vintage_systems:unix_system_v3.2.3 []

UNIX Command Reference

The command prompt in UNIX is called the shell. Here is a list of common UNIX commands which will work across many different versions of UNIX with discrepancies in Example/Notes.

Command	Description	Examples	Notes
as	ASsembler	as input.s
cc	C Compiler	cc input.c
cd	Change working Directory	cd tmp	on Version 6 this command is chdir
df	Disk Free	df	May take time to complete on some systems
ed	EDitor	ed filename	ED is the standard (line) text editor
echo	Echo	echo ${HOME}	Prints the value assigned to the variable HOME
env	ENVironment settings	env	Displays the shell environment settings (see set))
ld	Link Loader	ld inputfile
ls	LiSt directory	ls -l	provides a long LiSting
man	MANual	man man	On some systems, displays online manual pages
ps	Process Status	ps -a or ps -l	prints All or Long Process Status
pwd	Present Working Directory	pwd	Prints the working directory
set	SETting	set	Displays the shell environment settings (see env)
vi	VIsual editor	vi filename	vi is a screen editor

On some systems typing games will print a list of games.

directory		description
/		This is the top level or root directory
/bin		common user programs are here (type echo ${PATH} to see more
/etc		This is the system directory
/lib		System library files
/usr		USeR directory - contains additional binaries, libraries, manpages