UNIX Commands Quick Reference

Desired Action Command
Get information about a UNIX command man Command
Get UNIX commands for a given topic man -k Topic
Create a directory mkdir DirName
Change working directory to home directory cd
Change working directory to arbitrary directory cd DirName
List contents of working directory ls
List contents of arbitrary directory ls DirName
List contents of directory in detail ls -l DirName
List all (hidden) files in directory ls -a DirName
Remove an empty directory rmdir DirName
Remove a non-empty directory rm -r DirName
Remove a file rm FileName
Rename a file or directory mv OldName NewName
Move a file to a different directory mv FileName DirName
Copy a file cp OriginalName CopyName
Copy a directory and all its subdirectories cp -r OriginalName CopyName
Clear the screen/window clear
Record what appears on the screen script
Edit a file emacs FileName
Translate a self-contained C++ source program g++ SourceFileName -o ExecFileName
(Separately) Compile a C++ program g++ -c SourceFileName
Link C++ object files g++ File1.o ... Filen.o -o ExecFile


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