VI. Commands and Utilities

Table of Contents
15. Commands and Utilities
15.1. Commands and Utilities
15.2. Command Behavior
ar -- create and maintain library archives (DEPRECATED)
at -- examine or delete jobs for later execution
awk -- pattern scanning and processing language
batch -- schedule commands to be executed in a batch queue
bc -- an arbitrary precision calculator language
chfn -- change user name and information
chsh -- change login shell
col -- filter reverse line feeds from input
cpio -- copy file archives in and out
crontab -- maintain crontab files for individual users
df -- report file system disk space usage
dmesg -- print or control the system message buffer
du -- estimate file space usage
echo -- write arguments to standard output
egrep -- search a file with an Extended Regular Expression pattern
fgrep -- search a file with a fixed pattern
file -- determine file type
fuser -- identify processes using files or sockets
gettext -- retrieve text string from message catalog
grep -- print lines matching a pattern
groupadd -- create a new group
groupdel -- delete a group
groupmod -- modify a group
groups -- display a group
gunzip -- uncompress files
gzip -- compress or expand files
hostname -- show or set the system's host name
install -- copy files and set attributes
install_initd -- activate an init script
ipcrm -- remove IPC Resources
ipcs -- provide information on ipc facilities
killall -- kill processes by name
lpr -- off line print
ls -- list directory contents
lsb_release -- print distribution specific information
m4 -- macro processor
md5sum -- generate or check MD5 message digests
mknod -- make special files
mktemp -- make temporary file name (unique)
more -- display files on a page-by-page basis
mount -- mount a file system
msgfmt -- create a message object from a message file
newgrp -- change group ID
od -- dump files in octal and other formats
passwd -- change user password
patch -- apply a diff file to an original
pidof -- find the process ID of a running program
remove_initd -- clean up init script system modifications introduced by install_initd
renice -- alter priority of running processes
sed -- stream editor
sendmail -- an electronic mail transport agent
seq -- generate a sequence of numbers
sh -- shell, the standard command language interpreter
shutdown -- shut the system down
su -- change user ID
sync -- flush file system buffers
tar -- file archiver
umount -- unmount file systems
useradd -- create a new user or update default new user information
userdel -- delete a user account and related files
usermod -- modify a user account
xargs -- build and execute command lines from standard input
zcat -- uncompress files to standard output