Unix Cheat Sheet

To log in to the grid, you need to use PuTTY if you use a PC, or, in the case of a mac, you can log in from the terminal.

How do I abort that command???

Most commands can be aborted by pressing ctr-C. If it looks like you are in a text editor, but can't get out, try the following:

• ctr-X
• Hit Esc several times, and then type :q!and press enter.

Loggin in to other machines with SSH

The ssh command can be used to log in to other machines, or from a mac to the grid:

$ ssh usernam@host

List files

To list the files in the current directory:

$ ls

To get more information about every file, do

$ ls -l 

To get information about a specific file or directory (you could add -l too)

$ ls filename

Change working directory

$ cd path

where path is the directory you want to change to, eg

$ cd /proj/my-project

To print the current working directory use pwd.

There are two "special directories": . and ... The first corresponds to the current directory, the second corresponds to the directory above the current directory.

Finally,

$ cd

without any arguments will return you to your home directory.

Copy file

To copy a file use

$ cp source destination

You can have more than one source, but then the destination must be a directory. The final argument is always the destination. Eg.

$ cp file1 file2 file3 dest_dir

If any of the sourcres is a directory, you have to give copy the -r option.

$ cp -r dir1 dest_dir

Removing files or directories

$ rm file

will remove file,

If you would like to remove a directory, add the -r option to rm

$ rm -r directory

Create directory

$ mkdir directory_name

Looking at the content of a file

$ less filename

will bring up the content of the file on the screen. Use arrow keys to move up and down. You can search within the file by typing /and then what you would like to search for. Leave less by typing q.

Getting help on command usage

There is a man page available for most commands. It is accessed with the man command

$ man cp

for example. You can browse with arrow keys, and leave the man page by pressing q