Unix cheatsheet

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Here is a quick list of common unix commands. These will work from a terminal window on Linux or Mac, or from a terminal window once you have cygwin installed on Windows. (see Windows hints, tips, and tricks.)

  • Changing directories (folders)
    cd /path/to/directory
  • Getting a directory listing
    ls
  • Getting a directory listing of just one kind of file extension
    ls *txt
  • Getting a directory listing in a plain text file
    ls *fits > listoffiles.txt
  • Examining the contents of a file (works best on text files, but will also attempt it without complaint on binary files -- be careful!)
    more listoffiles.txt

To scroll down and see more of the file, hit the space bar; to quit out, hit "q".

  • Unzipping the files from Leopard -- the "\" is important!!
    unzip \*.zip
  • Unzipping files with a *gz extension
    gunzip *.gz
  • Uncompressing a tar file -- tar = Tape ARchive
    tar -xf foo.tar
  • Uncompressing a compressed tar file (may not work on older systems)
    tar -xzf foo.tar.gz