One of the more frequent complaints I have heard from new UNIX users is that they don't have any way to know what commands are available to them. If you paid attention to the last chapter, you now know that the manual pages list all user commands in section 1 and that you can search for keywords using "man -k keyword".
There are a lot of commands there and not all of them are terribly useful. Sun systems offer a comprehensive list of common UNIX commands, but it can run from 500 to 2500 lines long and contains many commands you may never use.
Following is an edited and greatly reduced version of the SunOS 4.1.3_U1 command list. I strongly recommend that all UNIX users read through this. You never know what useful utilities you might find, espescially if you plan on writting shell scripts.
Name | Manual Page | Description |
| alias | csh(1) | Create an alias for a command sequence, see csh(1) |
| apropos | apropos(1) | locate commands by keyword lookup |
| banner | banner(1V) | display a string in large letters |
| bc | bc(1) | arbitrary-precision arithmetic language |
| bg | csh(1) | Run a suspended job in the background, see csh(1) |
| cal | cal(1) | display a calendar |
| cancel | lp(1) | send/cancel requests to a printer |
| cat | cat(1V) | concatenate and display |
| cc | cc(1V) | C compiler |
| cd | cd(1) | change working directory |
| chgrp | chgrp(1) | change the group ownership of a file |
| chmod | chmod(1V) | change the permissions mode of a file |
| chsh | passwd(1) | change local or NIS password information |
| clear | clear(1) | clear the terminal screen |
| compress | compress(1) | compress or expand files |
| cp | cp(1) | copy files |
| crontab | crontab(1) | install, edit, remove or list a user's crontab file |
| csh | csh(1) | shell with a C-like syntax and advanced interactive features |
| date | date(1V) | display or set the date |
| dbx | dbx(1) | source-level debugger |
| df | df(1V) | report free disk space on file systems |
| diff | diff(1) | display line-by-line differences between pairs of text files |
| dircmp | dircmp(1V) | compare directories |
| dirs | csh(1) | Display the directory stack, see csh(1) |
| dos2unix | dos2unix(1) | convert text file from DOS format to ISO format |
| du | du(1V) | display the number of disk blocks used per directory or file |
| echo | echo(1V) | echo arguments to the standard output |
| egrep | grep(1V) | search a file for a string or regular expression |
| eject | eject(1) | eject media device from drive |
| exec | csh(1) | Execute a command in place of the current shell, see csh(1) |
| exit | csh(1) | Exit the current shell, see csh(1) |
| fdformat | fdformat(1) | format diskettes |
| fg | csh(1) | Resume executing a suspended job in the foreground, see csh(1) |
| fgrep | grep(1V) | search a file for a string or regular expression |
| file | file(1) | determine the type of a file by examining its contents |
| find | find(1) | find files by name, or by other characteristics |
| finger | finger(1) | display information about users |
| from | from(1) | display the sender and date of newly-arrived mail messages |
| ftp | ftp(1C) | file transfer program |
| grep | grep(1V) | search a file for a string or regular expression |
| groups | groups(1) | display a user's group memberships |
| head | head(1) | display first few lines of specified files |
| history | csh(1) | Display recently typed commands, see csh(1) |
| hostid | hostid(1) | print the numeric identifier of the current host |
| hostname | hostname(1) | set or print name of current host system |
| id | id(1V) | print the user name and ID, and group name and ID |
| jobs | csh(1) | List jobs suspended or backgrounded from this shell, see csh(1) |
| kill | kill(1) | send a signal to a process, or terminate a process |
| last | last(1) | indicate last logins by user or terminal |
| limit | csh(1) | Set or display resource limits, see csh(1) |
| line | line(1) | read one line |
| lint | lint(1V) | a C program verifier |
| ln | ln(1V) | make hard or symbolic links to files |
| login | login(1) | log in to the system |
| logname | logname(1) | get the name by which you logged in |
| logout | csh(1) | Terminate a login shell, see csh(1) |
| lp | lp(1) | send/cancel requests to a printer |
| lpq | lpq(1) | display the queue of printer jobs |
| lpr | lpr(1) | send a job to the printer |
| lprm | lprm(1) | remove jobs from the printer queue |
| lpstat | lpstat(1) | display the printer status information |
| ls | ls(1V) | list the contents of a directory |
| mach | mach(1) | display the processor type of the current host |
| man | man(1) | display reference manual pages |
| mesg | mesg(1) | permit or deny messages on the terminal |
| mkdir | mkdir(1) | make a directory |
| more | more(1) | browse or page through a text file |
| mv | mv(1) | move or rename files |
| newgrp | newgrp(1) | log in to a new group |
| nice | nice(1) | run a command at low priority |
| passwd | passwd(1) | change local or password information |
| popd | csh(1) | Pop the directory stack, see csh(1) |
| printenv | printenv(1) | display environment variables currently set |
| ps | ps(1) | display the status of current processes |
| pushd | csh(1) | Push a directory onto the directory stack, see csh(1) |
| pwd | pwd(1) | display the pathname of the current working directory |
| quota | quota(1) | display a user's disk quota and usage |
| rehash | csh(1) | Rescan the execution path, see csh(1) |
| reset | tset(1) | establish or restore terminal characteristics |
| rlogin | rlogin(1C) | remote login |
| rm | rm(1) | remove (unlink) files or directories |
| rmdir | rm(1) | remove (unlink) files or directories |
| rsh | rsh(1C) | remote shell |
| rup | rup(1C) | show host status of local machines (RPC version) |
| ruptime | ruptime(1C) | show host status of local machines |
| rusers | rusers(1C) | who's logged in on local machines (RPC version) |
| rwall | rwall(1C) | write to all users over a network |
| rwho | rwho(1C) | who's logged in on local machines |
| script | script(1) | make typescript of a terminal session |
| setenv | csh(1) | Set or display environment variables, see csh(1) |
| set | csh(1) | Set or display shell variables, see csh(1) |
| sh | sh(1) | standard UNIX system shell and command-level language |
| sleep | sleep(1) | suspend execution for a specified interval |
| sort | sort(1V) | sort and collate lines |
| source | csh(1) | Read commands from a file, see csh(1) |
| spell | spell(1) | report spelling errors |
| spellin | spell(1) | report spelling errors |
| strings | strings(1) | find printable strings in an object file or binary |
| strip | strip(1) | remove symbols and relocation bits from an object file |
| stty | stty(1V) | set or alter the options for a terminal |
| su | su(1V) | super-user, temporarily switch to a new user ID |
| suspend | csh(1) | Suspend the shell, see csh(1) |
| sync | sync(1) | update the super block; force changed blocks to the disk |
| tail | tail(1) | display the last part of a file |
| talk | talk(1) | talk to another user |
| tar | tar(1) | create tape archives, and add or extract files |
| telnet | telnet(1C) | user interface to a remote system using the TELNET protocol |
| time | time(1V) | time a command |
| touch | touch(1V) | update the access and modification times of a file |
| trace | trace(1) | trace system calls and signals |
| tset | tset(1) | establish or restore terminal characteristics |
| tty | tty(1) | display the name of the terminal |
| umask | csh(1) | Set or display the file permissions mask, see csh(1) |
| unalias | csh(1) | Discard an alias, see csh(1) |
| uncompress | compress(1) | compress or expand files, display expanded contents |
| unix2dos | unix2dos(1) | convert text file from ISO format to DOS format |
| unlimit | csh(1) | Remove a limit on a resource, see csh(1) |
| unset | csh(1) | Discard a shell variable, see csh(1) |
| unsetenv | csh(1) | Discard an envrionment variable, see csh(1) |
| uptime | uptime(1) | show how long the system has been up |
| users | users(1) | display a compact list of users logged in |
| uudecode | uuencode(1C) | encode a binary file, or decode its ASCII representation |
| uuencode | uuencode(1C) | encode a binary file, or decode its ASCII representation |
| vacation | vacation(1) | reply to mail automatically |
| w | w(1) | who is logged in, and what are they doing |
| wall | wall(1) | write to all users logged in |
| wc | wc(1) | display a count of lines, words and characters |
| whatis | whatis(1) | display a one-line summary about a keyword |
| whereis | whereis(1) | locate the binary, source, and manual page for a command |
| which | which(1) | locate a command; display its pathname or alias |
| who | who(1) | who is logged in on the system |
| whoami | whoami(1) | display the effective current username |
| whois | whois(1) | Internet user name directory service |
| write | write(1) | write a message to another user |
NOTE: This list contains commands common to most standard BSD and SYSV UNIX systems. Features may vary by vendor, revision, and local installation. In particular, most systems will have local preferences or alternatives not listed above.
