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Table Of Contents

UNIX Help

This page is a quick reference for UNIX. If you think something else should be added to the page, let me know.

Managing Files

pwd
present working directory

cd [dir]
change directory

Special names for directories:

ls
list files in the directory
Useful options:

cp [srcfile] [destfile]
copy a file (srcfile) into another file/location (destfile)

mv [srcfile] [destfile]
move a file (srcfile) into another file/location (destfile)

Running programs in the background

cmd [args] &
To run a command cmd [args] in the background, follow the full command (including arguments) with an "&"
For example: emacs &. Emacs opens and the terminal is now available to run other commands.

If you already started to run the program in the foreground, type 'Control-Z', which suspends the running program and gives you your prompt back. Then, type bg, which puts the suspended program in the background. Now, you can use emacs.