An A-Z Index of the Bash command line for Linux

alias Create an alias apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k) apt-get Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu) aptitude Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu) aspell Spell Checker awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index b basename Strip directory and suffix from filenames bash GNU Bourne-Again SHell bc Arbitrary precision calculator language bg Send to background break Exit from a loop builtin Run a shell builtin bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s) c cal Display a calendar case Conditionally perform a command cat Concatenate and print (display) the content of files cd Change Directory cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux chgrp Change group ownership chmod Change access permissions chown Change file owner and group chroot Run a command with a different root directory chkconfig System services (runlevel) cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts clear Clear terminal screen cmp Compare two files comm Compare two sorted files line by line command Run a command - ignoring shell functions continue Resume the next iteration of a loop cp Copy one or more files to another location cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces cut Divide a file into several parts d date Display or change the date & time dc Desk Calculator dd Convert and copy a file, write disk headers, boot records

ddrescue Data recovery tool declare Declare variables and give them attributes df Display free disk space diff Display the differences between two files diff3 Show differences among three files dig DNS lookup dir Briefly list directory contents dircolors Colour setup for `ls' dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path dirs Display list of remembered directories dmesg Print kernel & driver messages du Estimate file space usage e echo egrep expression eject enable env ethtool eval exec exit expect terminal expand export expr f false fdformat fdisk fg fgrep string file find fmt fold for format free fsck ftp function fuser file Display message on screen Search file(s) for lines that match an extended Eject removable media Enable and disable builtin shell commands Environment variables Ethernet card settings Evaluate several commands/arguments Execute a command Exit the shell Automate arbitrary applications accessed over a Convert tabs to spaces Set an environment variable Evaluate expressions Do nothing, unsuccessfully Low-level format a floppy disk Partition table manipulator for Linux Send job to foreground Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed Determine file type Search for files that meet a desired criteria Reformat paragraph text Wrap text to fit a specified width. Expand words, and execute commands Format disks or tapes Display memory usage File system consistency check and repair File Transfer Protocol Define Function Macros Identify/kill the process that is accessing a

g gawk getopts grep pattern groupadd groupdel groupmod groups gzip h hash head help history hostname i iconv id if ifconfig ifdown ifup import file install j jobs join k kill killall l less let ln local locate logname logout look lpc lpr lprint lprintd lprintq lprm Find and Replace text within file(s) Parse positional parameters Search file(s) for lines that match a given Add a user security group Delete a group Modify a group Print group names a user is in Compress or decompress named file(s) Remember the full pathname of a name argument Output the first part of file(s) Display help for a built-in command Command History Print or set system name Convert the character set of a file Print user and group id's Conditionally perform a command Configure a network interface Stop a network interface Start a network interface up Capture an X server screen and save the image to Copy files and set attributes List active jobs Join lines on a common field Stop a process from running Kill processes by name Display output one screen at a time Perform arithmetic on shell variables Create a symbolic link to a file Create variables Find files Print current login name Exit a login shell Display lines beginning with a given string Line printer control program Off line print Print a file Abort a print job List the print queue Remove jobs from the print queue

ls lsof m make man mkdir mkfifo mkisofs mknod more mount mtools mtr mv mmv n

List information about file(s) List open files Recompile a group of programs Help manual Create new folder(s) Make FIFOs (named pipes) Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem Make block or character special files Display output one screen at a time Mount a file system Manipulate MS-DOS files Network diagnostics (traceroute/ping) Move or rename files or directories Mass Move and rename (files)

netstat Networking information nice Set the priority of a command or job nl Number lines and write files nohup Run a command immune to hangups notify-send Send desktop notifications nslookup Query Internet name servers interactively o open op p passwd Modify a user password paste Merge lines of files pathchk Check file name portability ping Test a network connection pkill Stop processes from running popd Restore the previous value of the current directory pr Prepare files for printing printcap Printer capability database printenv Print environment variables printf Format and print data ps Process status pushd Save and then change the current directory pwd Print Working Directory q quota Display disk usage and limits quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage quotactl Set disk quotas r ram ram disk device rcp Copy files between two machines Open a file in its default application Operator access

read Read a line from standard input readarray Read from stdin into an array variable readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly reboot Reboot the system rename Rename files renice Alter priority of running processes remsync Synchronize remote files via email return Exit a shell function rev Reverse lines of a file rm Remove files rmdir Remove folder(s) rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees) s screen scp sdiff sed select seq set sftp shift shopt shutdown sleep slocate sort source split ssh strace su sudo sum suspend symlink sync t tail Output the last part of file tar Tape ARchiver tee Redirect output to multiple files test Evaluate a conditional expression time Measure Program running time times User and system times touch Change file timestamps top List processes running on the system traceroute Trace Route to Host Multiplex terminal, run remote shells via ssh Secure copy (remote file copy) Merge two files interactively Stream Editor Accept keyboard input Print numeric sequences Manipulate shell variables and functions Secure File Transfer Program Shift positional parameters Shell Options Shutdown or restart linux Delay for a specified time Find files Sort text files Run commands from a file `.' Split a file into fixed-size pieces Secure Shell client (remote login program) Trace system calls and signals Substitute user identity Execute a command as another user Print a checksum for a file Suspend execution of this shell Make a new name for a file Synchronize data on disk with memory

trap tr true tsort tty type u ulimit umask umount unalias uname unexpand uniq units unset unshar until uptime useradd userdel usermod users uuencode uudecode v v vdir vi vmstat w

Run a command when a signal is set(bourne) Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters Do nothing, successfully Topological sort Print filename of terminal on stdin Describe a command Limit user resources Users file creation mask Unmount a device Remove an alias Print system information Convert spaces to tabs Uniquify files Convert units from one scale to another Remove variable or function names Unpack shell archive scripts Execute commands (until error) Show uptime Create new user account Delete a user account Modify user account List users currently logged in Encode a binary file Decode a file created by uuencode Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b') Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b') Text Editor Report virtual memory statistics

wait Wait for a process to complete watch Execute/display a program periodically wc Print byte, word, and line counts whereis Search the user's $path, man pages and source files for a program which Search the user's $path for a program file while Execute commands who Print all usernames currently logged in whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un') wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP write Send a message to another user x xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)

xdg-open Open a file or URL in the user's preferred application. yes Print a string until interrupted . Run a command script in the current shell !! Run the last command again ### Comment / Remark Commands marked are bash built-ins, these are available under all shells.