Frequently Used UNIX Tasks

• Working with files
• List contents of a file: more or less, cat, head, tail
• Delete (remove) a file: rm
• Copy a file to your directory: cp
• Rename a file or move a file to a new directory: mv
• Look for text (e.g. a name) in one or many files: grep
• Count the number of lines, words or characters in a file: wc
• Prevent or allow access by others to your files or directories: chmod
• Editing a text file

We have a lot of editors available for the creation and modification of text files.
• pico, a full-screen and easy to use editor (good for new users)
• vi or vim, powerful, available on every UNIX system but not super-easy to use
• jed, a pretty powerful editor. It's nice to have colors!
• Working with directories
• List all the files and subdirectories in your current directory: ls
• Move to your home directory: cd
• Find out which directory you are in (your current directory): pwd
• Create a new directory: mkdir
• Delete (remove) an existing directory: rmdir
• Prevent or allow access by others to your files or directories: chmod
• Logging In and Out
• To log out of your current UNIX session: exit
• To log into the cs.wbc.com or switch to another machine: rlogin, telnet
• Misc. ...
• Change your password: passwd
• Find or verify someone's electronic mail address: finger
• To limit or change what finger can tell the world about you chfn
• To find out your amount of available diskspace: du
• Get detailed information about a UNIX command: man
• Talk to other users: talk
• To find a little humor in all this: fortune