common unix commands

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Common Unix Commands

1. ls lists files or directories.

For example: $ls

lists all contents in the current directory.

2. cp copies files or directories.

For example: $cp src dest

copies the file src and renames the new file as dest.

3. rm deletes files or directories.

For example: $rm abc

deletes the files abc.

4. mv changes the file names or move files.

For example: $mv abc ../bcd

moves the file abc from the current directory to the upper-level

directory and renames the new file as bcd.

5. man displays the manual pages.

For example: $man ls

displays the manual pages about ls.

6. who shows who is logged on.

For example: $who

shows who is logged on to the system.

7. mkdir makes directories.

For example: $mkdir newdir

makes a subdirectory named newdir in the current directory.

8. rmdir removes directories.

For example: $rmdir dir1

deletes a subdirectory dir1 from the current directory. The

subdirectory dir1 must be empty. Otherwise, use rm -fr dir1 to

forcibly delete it.


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9. chmod changes files access permissions.

For example: $chmod 700 abc

changes permission of the file abc to the 700 mode, that is, only the

file owner can read, write and run this file.

10. chown changes file owner and group.

For example: $chown omc abc

changes owner of the file abc to omc.

11. chgrp changes group ownership.

For example: $chgrp omc abc

changes the group ownership of the file abc to omc.

12. pwd prints name of the current directory.

For example: $pwd

prints name of the current directory.

13. tail outputs the last part of files.

For example: $tail -f abc

lists the last part of the files abc and monitors the change of this file.

If the file changes, new contents will be displayed immediately.

For example: $tail -100 abc

lists the last 100 lines of the file abc.

14. ps reports process status.

For example: $ps -U omc

reports all processes of the user omc. U stands for user.

15. cat shows content of a file.

For example: $cat abc

shows the content of the file abc on the screen.

16. date shows or modifies the system time.

For example: $date

shows the current system time as follows:

2003-12-10 Wen 14:02:41 CST


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$date 091812002001

sets the current time to 12:00, Sep. 18, 2001

17. dfreports filesystem disk space usage.

For example: $df -k

reports the filesystem disk space usage by the unit of Kilobytes.

18. du reports directory or file space usage.

For example: $du -ks dir1

reports the space usage of directory dir1 by the unit of Kilobytes.

19. tar packages or unpackages directories or files. The tar file name

extension is .tar.

For example: $tar -cvf a.tar dir1 dir2 file1

packages two directories dir1 and dir2, and the file file1 into a file

a.tar. The command tar only packages or unpackages but does not

compress them.

For example: $tar -xvf a.tar

unpackages the file a.tar to generate two directories dir1 and dir2,

and a file file1.

20. gzip/gunzip compresses/decompresses files. The gzip file name

extension is .gz.

For example: $gzip a.tar

compresses the file a.tar into a file named a.tar.gz. Note: After the

compression, the original file a.tar will be automatically deleted.

For example: $gunzip a.tar.gz

decompresses the file and generate a file named a.tar. Note: After

the decompression, the original file a.tar.gz will be automatically

deleted.

21. compress/uncompress compresses/decompresses files. The

compress file name extension is .Z.

For example: $compress a.tar

compresses the file a.tar and generate a file named a.tar.Z. Note:

After the decompression, the original file a.tar will be automatically

deleted.


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For example: $uncompress a.tar.Z

decompresses the file and generate a file named a.tar. Note: After

the decompression, the original file a.tar.Z will be automatically

deleted.

22. su runs a shell with substitute user and group IDs.

For example: $su oracle

switches to the user oracle. Password is required. If there is no user

name behind su, then it will switch to the user root.

23. kill terminates a process.

For example: $kill -9 1033

terminates the process whose process number is 1033. The process

numbers can be queried through the ps command. -9 means to

forcibly terminate a process.

24. shutdown restarts the system.

For example: $/usr/sbin/shutdown -y -g 0 -i 6

restarts the system.

25. reboot restarts the system.

For example: $reboot

restarts the system. Compared with shutdown, reboot means forcible

restart and some processes may fail to save the data. Therefore, it is

recommended to use shutdown to restart the system.

26. stop+a stops the system from running.

For example: Okstop+a

In any case, stop+a will stop the Solaris operating system from

running and show the OK prompt.

27. boot boots up the system.

For example: OKboot cdrom

executes the above command in the OK prompt and boots up the

system.

28. id prints real and effective UIDs and GIDs.

For example: $id


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uid=1005(omc) gid=10(staff)

prints UID and GID of the current user.

29. passwd changes the users password.

For example: $passwd omc

changes the password of the user omc. It is required to input the old

password of the user omc, and then type the new password twice to

confirm it.

30. ln creates a link to a file or directory.

For example: $ln s /net/138.1.1.1$OMCHOME/tmp/ftp $OMCHOME

/tmp/ftp

links the directory $OMCHOME/tmp/ftp of 138.1.1.1 to the local

directory $OMCHOME/tmp/ftp.

31. touch changes file timestamps.

For example: $touch test

If the file test exists, the command will replace its timestamp with

the current time. If the file test does not exist, the command will

create a file named test.

32. groupadd creates a group.

For example: $groupadd g 1000 staff

creates a group staff whose id is 1000.

33. useradd creates a user.

For example: $useradd d /export/home/oracle m g oinstall oracle

creates a user oracle that belongs to the group oinstall and sets the

directory /export/home/oracle as the home directory of the user

oracle.

34. ldd prints shared library dependencies.

For example: $ldd amp

prints all dependencies of the executable file amp.

35. format is for disk partitioning and maintenance.

For example: $format


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displays the format menu for the user to make corresponding

operations.

36. The combination of prtvtoc and fmthard copies a partition table

from one disk to another.

For example: $ prtvtoc h /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 | fmthard -s -

/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2

copies the partition table from c0t0d0s2 to c0t1d0s2.

37. metainit creates a mirror for a file system.

For example: $ metainit -f d10 1 1 c0t0d0s0

$metainit -f d20 1 1 c0t1d0s0

$metainit d30 -m d10

creates respective one-to-one cascade for c0t0d0s0 and c0t1d0s0.

dxx means the device number and xx can be any value. Then the

metadevice is created and d10 is added to d30.

38. metaroot updates the files /etc/vfstab and /etc/system.

For example: $ metaroot d30

After metainit has been executed, it is required to use the metaroot

command to update files. The operator cannot edit these two files

manually.

39. lockfs changes or reports file system locks.

For example: $lockfs fa

$init 6

flushes the data and allows the system to mount mirrors.

40. metattach attaches metadevice to a mirror or trans device, or attach

space (blocks) to a soft partition to grow the soft partition.

For example: $metattach d30 d20

adds the second submirror to the mirror. The disk data will be

synchronized from the boot disk to the new submirror.

41. metadb creates replicas of the state database.

For example: $metadb -a -f -

c2 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s3 /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s3


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creates a replica of the state database.

42. newfs constructs a UFS file system.

For example: $newfs -i 8192 -c 256 /dev/md/rdsk/d7

constructs a UFS file system.

For more and detailed information, see related Solaris system

manuals.

common unix commands

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