Unix Shell Cheat Sheet

Common commands we will use throughout the workshop (and are generally good for efficiently navigating the unix shell). Wherever you see brackets (<>) you should in the appropriate name (i.e., foldername or username).

Unix Shell Basics

Command	Description
cd <folderName>	Enter directory
cd ..	Go back one directory
cd ∼	Go to home directory
ls	List files within current directory
ls <path to folder>	List files within another directory
pwd	Get directory path
clear	Clear terminal
mkdir <foldername>	Create new folder
mv <path to file> <new filename>	Rename file
mv <path to file> <path to new (existing) location>	Move file to new location
mv -r <path to folder> <new foldername>	Rename folder
mv -r <path to folder> <path to new (existing) location>	Move folder and contents to new location
cp <path to file> <path to new (existing) location>	Copy file to new location
cp -r <path to folder> <path to new (existing) location>	Copy folder and contents to new location
rm <filename>	Remove file
rm -r <foldername>	Remove entire folder
cat <filename>	Print contents of file to terminal
head <filename>	Print first 10 lines of file
echo “Text”	Print text
grep “<PATTERN>” <location>	Find lines matching PATTERN in location
help	Get list of commands
help name	Get info on command name

Additional Unix Shell Commands

Command	Description
scp <username>@<server address>:<file to copy> <location to copy to>	Copy file from remote to local computer
scp <file to copy> <username>@<server address>:<location to copy to>	Copy file to remote from local computer
scp -r <file to copy> <username>@<server address>:<location to copy to>	Do the above for a folder and its contents
chmod +x <filename>	Add execute permissions
bash <script.sh>	Run a shell script
./<script.sh>	Run an executable file

vim Editor

Command	Description
vim <filename>	create or open a file
:w	Save new text
:q	Quit file editor
:wq	Save and quit file editor in one command
:h	Help
:split <path to file>	Open a second file in split screen
i	Begin editing file
x	Cut a letter
r	Replace a letter
yy	Yank (copy) current line
dd	Cut and copy current line
p	Paste
esc	Exit editing mode

tmux and screen (Managing Terminal Sessions)

Command	Description
screen -RD	open a screen session or return to existing
tmux	create and enter into new file