Updated: 2017-01-20 00:48 EST
This is a list of Unix/Linux command names used in this course and (eventually) the week number in which they were first introduced and described. A missing week number means the command hasn’t been formally introduced yet. This page is updated weekly as new commands are introduced.
Almost all these command names have manual pages. Command names that are built-in to the shell (e.g. cd
, exit
, pwd
, history
, etc.) are described somewhere in the man page for the bash
shell and you can also use the BASH shell built-in help
command to get information about built-in commands, e.g. help help
and help pwd
, etc.
This list only gives the names of the commands, not what the commands do or how to use them. As each command is introduced, you must keep your own notebook with these command names in it and a short description of what each command does; you will be required to learn and remember at least some of what each of these commands can do.
Solutions to assignments in this course use only these command names. If you want to use other command names, clear it with your instructor first.
WK Topic covered
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
01 How the course works; submitting to Blackboard; course information.
01 Remote Login to the Course Linux Server and simple commands
01 Recall terminal command line history using UpArrow DownArrow keys
02 Simple command line Output Redirection using >file.txt
02 File Transfer to/from the CLS
02 Using Copy and Paste in PuTTY via mouse drag and right-click
02 Basic Terminal Control Characters: ^C ^L ^W ^U ^R
02 More Terminal Control Characters: ^D ^Z
02 RTFM Manual Pages
02 Absolute and Relative pathnames
02 Setting the BASH shell prompt: PS1='[\u@\h \W]\$ '
03 Finding files and basic commands
04 GLOB characters: * ? [...], aliases
04 Text Editors: basic VIM, nano
04 I/O Redirection: stdin, stdout, stderr, < > | 2>&1, Pipes
05 Start-up files (.bashrc .bash_profile)
05 Shell local and environment variables, export, printenv
05 Search $PATH
05 Quoting
06 Midterm Test #1 45 min Wednesday October 12 2016
07 Midterm Test #1 analysis (marks)
07 Linux File System
07 Inodes and hard links, ln
07 Disk Usage, du, quota, symbolic links
07 Permissions: whoami, id, groups
08 Permissions: chmod, umask
08 Compression, archives, difference: gzip, tar, diff
08 system logs, dmesg, syslog
09 Processes, Jobs, Background, Foreground, Kill, Signals
09 Scheduling with crontab, at
09 Shell scripts
10 Midterm #2 45 min Wednesday November 9 2016
10 *** Final Withdrawal Date Friday November 11 (Week 10) ***
10 Shell command Substitution
10 Shell control statements, the "test" helper command
11 Midterm #2 analysis (review)
12 Shell control statements
13 Shell control statements; shell script problems
15 Final Exam (three hours) 11:30am Thursday December 15 in T117/119
WK Command name first introduced (read the course notes)
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
13 && (shell built-in)
13 || (shell built-in)
12 $(( (shell built-in)
12 : (shell built-in)
03 alias (shell built-in)
09 at
09 atq
09 atrm
05 awk '{print $1}' (also $2, $NF, etc.)
05 bash
09 bg (shell built-in)
08 bunzip2
08 bzip2
08 bzcat, bzless, bzfgrep, bzgrep, bzdiff, etc.
02 cal (9 1752)
12 case (shell built-in)
02 cat
02 cd (shell built-in)
08 chmod ( -R ugo[-+=]rwx octal_number )
03 clear (see also ^L)
01 cmatrix
03 cp ( -a -r -p )
09 crontab
05 cut
01 date
07 df
08 diff
08 dmesg
12 do (shell built-in)
07 du
02 echo (shell built-in and external)
12 elif (shell built-in)
04 elinks ( -dump -no-numbering -no-references )
10 else (shell built-in)
12 esac (shell built-in)
01 exit (shell built-in)
05 export (shell built-in)
12 expr (shell built-in)
10 false (shell built-in)
02 fg (shell built-ini: use after ^Z stops a process)
03 fgrep (same as grep -F) ( -i -v -w )
10 fi (shell built-in)
02 figlet
02 file
03 find ( -name -user -inum -size -print -ls )
12 for (shell built-in)
13 function (shell built-in)
03 grep (use fgrep instead until you learn regular expressions next term)
07 groups
08 gunzip
08 gzip
03 head
03 help (shell built-in)
02 history (shell built-in)
05 hostname
07 id
10 if (shell built-in)
09 jobs (shell built-in)
09 kill (shell built-in)
09 killall
02 less (similar to "more"; used by "man")
12 let (shell built-in)
07 ln ( -s )
03 locate ( see slocate )
02 ls ( -l -i -a -d -L )
09 mail ( -s )
02 man ( -k )
03 mkdir ( -p )
03 more (similar to "less")
03 mv
04 nano [*** USE VIM INSTEAD ***]
04 nl (same as "cat -n")
02 passwd ( username )
05 printenv
09 ps ( uaxww -efww )
09 pstree
02 pwd (shell built-in and also external)
07 quota -v
13 read (shell built-in)
03 rm ( -r -f )
03 rmdir
05 set (shell built-in)
12 shift (shell built-in)
05 shopt (shell built-in)
01 sl
03 sleep (60)
03 slocate
04 sort ( -f -n -r ) (see the weekly notes)
03 sum
03 tail
08 tar
10 test (shell built-in and also external) also known as [
10 then (shell built-in)
02 toilet ( --gay )
03 touch
04 tr
10 true (shell built-in)
03 tree
08 umask ( octal_number ) (shell built-in)
03 unalias ( -a ) (shell built-in)
04 uniq ( -c ) (see the weekly notes)
08 unzip
02 users
04 vi / vim / vimtutor
02 wc ( -l -w -c )
05 whereis
05 which
12 while (shell built-in)
02 who
07 whoami
03 whois (see the weekly notes)
08 zip
08 zcat, zless, zfgrep, zgrep, zdiff, etc.
Keep a notebook with these command names in it and a short description of what each command does; you will be required to learn and remember at least some of what each of these commands can do.