This section will introduce you to some common UNIX commands. These commands are typed at the dollar prompt and generally display some information as a result..
UNIX commands typed at the prompt generally
consist of three sections. The first is the name of the command, the
second (optional) section are the options and the last (optional)
section is the arguments. The three sections are separated by
spaces.
eg: cmd -opt arg
<enter>
This will result in executing the command cmd with the option
-opt and
argument arg. Note that the sections are seprated by spaces.
UNIX conventions:
. : a single dot refers to the current directory
.. : two dots refer to the parent directory
* : an asterix refers to all the files in the current directory.
Common commands:
clear : Clears the screen and displays the prompt at the top left.
date : Displays the current date and time as known to the system
pwd: Print Working Directory. Displays the current directory (location) in the system. Please note by the picture below that each user's personal home directory is in the file location /homes/homeX/UserID, where X is a number from 1 to 12.
cd : Change Directory. This command is used to change the location of the current directory. When typed in without any options, this command will result in changing your current location back to your home directory.
cd .. : Change directory to the parent directory. (Take note of the above example)
cd public_html : Change directory to the public_html directory.
ls : List Files. Displays a list of files in the current directory.
ls -al : List Files with additional options. Displays a list of files including size, time of creation, owner, permissions etc. Note that there is a space between ls and -al.
pine : Pine email system. A popular program used to read email and news.
The following are links to video demonstrations of UNIX Commands:
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