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Essential Unix Commands - Glooscap Online Server

The Glooscap computer uses a Unix operating system.

Sometimes it is necessary for you to telnet or ftp to the glooscap computer and operate within the Unix operating system. The operating system is a command line system similar to MSDOS. By knowing a few commands you can navigate through the directories and perform some essential tasks.

Here are a few commands to get you started. Remember, Unix commands are case sensitive and usually lowercase. You can use the man command to find out more about these commands.

man [command]

list information about the command. A page at a time is presented. You can page down with |spacebar| or scroll with the cursor keys. Quit with a single keystroke of 'q'.

cd [directory]

change directory specified

cd ..

change to parent directory (moves up one level)

pwd

show the present working directory

chmod xxx [file or directory name]

change permissions on files & directories. xxx represent three digits that set the permisssions for first owner, then group, then others.

• 0 = no permission:
• 1 = execution permitted only:
• 2 = writting permitted only:
• 4 = reading permitted only:
• 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 = execution, writing and reading are permitted.

cp [filename 1] [filename 2]

copy file 1 to filename 2 (and specified location)

clear

clear the display screen

date

display the current date and time

finger [user name]

display information on the user specified (no user name will prompt for a list of users on the computer

ls {-a}{-l}

list files and directories. Use switch -a for all files including hidden ones. Use switch -l for a long display showing permissions, owner, date, and size.

mkdir [directory name]

create a subdirectory of the present directory with the given name.

more [filename]

display contents of the file on screen. As with the command 'man', |spacebar| will page down a page at a time and 'q' will quit the display.

mv [filename 1] [filename 2]

move the filename 1 of the file to filename 2. This will allow you to move to another directory or simply change the name of a file.

pine, mail

start the program 'pine' which is a menu driven mail program

passwd

set your passwd

rm [filename]

remove the file with the given name. This is equivalent to delete in MSDOS.

rmdir [directory]

remove the directory

edit filename

Allows you to edit the file with name filename using pico. This is a simple easy to use text editor with help information on the screen.

vi [filename]

Start the text editor, vi, and create a new text file or edit an existing file with the given name. This is a full screen editor in which you switch between modes. When first started it is command mode. In this mode you can move the cursor with the cu rsor keys, delete characters, and lines. Use the 'man vi' to learn more of this editor.
A few useful commands are:

• x = delete character under the curso
• dd = delete current line
• ndd = delete the next n lines
• / = search for a pattern (forward)
• dG = delete to the end of the file
• U = restore current line
• :wq = write to the file then quit
• :w = write the file
• :w [filename] = write to the file with given filename
• :q! = quit and abandon changes

The insert mode begins with the keystroke:

• a = append after the cursor
• i = insert before the cursor
• s = substitute a character
• 'ESC' = return to command mode