Some Useful UNIX Commands

Following is a list of some of the more common and useful Unix commands. To obtain detailed information about any command, enter the following command at the Unix command prompt:

man command

A full list of Unix commands as implemented under AIX can be obtained from the IBM AIX Commands Reference web site.

cat filename
list the file "filename"
cd dirname
change directory, same as DOS CD command.
cp fromfile tofile
make a copy of a file.
cp fromfile ../tofile
copy file in current directory to one directory level up.
env
to see the environment
env ¦ pg
to see the environment one page at a time
grep textstring filename
to find a text string in the named file.
ls
Same as the DOS dir command to list a directory
man command
get detailed help on the named command.
mkdir dirname
create a new directory named "dirname"
mv fromfile tofile
move a file.
passwd
change your user password.
pwd
display the name of the current directory.
su - arbot
go to arbor user environment
rm filename
delete the file "filename"
rmdir dirname
delete named directory.
tail filename
list the last page of data from the named file.
touch filename
create an empty file named "filename".
who
Display a list of users currently logged on to the system.
whoami
to show the userid that you are currently logged on with

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