Basic UNIX commands

ServiceofInformatics.CNB
AnIntroductoryCoursetoInformatics

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly

what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly
disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and
inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has
already happened.
-- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Introduction
ACommandLanguageInterpreterorshellisaprogramthatcoverstheoperatingsystemactingasan
interfacethatyouusetocommunicatewiththecomputeratthemorebasiclevel:itallowsyoutokeep
trackandarrangeyourfiles,startotherprogramstoprocessyourinformation,andtosomeextentbuild
programstoautomatetasksthatyouneedtodofrequently.
Unixallowsyoutouseseveraldifferentshells,themostpopularofthembeingsh,csh,ksh,bashand
tcsh.Theyallowyoutosendveryelaboratecommandstothecomputer,butforthemostofyourwork,all
youneedisahandfulofcommands,mostofwhicharecommontoallthem.

Setting your password

Thefirstthingyoushouldalwaysdoafteraccessinganysystemthatissharedbymorepeopleandwhere
youronlyprotecionmeansarepasswordsistochangeyourpersonalpassword.Thisisveryimportant
sothatyouaresurethatitisonlyyouwhoknowsthecorrectpasswordsthatallowaccesstoyour
personalgoods.Noteventhesystemadministratorofasharedsystemshouldbeabletoknowyourown
passwords(somebanksallowrecoveryofpeoplepassnumbers,butitisinourhumbleopinionavery
seriousmistake).
Ifthissoundsalittleparanoidforyou,justthinkofthedamagesthatcouldbeoriginated:onabank
accountyoucouldberippedoffandlegallyitwouldbeyourfaultsinceyouareresponsibleforyourown
passwordsornumbers.Inacomputingsystemallyourdatacouldbeerased,orevenworst,someone
couldimpersonateyoutodoallevilandyouwouldagainbeliable.Scary?Maybe,butsoarewehumans

Beingscaryasweare,itisimportantthatyoutakecaretochooseagoodpassword.Thisshouldby
contrastnotbeaword,atleastnotasinglewordthatcouldbefoundinanydictionary.Itisalsoagood
ideaifyouputinsideitnumbersorspecialpunctuationcharactersandusemixedcaseletters.Itshouldbe
long(atleastsixcharacters,althoughthatisnowadaystooshort),makingitwhenpossibleintoapass
phraseinsteadofapassword,whichmakesitbythewayeasiertoremember.Howeversomebraindead
systems(likeSGI'swhichonlyallowamaximumof8characterlongpasswords,sadly)won'tallowyouto
uselongpasswords,forcingyoutousestrange,unnaturaloreasytoguessones.Still,wheneverpossible,
weadvisethatyouusepassphrasespossiblymixingcapsandincludingpunctuationsymbolsforyour
safety.
OK,sohowdoyoudoit?InUNIXthecommandtouseiscalledpasswd:itwillpromptyouforyour
oldpasswordtoverifyyouareyourselfandnotsomepasserbythatcamewhileyouwenttemporarilyout
foracofeeoryouweredistracted.Onceyouhaveidentifiedyourselfyouareaskedforthenewpassword.
Thisisdonetwicebecausethesystemdoesn'tshowanythingyoutypeonthescreen(toavoidshoulder
surfers)andyoucouldhavemadeamistakeandneverbeallowedinagainunlessyourepeatedthesame
mistakeagain.Onceyournewpasswordhasbeenverifieditisstoredencrypted(usuallyinahidden
place)anditbecomesactivedfromthenon.
Anexamplesessionforonegiven"JoeRandomUser"whoseoriginalpasswordwas"Ohyeah!"couldbe:
passwd
Changing password for JoeRandomUser
Old password: Oh yeah!
New password: Tell me, what?
Re-enter new password: tell me what?
They don't match
Try again.
New password: Tell me, what?
Re-enter new password: Tell me, what?

#
#
#
#

not shown
not shown
if we make a mistake
we are given another chance

# OK now

Otherexamplesofgoodpasswordscouldpossiblybe:
1. Torres10
2. 4weeksinglobe
3. 53+two=57
4. Sgt.PeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand
5. 4536Kms.apied,ausemessouliers!
6. pBR322
7. ClNa=Salt
8. 120Km/h
9. +34(1)9036969
10.4oqtep.Yt3s
Thesepasswordsareveryeasytoremember,buthardenoughformostcurrentcrackingsystems.However
youshouldbeawarethatthereisalreadypeoplestartingtocompilecollectionsofpopular"phrases"to
useincrackingsoftware,soatsomepointverycommonphrasesmayprobablyneedtobeavoidedtoo.

Also,youshouldavoid"easytoguess"phrasesorpasswordsbasedonpersonaldata:fromtheabove
examples,thefirstonewouldbeeasyifeveryoneknewIlikedsomeparticularbrandofbrandy,the
secondifIwereaknownreaderofJulesverne,thefourthifIwhereafanofTheBeatles,thesixthifI
whereamolecularbiologist,theeightifIwereadriverandtheninthifitweremyphonenumber(which
itisn'tbytheway).Thelastexample,rathermoredifficulthasbeenobtainedbyusingtheinitialsofthe
lyricsofapopularlibertinesong,makingiteasytorememberbutdifficulttoguess.
So,yousee,itisnotdifficulttocomeupwithgoodpasswords,andcanbeevenlotsoffunifyoudon't
takeitasahassle.Allthat'sneededisasetofsimpleprecautionstoavoidthatevenyourclosestfriends
couldguessit.Evenifyouarelimitedto8characterpasswordstherearestillplentyoffunnytricksyou
canresorttoifyouwant.

Files
Normallyyouwilluseadifferentprogramforeachdifferenttask.Thewayinwhichanyprogramstores
theinformationyouuseisbyarrangingitinaspecificobjectorcontainernamedfile.Tipically,files
madewithoneprogramwillnotbeofmuchuseforotherprograms.Filesaredistinguishedbygiving
themanamewhenyoucreatethem.Ifyouchosecarefullythename,youwillalsorecognizeitscontents
onreadingthename.

Working with files

File names
Youcanuseanycharacterinthenamesyougivetoyourfiles,althoughitisbetterifyoulimityourselfto
usingonlynumbers,letters,dashes(),underscores(_)ordots(.).Byconventionnamesaredividedin
twopartsseparatedbyadot(.)thatclasicallyareusedthefirst(beforethedot)asanamereferringtothe
contentsofthefileandthesecond(afterthedot)asanindicationofthetypeofdatacontainedinthefile.
Asadifferencetoothersystems(likeVMSorDOS)youmayuseseveraldotsinsideafilename.Notetoo
thatUNIXfilenamesarecasesensitive.Hence,forexample,afilenameisdifferentfrom
AFileName.
Creating a file
Usuallyyouwillcreatefilesusingspecialpurposeprograms,butthereisautilityinUNIXtocreatea
file.Thiswillmakeanemptyfileandgiveyouthepossibilityoftypingitscontents(unlessyoucreatea
specialfile).Thecommandis
cat > my_file.dat
You can type anything, to terminate press both keys, [CTRL] and [D]
at the same time.
[CTRL]+[D]

NotethatasadifferencetosystemslikeVMS,thesystemdoesnotkeepoldversionsaround.Itdirectly

overwritesanyoldversionwithoutacomment.Versionhousekeepingisataskyoumustdomanuallyin
Unix.
Anotherpossibilitytocreateatextfileistouseatexteditor.Themostpopulartexteditorsinunixare
emacs,joe,picoandvi.
Removing a file
Onceyounolongerneedafileevermore,youcaneliminateit.Notethatthisisaonewayfunction:once
afileisdeleteditisgoneforever.Thecommandtouseisrm(remove):
rm my_file.dat

Obtaining a copy of a file

Youcanaskthesystemtoduplicatethecontentsofanyexistingfileinanewfileusingthecommandcp
(copy):
cp my_original.dat my_copy.dat

Means"makeacopyoffilemy_original.datandnamethatcopymy_copy.dat".
Changing the name of a file
Thisiseasilydonewiththecommandmv(move):
mv my_ugly_file.dat my_gorgeous_name.dat

Seeing the contents of a file

Youcanalwaysusethesameprogramyouusedtobuildthefiletoreviewit,butitisoftenfastertouse
more toseethecontentsoffilesintextformat.
more my_file.dat

Thiswillshowyouthecontentsofthefileonepageorscreenfulatatime.Initiallyyouwillbeshownthe
firstpageorscreen;afterwardsyoucanmovearoundbyusingthecarriagereturnkeytomoveoneline
downorspacetomoveonescreenforward.Thereisahostofkeypressesthatwillhelpyoumovearound
inthefile,andthatyoucanseebypressingthe
Working with wildcards
Awildcardisaspecialcharacterthatcanbesubstitutedbysomethingelse.Thisallowsyoutobroadenthe
scopetowhichyourcommandsapply.TherearemanywildcardsavailableinUNIX,butthemost
commonlyusedarethesymbols?and*.Wheneveryouusea?insideafilenameitwillassumethatit
canbesubstitutedbyanyonecharacterinthesameposition.A*indicatesanyoneormorecharacters
startingatthatposition.Thisprocessisusuallyknownasglobbing.

AnimportantissuetorememberisthatinUNIX,globbing(i.e.wildcardexpansion)isdonebytheshell.
Thismeansthatwheneveryougiveacommandwithwildcards,thesewillbeexpandedfirsttoconstructa
newcommandline,andthenthecommandwillbeinvokedwiththesenewarguments.
Forinstance:ifyoutypethecommand
cp *.dat *.txt

inadirectorycontainingthefiles
file.dat

archive.dat

mydata.dat

other.txt

letter.txt

Thiswon'tmean"copyallfilesthatendin.datintofileswiththesamenamebutendingin.txt".Instead,
theshellcommandwilldothesubstitutionandexecutethecommand
cp file.dat archive.dat mydata.dat other.txt letter.txt

whichmeans"copythefilesfile.dat archive.dat mydata.datandother.txtintoa

singleonenamedletter.txt"anditwillreadallthosefiles,trashyourletter.txtfileandthen
buildanewletter.txtconsistingofthecontentsofthosefiles.
UNIXoffersyouacomplexsetofprotectionmechanisms.Thesimplestofthembeingpasswordcontrol
andfileprotection.Thelastworksatdifferentlevels:

Others(o):thisreferstoanybodywhocanloginthesystem.
Group(g):thisreferstoanyonethatbelongsinthesamegroupasyou.
User(u):thisisyou.

Foranyofthesecategoriesyoucanspecifyalsoseveralkindsofprotection:

Read(r):Allowpeopleinthatleveltoread,printorcopythatitem.
Write(w):Allowmembersofthatleveltowriteormodifytheobject.
Execute(x):Thisworksforexecutablefiles(i.e.programs)allowingtorunthem.

Tochangetheprotectionofafileusechmod (changeaccessmode).Sincetherearesomanyprotection
mechanisms,youhavetouseanargumentlist.Argumentlistsarelistsofdifferentargumentsthatyou
grouptogetherseparatedbycommas.Inthecaseofchmodyouindicatethecategorywhoseprivileges
youwanttomodify(u,g,o),whetheryouwanttoenable(+)ordisable()privileges,andtheprivileges
tobeaffected:
chmod u+rw,g+r-wx,o-rwx my_file.dat

Thismeans:changeaccessmodessothattheuser(I)canreadandwritethefile,peopleinmygroupcan
readbutnotwriteorexecutethefile,andanyotherscan'taccessitinanyway.

Directories
Youcouldhaveallyourdifferentfilesmixedtogether,butthisisnotpractical:Itisbettertokeeprelated

filesseparatedfromunrelatedones.Youcanachievethesameresultsinacomputerusingdirectories:
thesearelikefolders,drawers,cabinets,rooms,etc...:youcanstorefiles(documents)onthem,andlabel
directoriessignificatively,andnestthemtodifferentlevels.

Working with directories

Seeing the contents of a directory
Issuethecommandls(list):
ls

Creating a new directory

Thecommandtouseismkdir(makedirectory)followedbythenameofthedirectorytobecreated:
mkdir my_subdirectory

Notethatyouusedirectlythedirectoryname.InUnixyoudonothaveanyspecialmethodtoreferto
directoriesashappensinothersystemslikeVMS.Theyarejustfileslikeanyother,onlytheyarespecial
filesthatcontainmorefilesinside.
Finding your way.
Yourdefaultdirectoryistheoneinwhicheverythinghappensunlessyoutellotherwise.Youcanlearn
whereyouarewithpwd (printworkingdirectory).Thesystemanswerswiththenameofyourcurrent
workingfolder.
pwd
/u/grpname/username

Youcantellthesystemtoselectadifferentdirectorytoworkin,withthecommandcd(change
directory):allsubsequentcommandswilltakeplaceinthatnewdirectory:
pwd
/u/grp/username
ls
file1.dat
file2.dat
subdir
cd /u/grp/username/subdir
ls
otherfile.dat
otherfile.plus
cd /u/grp/username

#What do we have?
othersubdir
#Move into subdir
#Verify
#Go back

Youcanspecifyasubdirectoryhangingfromyourcurrentpositionbyjustgivingitsname;hence:
cd subdir

wouldhavesufficedinthepreviousexample.
Sinceadirectorymaybecontainedinonlyoneparentdirectory,youcanusetwodots(..)tospecifythe

parentofasubdirectory.Intheaboveexampleyoucouldaswellhavetypedattheend
cd ..

Youcancombinedirectorynamesinapathtellingthenamesofthedirectoriestobetraversedseparated
byslashes(/).Intheexampleabove/u/grp/username/subdirmeant"Gototopleveldirectory'u',
enter'grp',then'username'andthengoonto'subdir'".
Youcanusethiswayofreferringtodirectorieswithothercommands,e.g.
mv rna/some.seq .

wouldhaveasconsequencethatsome.seqisrenamed(andeffectivelymoved)fromthesubdirectory
rnatoourcurrentdirectory(specifiedbyusingasingledot)`.'.
Deleting a directory
Todeleteadirectoryyoumustdoitintwosteps:

Emptythedirectoryfromallitscontents(both,filesandsubdirectories).
Deletethedirectoryusingrmdir(removedirectory).

ls my_directory
rmdir my_directory

#verify it is empty
#and remove it

I/O redirection
OneofthemostpowerfulfeaturesofUNIXistheabilitytoinstructacommandtosenditsoutputorread
itsinputfromanywhereyoulike.Youcaneventellacommandtosenditsoutputtoanotheronefor
furtherprocessinghencecombiningtheirfunctionalityinversatileways.Thisallowsyoutohaveshort,
elegantcommandsthatdoasimplejobverywellandhavethemcooperatetogetcomplexresults.
Whilethereareafewdifferencesamongshells,allofthemunderstandacommonsubsetofredirection
directives:

Redirecting output
Youcansendallofacommand'soutput(everythingitwouldotherwisenormallysendtoyourterminal)
toafilebyusingthe>characterafterthecommandfollowedbythenameofthefileintowhichyouwant
tosavetheoutput:
ls > mylisting.txt

Thiscreatesanewfilenamedmylisting.txt(ifitalreadyexists,itremovestheoldonebefore
creatingit)andsendsalltheoutputoflstoit.
Themainproblemwith>isthatifthedestinationfileexists,itspreviouscontentsarelost.Youcan
insteadappendtheoutputofthecommandattheendofanypreviouscontentsbyusingtworightangle

brackets,>>tospecifythedestinationoftheoutput:
ls >> mylisting.txt

Input redirection
Youmayaswellinstructacommandthatnormallyreadsdatafromyourterminaltogetitsinputfroma
fileinstead.Thisisachievedbyusingtheleftanglebracket<character:
sort < myfile

Notethatinthiscaseyoudon'thavethechoicetoappendsinceitdoesn'tmakesenseforacommandto
appendtoanyinputprevioustoitsinvocation.

Concatenating I/O
Whileoftenuseful,itisnotenoughtobeabletoredirectonecommand'sinputoroutputtoafile.Many
timesonewouldwanttocombinethecapabilitiesofoneprogramwiththoseofanotherone.Forinstance,
onewouldliketogetafulllistingofadirectorysortedotherthanthedefaultway,andmaybeseeingthe
listingonepageatatime.Thiscaneasilybedonebyfirstsendingtheoutputofonecommandtoafile,
andtheninstructingthenextcommandtoreadfromthatfile:
ls -l > tmpfile1
sort < tmpfile1 > tmpfile2
more tmpfile2

Butthisiscumbersomeandrequiresthecreationofmanytemporaryfiles.Wouldn'titbeniceifwecould
instructthecomputertotaketheoutputofacommandanduseitastheinputofthenextone?Wecan
achievethiseffectwiththebarcharacter|toseparatetwocommands.Thisiscalledapipesinceitserves
asaconductionofdatafromonecommandtothenext.Wecanuseseriesofpipestocombineseriesof
programs:
ls -l | sort -k9 | less
ls -l | sort -k5 | less

Inthefirstexamplewegetafulldirectorylistingwithls -landthenwepassonthelistingtosortso
itgetssortedbyfilename(-k9meanssortbytheninthfield,thefilename)andfinallywebrowsethe
listingcomfortablyusingless,anenhancedversionofthefilebrowsermore.
Inthesecondexamplewegetanotherlistinginasimilarway:wepassthefulllistingwegetfromlsto
sortandthesortedlistingtolessforeasyviewing.Theonlydifferenceisthatthistimewegetfiles
sortedbysize(fifthfield).
Wecanconcatenateasmanycommandsasweneedtoachieveourgoal.Thisallowsforgreatversatility.
Inthiscontext,eachoftheintermediatecommandsweuse(like,e.g.sortabove)iscalledafiltersince
itreadssomeinput,performssomeoperationonit(filtersit)andproducessomeoutputthatispassedon
tothenextfilter.

Job control
OneoftheadvantagesofUNIXisthatitisamultitaskingoperatingsystem.Thismeansyoumaycarry
outseveraltasksatthesametime.Forinstance,youmightberunningalongscientificjobwhileatthe
sametimeeditadatafile.Youmayalsogivecommandstobeexecutedsothattheyrunindependently
andyoudon'thavetowaitforthemtofinishtokeeponworkingandbenotifiedlaterwhenitfinishes.
Thisallowsyoutogetthemostofyoutimeonline.

Stopping a job
Insomecases,youmaybeworkingonsomeprogram,andthensuddenlybeinterestedindoinganother
task,butwithoutleavingtheprogramyouareusing.Forinstance,youmaybereadingafile,andthen
wonderaboutwhattimeisit.Youcantemporarilystoptheprocessbyusing^Z(pressingthe[CTRL]and
[Z]keyssimultaneously),issueanycommandsyouwant,andthenresuscitethesuspendedprocesswith
thecommandfg.
man date
date(1)

#read a manual page

date(1)

NAME

date - write and set the date and time

...
^Z
#take a break
date
#what time is it?
mail user@host < message
#yuk! we must send this message ASAP
fg
#continue reading the manual

Background jobs
YoumayinstructUNIXtorunacommandinthebackground.Thismeansthatthecommandwillrun
unattendedwhileyoukeeponworkinginothertasks.Thisalsomeansthatthecommandmustbeableto
rununattended,i.e.withoutanyhelpfromyou.
Byaddinganampersand&attheendofacommandline,youstatethatthecommandorseriesof
commandsyougiveshouldruninthebackground,detachedfromyourterminal:
ls -lR /data/ftp/pub/databases/pdb > pdblist &

Thisrequiresthatthecommandorcommandsyougivedonotneedanyhumanhelptocomplete.
Otherwisetheywillstopatsomepointaskingforsomedataandwon'tcontinuerunning.
Ifyouwanttorunaprogramthatfirstasksyouforsomeinitialdataandthenwrapsitselfintosomevery
lengthycomputationyoucan'tusethe&mechanism.Inthiscase,youmaystarttheprograminteractively,
answerallitsquestions,andwhenitstartsitscomputationstep,stopitwith^Z.Atthispointyoucan
issuethecommandbgtosendittothebackgroundasifyouhadstarteditwithanampersand.
bc -l > PI
scale=1000
4 * a(1)

^Z
Suspended
bg
[1]
bc -l > PI &
...
...
[1] + Suspended (tty input)
fg %1
quit

bc -l > PI

Herewefirststartbc,thebinarycalculatorusingthetrascendentalmathlibrary(-l)andsendingits
outputtoafilenamedPI.Wetheninstructbctouseaprecisionof1000decimalplaces(scale=1000)
andcalculatePI(4byarctangentof1radian).Sincethiswilltakequitesometime,westopherethe
programusing^Zandsendittothebackgroundusingbg.Theshelladvisesusthatwehavemodifiedthe
commandasifwehadrunitwithanampersandattheend,andtellsusthatthisbackgroundjobhas
number[1].
Intheaboveexamplewealsoseehowwecanrecoveraninteractiveprogramthatisrunninginthe
background.Sometimelater,theprogramwillfinishitscomputationandwaitformoreinteractive
commands.Sinceitisnotintheforeground,itcan'ttakeanyinput,andwearenotifiedofit([1] +
Suspended (tty input) bc -l > PI).Whatwedoisbringituptotheforegroundwiththefg
commandfollowedbya%signandthejobnumber.Wecannowtellourcommandthatwearedoneor
continuedoingmorecomputationsifsowewish.

Knowing what you are doing

Withthisabilitytodomanytasksatthesametime,thingscangetprettyconfusing.Ifyouwanttoknow
atanymomentwhatprogramsyouarerunning,justusethecommandps(reportprocessstatus).
ps
PID
1099
7832
29683
11102

TTY
ttyq29
ttyq29
ttyq29
ttyq29

TIME
0:02
0:00
0:02
0:00

CMD
ls
bc
tcsh
ps

Thisshowsallthecommandsyouarerunning,togetherwiththeirsystemIDnumber(PID)whichisnot
yourjobnumberandtheterminal(TTY)fromwhichtheyhavebeenstarted.

Killing a job
Humansasweare,wearenotfreefrommistakes.Insomecaseswemaywanttostopanerroneous
commandwehaveissued.Therearetwowaystodoit:
Ifthecommandisrunninginthebackground,wecanusethekillcommandfollowedbyapercentsign
andthejobnumber:
ls -lR / > /dev/null &
[1] 11084

kill %1
[1]
Terminated

ls -lR / > /dev/null

Notethespaceafterkillandthatthejobnumbermustbeimmediatelyprecededbya%sign.
Ifwearerunninganinteractivecommand,wecannormallyuse^C(thecombinationofkeys[CTRL]and
[C])tofinishthetask:
bc
^C
(interrupt) use quit to exit.

Butsomeprogramsdonotrespondto^Cortakeittomeansomethingdifferent.Inthesecaseswemay
trytoplayatrickonthecomputer:wefirstuse^Ztotemporarilystopthejobasabove,andthenwekill
theprogramwithkill.Notethatyoumustknowthenumberthatcorrespondstothestoppedprocess(one
plusthenumberofthehighestbackgroundjob).
ls -lR / > /dev/null
^Z
Suspended
ps
PID TTY
TIME CMD
29683 ttyq29 0:02 tcsh
11146 ttyq29 0:00 ps
11144 ttyq29 0:00 ls
kill 11144
[1]
Terminated

ls -lR / > /dev/null

Notethatinthisexamplewehaveusedpstogetthesystemidentificationnumberfortheprocess(PID)
andthenwehaveusethisnumberwithoutapreceding%signtokillit.

Finishing off
Whenyouaredonewiththesystemandwanttoendyourworkingsessiontherearevariouswaysin
whichyoucandosodependingontheshellyouuseandhowyoustartedthesession.Themostcommon
onesare:

Typing[CTRL]+DtomeanEndofTransmission,i.e.thatyouhaveterminatedgivingorders.
Usingthecommandlogout
Usingthecommandexit

Normallyyou'lljusttypelogoutandthat'sall,butitisalwaysgoodtoknowabouttheother
possibilitiesjustincase.

Getting more information

YoucanlearnmoreaboutUNIXwiththecommandsaproposandman.Thecommandapropossystem

allowsyoutoindentifymanualpagesbykeywords,whilemanwilldisplayamanualpageontherequired
topic;forexample
apropos permissions
chmod (1)
chmod (1)
genperm (1M)
permissions (1X)
permissions
....
man chmod
....
man tcsh

change the access permissions of files

change the permissions mode of a file or directory
generate /etc/uucp/Permissions
provides a visual interface for modifying file

AlternativelyyoucanstarttheprogramxmanifyouhaveaccesstotheXwindowsgraphicaluser
interface.
AsanintroductiontoUNIXmanualpages,youshouldknowthattheyarearrangedinnumberedsections
devotedtodifferentthemes.aproposshowsthesectionnumberinparenthesesafterthecommand.
Normallyyouwillonlybeinterestedinsection1ofthemanual,usercommands.ThesectionsinBSD
systemsare:

(1)usercommands
(2)systemcalls
(3)programminglibraries
(4)specialfiles
(5)fileformats
(6)games
(7)miscellaneousdocuments
(8)systemmaintenance

Butaswesaid,normallyyoushouldonlybeconcernedwithsection1ofthemanual.
OryoumaytakealookataQuickReferenceGuide

JosR.Valverde|EMBnet/CNB|JRValverde@embnet.cnb.uam.es