Unix Command Reference

Working with Files

Task	Command	Example
List	ls	ls -l
Copy	cp fromfile tofile	cp prog1.txt prog2.txt
Delete	rm filename	rm data.csv
Move	mv frompath/fromfile tofile	mv /scratch/bigdata.dta bigdata.dta
Rename	mv oldname newname	mv olddata.dta newdata.dta
Display the contents of a file	more filename	press the ENTER key to advance a line at a time; press the SPACE bar to advance a screen at a time; press CONTROL-C to end
Find	find "directory" -name "filename" -print	If you know the name of a file but not where it is, cd to your home directory and use 'find . -name "filename.txt" -print'

Working with Directories

Task	Command	Example
Show working directory	pwd	pwd
Change directory	cd direcotryname	cd jp
Change to home directory	cd	cd
Move one directory up	cd ..	cd ..
Create a directory	mkdir directoryname	mkdir thesis
Remove a directory	rmdir directoryname	rmdir olddir

Printing

Task	Command	Example
Print a file	lpr -P printername filename	lpr -P nslaser extract.sas
Check printer status	lpq -P printername	lpq -P nslaser
Cancel print job	lprm -P printername jobnum	lprm -P nslaser 123
List available printers	printers -L	printers -L | more

Other Commands

Task	Command	Example
Check how much disk space you can use	quota -v	quota -v
Edit a file using pico	pico filename	pico thesis1.do
Edit a file using vi	vi filename	vi thesis2.do
Modify access permissions	chmod attrs filename	chmod o+r pubinfo
Display environment variables	env	env
Display a calendar	cal month year	cal
Display current date and time	date	date
Help on a command	man commandname	man cp or lookup man pages
Help on a keyword	man -k keyword	man -k mail
See who is logged on	who	who
Look up someone's email address	ph name	ph Jane Doe