DESCRIPTION	DOS	UNIX
Change file protection	attrib	chmod
Change file to a hidden file - rename file with prefix "."	ATTRIB +h or -h	mv file .file
Create a file or Directory link	assign	ln
Backup	backup	tar (backup to floppy tar -cvf /dev/fd0 files, mdir, mcopy, doswrite -a file (AIX)
Execute script from within batch shell	CALL COMMAND /C (DOS), CMD (NT)	source script (cshrc) . script (bash)
clear current screen	cls	clear / ctrl-l
Change working Directory	cd	cd
Display directory location	chdir	pwd
Display free disk space	chkdsk	df (df -k Space remaining on filesystem), du -s
Compare files	comp / fc	diff
Copy file	copy	cp -piv
Display date and time	date, time	date
Delete file	del / erase	rm
Delete directory and files in directory	deltree (win 95 & +), rmidr /s (windows NT)	rm -R, rmdir
Display list of files	dir/w dir	ls / ls -l
List directories contents by reverse time of modification/creation	dir *.* /o-d	ls -tr
List files and size	dir *.* /v /os	ls -ls
List directory/sub-directory contents recursively	dir /s	ls -R
List hiden files	dir /aa	ls -a
List command history	doskey /h	history
Set Command alias	doskey name=command	alias name=command
Edit to text	edit <filename.txt>, notepad <filename.txt>	vi,pico, gnp, xedit, xemacs, dtpad
Total to partition a hard drive	fdisk	fdisk
Find a word in file	find / findstr	grep / fgrep
Format drive	format	fdformat, mformat, mount, umount, mke2fs
print host name of computer	hostname	hostname
Get help	help	man / apropos
Display / configue network interface	IPCONFIG (NT) WINIPCFG (Win 95...)	ifconfig
Show free memory on system	mem	free, top
Create directory	mkdir / md	mkdir
Rename or Move a file	move / rename	mv
Show system info (Command borrowed from AIX)	msd	lsdev
List services	net help start	chkconfig --list |grep on
Send pop-up to a MS/Windows PC Send message to another Unix/Linux user.	NET SEND <node-name> <message> (NT)	smbclient -M MS-Windows-host-name, talk
show mounted shares/filesystems	net shares	df
Start/stop service/daemon	NET STARTservice-name NET STOPservice-name	service service-name start, service service-name stop
print DNS info for host	NBTSTAT (Netbios info: -n, -c) NBTSTAT -a host-name NBTSTAT -A IP-address	nslookup host-name, host host-name
Display contents of file	type	cat
Display file with pauses	type filename | more	more / less <filename>
Change directory	cd	cd chdir
List a file	more < file	more file
Make directory	md	mkdir
Display search path for executables. Set PATH environment variable.	PATH PATH %PATH%;C:\DIR	echo $PATH PATH=$PATH:/dir
send packet to a network host	ping	ping
Display print queue	print	lpq
Print file	print	lpr
Reboot system	reboot	shutdown -r now
Rename file	rename / ren	mv -iv
Restore files from floppy	restore a:\files	tar -xvf /dev/fd0 files mdir, mcopy dosread -a file (AIX only)
Delete directory	rmdir / rd	rmdir
print routing table	route print	route -n
Check and repair hard drive file system	SCANDISK DEFRAG C:	fsck, debugfs
Show environment variables	set	set and env
Set environment variables	set variable	setenv (for C shell) / export var=val (for Korn shell)
sort data alpha or numerical	sort	sort
List executable name, process ID number and memory usage of active processes	TASKLIST (WIN2K, XP)	ps -aux top
Show routes and router hops to given destination	tracert	traceroute
List directory recursively	tree	ls -R
copy all file structure	xcopy	cp -R
OS/Shell version	ver	uname -a, echo $shell, cat /etc/issue
Start Windows	win	startx
zip / pkzip	tar and zip	Compress and uncompress files/directories. Use tar to create compilation of a directory before compressing. Linux also has compress, gzip

 

Shell Descriptor/Operators:

DOS Descriptor/Operator	UNIX or Bash Descriptor/Operator	Description
\	/	Directory path delimiter
.\	./	Current directory
..\	../	Parent directory
ctrl-z	ctrl-d	End of file/close shell
ctrl-c	ctrl-c	Interrupt/process break
*	*	file name wild card
?	?	Single character wild card
%VAR%	$VAR	Variable prefix
/	-	Command line option flag prefix
|	|	Pipe
>	>	stdout redirection
>>	>>	stdout redirection overwrite
<	<	stdin redirection

Shell Script Operators:

DOS Operator	UNIX or Bash Operator	Description
@ ECHO OFF	set +v	Set verbose mode off. -v: Echo each line of shell script as it is executed.
%	$	command line argument prefix. DOS: %1 Bash: $1 for firs argument.
REM	#	Comment. (Not processed.)
==	=	string "equal to" comparison
!==!	!=	string "not equal to" comparison
NOT	!	negative of test expression
CHOICE	case	case/switch statement
IF IF EXIST filename	if [ -e filename ]	if-test If file exists.
ERRORLEVEL	$?	exit status/return code
PAUSE	sleep	sleep for specified interval

 

 

 

Devices:

DOS Device	Linux Device	Description
NUL	/dev/null	Send into nothingness
CON	stdin	stdin from console
PRN LPT1	/dev/lp0	First printer device
COM1	/dev/ttyS0	Firsst serial port

Equivalent Linux and MS/Windows GUI Applications:

MS/Windows Command	Linux Command	Description
C:\WINDOWS\cmd	gnome-terminal konsole	Command Text Terminal
C:\WINDOWS\explorer	nautilus --no-desktop	File browser
c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore	firefox mozilla	Web browser
C:\WINDOWS\notepad C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad	gedit	Text editor
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\winword excel powerpnt	oowriter oocalc ooimpress	MS/Office and Open Office suites (ooffice)
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\acrord32	acroread	Adobe PDF viewer
mspaint	tuxpaint xfig gimp	Graphics and painting program
C:\Program Files\WinZip\winzip32	file-roller	File compress / decompress / pack / unpack
taskmgr	ksysguard qps gnome-system-monitor xosview	Process and system load monitor

Bash shell aliases for DOS users:

The following are bash shell aliases which can be added to the system profile or the user's personal profile ($HOME/.bashrc) to correct and help DOS users on Linux.

alias dir="echo 'Use the command: ls -lF'" alias tree="echo 'Use the command: ls -R'" alias del="echo 'Use the command: rm -iv'" alias move="echo 'Use the command: mv -iv'" alias rename="echo 'Use the command: mv -iv'" alias copy="echo 'Use the command: cp -piv'" alias type="echo 'Use the command: cat'" alias cls="echo 'Use the command: clear'" alias mem="echo 'Use the command: free'" alias ver="echo 'Use the command: uname -a'" alias A:="echo 'Use the command: mdir a:'" alias a:="A:" alias C:="echo 'No C drive in Linux. Go to your home directory with the command: cd'" alias c:="C:"

 

Flavor	Product	uname -r	Released
Microsoft
-	IRIX
AT&T	SVR4 (System V Release 4)
Berkeley Software	FreeBSD
-	NetBSD
Hewlett Packard	HP-UX
SunSoft	SunOS	5.8
	Solaris
IBM	AIX
Linux	Red Hat 9	2.4.20-6smp
	Red Hat Enterprise Linux	2.4.21-4.ELsmp
	Mandrake, Caldera, etc.

 

Shell	Command	Default Prompt	Initialization File	History
MSDOS	cmd	>	AUTOEXEC.BAT	Began as CP/M from Gary Kildall. Purchased by Microsoft in the mid 1970's for the IBM PC. Ended at version 6.22 (7.1 within OEM Windows 95B)
PCDOS	cmd	>	AUTOEXEC.BAT	Jointly developed by Microsoft and IBM until version 5.
-	DRDOS	>	AUTOEXEC.BAT	Developed by Digital Research, then purchased by Novell, then Caldera/Lineo in 1999.
Bourne Shell	sh & bsh	$	.profile	Developed at AT&T by Stephen R. Bourne in the early 1970s. It was the original and official shell distributed by AT&T and its successor, Unix System Laboratories, now owned by Novell. Considered the fastest, most portable, and easiest shell to learn, it lacked command history and command editing. Shell scripts developed for public use are usually written in the Bourne shell language and assume a System V Release 1 environment.
Bourne Again Shell	bash	$	.profile & .bash_profile	Created for use in the GNU project started by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) to replace all commercial UNIX utilities with freely distributable copyleft. Written by Brian Fox from Sunday, January 10, 1988 until 1993 when Chet Ramey became the official maintainer.
C	csh	%	.login .cshrc (for settings)	Developed by William Joy (later Sun Microsystems' chief technology officer) and others at UC Berkeley during the early 1980s for C programming flexiblity. Provides the most shortcuts, but is slower than other shells.
Korn	ksh	$	-	Developed by David Korn in the early 1980s. It combines many of the best features of earlier command processors, so is considered a superset of the Bourne shell.
POSIX	sh	$	-	IEEE Std 1003.1 and IEEE Std 1003.2 supported by SunOS and Solaris
Microsoft Shell	msh	>	-	Product code named "MONAD" in the 2004 Longhorn release of Windows provides manipulation of .NET objects and new WinFS type queries. Introduces user-declared System.Management.Automation namespace "commandlets" like unix pipes and "-whatif" directive for testing them.

 

Feature	sh	csh	ksh	python
Aliasing	-	Yes	Yes
Arithmetic expressions	-	Yes	Yes
Array variables	-	Yes	Yes
Assignment id=string	Yes	-	Yes
case statement	Yes	-	Yes
cdpath searches	SysV	Yes	Yes
-clobber overwrite protect	-	Yes	Yes
Command aliases	-	Yes	Yes
echo -n option	-	Yes	-
export command	Yes	-	Yes
foreach statement	-	Yes	-
getopts built-in command	-	-	Yes
History of commands	-	!n	fc
glob command	-	Yes	-
Hash table problems, rehash and unhash commands	-	Yes	-
Job control (bg, fg, ...)	-	Yes	Yes
let command	-	-	Yes
limit, unlimit commands	-	Yes	-
nice shell built-in	-	Yes	-
nohup shell built-in	-	Yes	-
notify shell built-in	-	Yes	-
onintr command	-	Yes	-
print command	-	-	Yes
pushd, popd commands	-	Yes	-
RANDOM shell variable	-	-	Yes
repeat last command	-	!!	-
Restricted version	rsh	-	rksh
select statement	-	-	Yes
setenv, unsetenv commands	-	Yes	-
SHELL variable specifies command to execute scripts	-	Yes	-
switch statement	-	Yes	-
until statement	Yes	-	Yes
set -x	Yes	-	Yes
set optionname	-	Yes	-
Set-uid scripts	-	-	Yes
Shell functions	SysV	-	Yes
Substring selectors :x	-	Yes	-
trap command	Yes	-	Yes
typeset command	-	-	Yes
ulimit command	Yes	-	Yes
Undefined variable is an error	-	Yes	-
! special character	-	Yes	-
@ command	-	Yes	-
$(...) command expression	-	-	Yes
*(...) wildcards	-	-	Yes
{...} wildcards	-	Yes	-
|& coprocessing	-	-	Yes
>& redirection	-	Yes	-

 

 

Function	UNIX command	DOS command
Find commands apropos to given text "HTTP"	apropos "HTTP"
Get a short description of the command "print"	whatis print
Read the manual on the command "print" Linux Man Pages on User commands, Sysadmin, devices, File Formats, System Calls, Libc.	man print	help print
Search manual (whatis database on the MANPATH) for topics beginning with the word &auot;printing"	man -k print
Clear screen.	clear	cls
What version of the kernel am I using?	uname -r	ver
What directory is the shell located? (e.g., /bin/bash)	echo $SHELL
What distribution am I using? (e.g., RedHat Linux 9)	cat /etc/issue

 

Action	UNIX stty	DOS
Alternative to Enter	Ctrl-J or Ctrl-M
Retrieve last command	Esc-K from vi	F3
Backspace: Erase last character typed	Ctrl-H or #	Backspace key
Kill all the way back to the prompt (without executing it)	@ or Ctrl-U or Ctrl-X	Ctrl-C
Stop	Ctrl-Z or q	-
Exit / End of file	Ctrl-D	Ctrl-Z
Scroll forward	spacebar
Scroll back	up arrow
Stop scrolling	Ctrl-S
Resume scrolling	Ctrl-Q	Ctrl-Q
Swap Command line to KDE	Alt+F8
Swap KDE to Command line	Ctrl+Alt+F1

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
Reboot	reboot	shutdown -r now
Shut down (halt) a system gracefully	-	shutdown -h now
Elapsed time (and other statistics) accumulated since last reboot	uptime	NET STATISTICS
List installed patches	showrev -p patchadd -p	-

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
View computers on a network:	?	NET VIEW
List shares on a given machine:	?	NET SHARE
List user accounts on a given machine:	?	NET USER
List user sessions on a given machine:	?	NET SESSION
Add computer “homer” to the PDC on the local domain:	?	net computer \\homer /add

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
List Windows services/UNIX daemons:	?	NET HELP START
Start and stop services:	?	NET START service NET STOP service
Pause and continue started services:	?	NET PAUSE service NET CONTINUE service

 

Function	UNIX command	DOS command
Total Disk Usage (in 512 byte blocks)	du -s	chkdsk
Disk Usage for directories -in kilobytes	df -kah	-
Disk Usage for each file	du -lR -a	-
Disk Quota information	DQinfo	-
Disk Quota allocation	DQalloc	-
Disk Quota removal	DQrm	-
Repartition FAT disk		Linux fips.exe

 

Function	Linux	Microsoft
Kernel	root /boot	"WINNT" or "WINDOWS"
Executables	/usr/bin /usr/lib /usr/include /usr/share /usr/doc	"Program Files"
Drivers	/dev	Win.../System32
hosts file	/etc	Win.../System32/Drivers/Etc
One for each User	/usr /user	"Documents and Settings"
Log files	/var	-
Temporary work files	/tmp	Temp

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
Check current Print Working Directory	pwd	cd
Return to user's home folder	cd cd ~
Make directory	mkdir proj1	mkdir proj1
Remove empty directory	rmdir /usr/sam	rmdir or rd
Remove directory -recursively	rm -r	deltree

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
List last access dates of files, with hidden files	ls -l -a
List files by reverse date	ls -t -r *.*	dir *.exe /o-d
List files verbosely by size of file	ls -l -s *.*	dir *.* /v /os
List files recursively including contents of other directories	ls -R *.*	dir *.* /s
List file types in color	ls -flai --color
List number of lines in folder	wc -l *.xtuml
List files with x anywhere in the name	ls | grep x

 

Linux	UNIX	File Type	Color	test
blank	-	Regular/normal file	White	-f
/	d	Directory/folder	Blue	-d
*		Program or executable script	Green	-x
|	p	Named (fifo) Pipe		-p
@	l	Symbolic link	Aqua	-h
=		Socket
	b	Block special file		-b
	c	Character special file		-c

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
Page the contents a screen at a time: spacebar forward, B for Backward, Q to Quit	less   afilename
Peek at the first and last n lines	head -n file tail -n file	TYPE x.txt | MORE
Create new (blank) file	touch afilename
Copy old.file to new.file -p preserve file attributes (e.g. ownership and edit dates) -r copy recursively through directory structure -a archive, combines the flags -p -R and -d	cp old.file new.file	Copy old.file new.*
Move old.file (-i interactive flag prompts before overwriting files)	mv -i old.file /tmp	Copy old.file /tmp del old.file
Remove file (-intention)	rm -i sam.txt	del sam.txt
Find and (blindly) remove files in the system with file types of tmp which haven't been accessed in the last 10 days	find / -name "*.tmp" -atime +10 -exec rm {} \;	-
Find and prompt user mike to OK removal of files in the system with file types of tmp	find /usr/home/mike -name "*.tmp" -ok rm {} \;	-
Find and print user files in the system with file types of txt	find /usr/home -depth -name "*.tmp" -print	edit file.txt

 

Redirection & Piping Action	UNIX
Read STDIN file feed.txt and output STDOUT to file x.txt and STDERR to file err.txt There is no space between the number and >. Specifying the same file for both input and output erases that file.	readnews 0>feed.txt 1>x.txt 2>err.txt
outputs to nowhere Do not use vi or touch commands on /dev/null. This turns it into a file, which confuses Linux start-up scripts.	readnews > /dev/null
count entries starting with "a" from a listing	ls -l | grep d? | wc
input file schedule into the mail program to output file acctng	mail acctng < schedule
Appends output of command to the bottom of AppendedFile.	command >> AppendedFile
Concatenate 3 files and pipe to line printer and tee (replicate) it to the screen as well.	cat file.1 file.2 file.3 | tee lp

 

Action	UNIX options & filespec	DOS filespec & options
View a file	vi file.txt EMACS	edit file.txt
Edit file	pico myfile	edit myfile
view file starting at line number 39	more +39 whatever.txt
Format text for printer	troff file.txt nroff file.txt
Compact (defragment) files		compact
Concatenate files	cat file1 file2 to standard output.	copy file2 >>file1
Counts -lines, -words, and -characters in a file	wc -l
Displays line-by-line differences between pairs of text files.	diff
calculator	bc
calendar for September, 1752 (when leap years began)	cal 9 1752

 

Code	Permission	Octal	Decimal
r--	Read only	0100	4
-w-	Write only	0010	2
--x	eXecute only	0001	1
rwx	Read, Write, eXecute	0111	7

 

	-	u user	g group	o other
ls -l	-	rwx	r-x	r--
chmod binary		4+2+1	4+0+1	4+0+0
chmod octal		7	5	4
umask binary		0+0+0	0+2+0	0+2+1
umask octal		0	2	3