UNIX Commands

This page explains some of the basics of how to manage a virtual server via the command line - which you have to do if using Putty or in other words logging in using ssh.

COMMAND LIST

cd directory
The cd command changes your current working directory to the directory you specify.

pwd
The pwd command prints your current (or present) working directory. Simply type "pwd" and hit return to display your current working directory.

ls directory
The ls command lists the files and subdirectories in the directory you specify. If not directory is specified, a list of the files and subdirectories in the current working directory is displayed. You can also add some additional arguments to customize the list display.

• "ls -F" it will append a forward slash to the subdirectory names so you can easily distinguish them from file names.
• "ls -a" it will show all "hidden files". Hidden files begin with a ".", i.e. ".htaccess" files.
• "ls -l" it will show detailed information about each file and directory, including permissions, ownership, file size, and when the file was last modified.

You can mix the arguments, i.e. if you type "ls -aF" you will see a list of all file names (including hidden files and a forward slash will be appended to directory names.

mkdir directory
The mkdir command makes a new directory with the name, directory, that you specify.

rmdir directory
The rmdir command removes the directory that you specify.

cp source-file target-file
The cp command copies a source-file to a target-file. You can specify pathnames as part of the file specification. If target-file exists then it is overwritten.

mv source-file target-file
The mv command renames a file or moves it to a new location. You can specify pathnames as part of the file specification. If target-file exists then it is overwritten.

rm filename
The rm command deletes (removes) a file. You can specify pathnames as part of the file specification.

grep pattern filenames
The grep command finds lines in files that match specified text patterns. You can specify pathnames as part of the file specification. For example if you want to search for a pattern "gif" in all html files in your current working directory, you would type "grep gif *.html" and hit return. The grep command would then list all occurrences of "gif" it finds in .html files in the current working directory.

tar --options tarfile files
The tar command copies a file or files to or from an archive. To put all the files in a directory into one tar format file, simply type "tar cvf tarfile directory" at a telnet command prompt and replace tarfile with the name you want to call your archived file, and replace directory with the name of the directory that contains the files you want to tar.
To extract the files from a tar format archive, simply type " tar xvf tarfile" at a telnet command prompt and replace tarfile with the name of the archived file you are extracting.
For example, you could type "tar cvf pages.tar htdocs" at a telnet command prompt to archive the files in the htdocs directory to a tar format file called pages.tar.
To view the contents of the pages.tar tarfile without extracting them, type "tar tvf pages.tar". This will display all files that are included in the tar archive.
You could also type "tar xvf pages.tar" at a telnet command prompt to extract into the current directory the files in the archive pages.tar.

zip options zipfile files
The zip command compresses a file or list of files into a zip format archive file. This command is compatible with pkzip on a PC. Simply type "zip zipfile file1 file2 file3" at a telnet command prompt and replace zipfile with the name you want to use for your compressed zip archive file, and replace fileX with the name of the file(s) you want to compress into the zip archive.
For example, type "zip backup.zip home.html index.html" at a telnet command prompt to compress and archive the files called home.html and index.html into the file called backup.zip.

unzip options zipfile
The unzip command extracts a zip format archive file. This command is compatible with pkunzip files from a PC. Simply type "unzip zipfile" at a telnet command prompt and replace zipfile with the name of your zip format archive file.
For example, type "unzip -aL old.zip" at a telnet command prompt to extract files contained in the archive called old.zip. The "-aL" are options that are generally useful when unzipping files created on a PC.
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compress files__
The compress command shrinks a file or files into compressed versions to save space on your Virtual Server. This command is good for you to use on your log files when they get very large. Simply type "compress filename(s)" at a telnet command prompt and replace filename(s) with the name of your files you want to compress.
For example, type "compress access_log agent_log" at a telnet command prompt to compress the access_log and agent_log files. The compressed files will then be access_log.Z and agent_log.Z.

uncompress files
The uncompress command expands a compressed file or set of compressed files. Simply type "uncompress filename(s)" and hit return.

du
Shows disk usage.

top
Displays all processes running.

w or who
See all the users that are logged in.

mesg y
Send a text message to a logged in user.

date
Shows the current date.

time
Shows the current time.

quota
Shows the "Quota" and limits of your Virtual Server.

man
A type of Unix help system which is used to display a manual page about a command.

more
Displays the contents of a text file, press space bar if file is larger than your screen.

pico
Starts the on line editor.

touch
Creates a new empty file, or updates the date that a exiting file was last modified.

traceroute <domain_name>
Or
traceroute <IP_Address>
Runs a tracer route from your Virtual Server to a IP number or domain name address.