

du	Displays disk usage in kbytes by directory, starting in the current directory and working down
du -s	Displays total disk usage
fs listquota	Displays your current disk space usage and quota in kbytes
telnet ADDRESS	Logs on to another machine on the Internet on which you have an account
ftp ADDRESS	Begins a file transfer session with another computer on the Internet
wc FILE	Counts the lines, words, and characters in FILE
spell FILE	Reports possible misspelled words in FILE
webster WORD \| more	Looks up a word via the online version of Webster's dictionary

Unix Shell Short Cuts

The Unix shell keeps a record of the commands you type during your login session. Here are a few commands that take advantage of this history facility. All are typed at the shell prompt host:~>.

history	List all commands typed so far (default maximum number=20)
!!	Repeat the last command
!n	Repeat command n from the history list
!PATTERN	Repeat last command beginning with PATTERN
^PATTERN1^PATTERN2	Repeat last command but replace PATTERN1 (usually a typo) with PATTERN2 (the correction)

This document was based on originals prepared by Lynn Gale and Patrick Goebel, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

For more information about computing, see: http://www.stanford.edu/home/computing
For more information about Leland documents, see: http://www.stanford.edu/services/leland-docs/index.html