Many Linux commands typed at a shell prompt are similar to the commands you would type in DOS. In fact, some commands are identical.
This appendix provides common commands used at the DOS prompt in Windows and their counterparts in Linux. Basic examples of how the command are used at the Linux shell prompt are also provided. Note that these commands usually have a number of options. To learn more about each command, read its associated man page (for example, type man ls at the shell prompt to read about the ls command).
| Command's Purpose | MS-DOS | Linux | Basic Linux Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copies files | copy | cp | cp thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory |
| Moves files | move | mv | mv thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory |
| Lists files | dir | ls | ls |
| Clears screen | cls | clear | clear |
| Closes shell prompt | exit | exit | exit |
| Displays or sets date | date | date | date |
| Deletes files | del | rm | rm thisfile.txt |
| "Echoes" output to the screen | echo | echo | echo this message |
| Edits text files | edit | gedit([a]) | gedit thisfile.txt |
| Compares the contents of files | fc | diff | diff file1 file2 |
| Finds a string of text in a file | find | grep | grep word or phrase thisfile.txt |
| Formats a diskette | format a: (if diskette is in A:) | mke2fs | /sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0 (/dev/fd0 is the Linux equivalent of A:) |
| Displays command help | command /? | man or info | man command |
| Creates a directory | mkdir | mkdir | mkdir directory |
| Views contents of a file | more | less([b]) | less thisfile.txt |
| Renames a file | ren | mv([c]) | mv thisfile.txt thatfile.txt |
| Displays your location in the file system | chdir | pwd | pwd |
| Changes directories with a specified path (absolute path) | cd pathname | cd pathname | cd /directory/directory |
| Changes directories with a relative path | cd.. | cd .. | cd .. |
| Displays the time | time | date | date |
| Shows amount of RAM in use | mem | free | free |
| Notes: a. Gedit is a graphical text editor; other editors you can use in place of Gedit include nano and vi. b. The more pager can also be used to page through a file one screen at a time. c. The mv command can both move a file and, if you want to rename a file in the same directory, "move" that file to the same directory with a new name. | |||
Table D-1. Similar Commands