Basic Unix commands (vs.

DOS)
• cat file Concatenate or type out a file
cat file1 file2 ... Type out a number of files
• cd directory1 Change current directory to directory1
cd /usr/bin Change current directory to /usr/bin
cd Change back to your home directory
• clear Clear the current screen
• cp file1 file2 Copy file1 to file2
cp file1 file2 ... dir Copy a number of files to a directory
• ls List the files in the current directory
ls /usr/bin List the files in the /usr/bin directory
• lpr file1 Print file1 out
lpr file1 file2 ... Print a number of files out
• more file Look at the content of a file with paging, use ‘q’ to get out
• mkdir directory Create a directory
• mv file1 file2 Move file1 to file2, like rename.
mv file1 file2 ... dir Move a number of files into a directory
mv dir1 dir2 Move or rename a directory
• rm file Remove a file
rm file1 file2 ... Remove a number of files
rm -r directory Remove a directory include the sub-directory
• rmdir directory Remove a directory

DOS Command Unix Command Descriptions

CD cd Change directory
CHKDSK du Disk usage
CLS clear Clear the current screen
COPY cp Copying files
DEL rm Removing files or directories
DIR ls File listing of directories
MD mkdir Create a directory
MORE more Type out a file with paging
PRINT lpr Print out a file
RD rmdir Remove a directory
RENAME mv Moving files around
TYPE cat Type out files
 Who, When, Why, What and Where?
• man cp Display on-line manual for the “cp” command
man -k keyword Display manual help file related to the keyword
• passwd Change your login password
• pwd Display the path name of where you are
• uptime Tell you how long the machine has been up and running
• users Tell you who is logging in
• who Tell you who is logging-in in detail
• w Tell you who is logging in and doing what!
• whoami Show you the owner of this account
• finger user Find out the personal information of a user
finger name Try to find the person’s info. by his/her name
finger email-address Try to find the person’s info across the network
• write user Write a message on somebody’s screen
• talk user Talk to the person logging in the same system with you
• talk email-address Talk to somebody logging in the network
• date Display today’s time and date
• cal year Display the calendar of the specified year (e.g. 1997)