NAME
BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux
SYNTAX
busybox <applet> [arguments...] # or
<applet> [arguments...] # if symlinked
DESCRIPTION
BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a
single small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most
of the utilities you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc.
The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than their full-
featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide
the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU
counterparts.
BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources
in mind. It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or
exclude commands (or features) at compile time. This makes it easy to
customize your embedded systems. To create a working system, just add
/dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. BusyBox provides a fairly complete
POSIX environment for any small or embedded system.
BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the
components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or
'make menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable.
Then run 'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration.
After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to
install BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the
target directory specified by CONFIG_PREFIX. CONFIG_PREFIX can be set
when configuring BusyBox, or you can specify an alternative location at
install time (i.e., with a command line like 'make
CONFIG_PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you enabled any applet
installation scheme (either as symlinks or hardlinks), these will also
be installed in the location pointed to by CONFIG_PREFIX.
USAGE
BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable
program that performs the same job as more than one utility program.
That means there is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single
binary acts like a large number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to
be smaller since all the built-in utility programs (we call them
applets) can share code for many common operations.
You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the
command line. For example, entering
/bin/busybox ls
will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.
Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful.
So most people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.
For example, entering
ln -s /bin/busybox ls
./ls
will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been
compiled into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to
make all these links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this
for you when you run the 'make install' command.
If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a
list of the applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.
COMMON OPTIONS
Most BusyBox applets support the --help argument to provide a terse
runtime description of their behavior. If the
CONFIG_FEATURE_VERBOSE_USAGE option has been enabled, more detailed
usage information will also be available.
COMMANDS
Currently available applets include:
[, [[, acpid, addgroup, adduser, adjtimex, ar, arp, arping, ash,
awk, basename, bbconfig, beep, blkid, brctl, bunzip2, busybox,
bzcat, bzip2, cal, cat, catv, chat, chattr, chcon, chgrp, chmod,
chown, chpasswd, chpst, chroot, chrt, chvt, cksum, clear, cmp,
comm, cp, cpio, crond, crontab, cryptpw, cttyhack, cut, date, dc,
dd, deallocvt, delgroup, deluser, depmod, devfsd, devmem, df,
dhcprelay, diff, dirname, dmesg, dnsd, dnsdomainname, dos2unix,
dpkg, dpkg_deb, du, dumpkmap, dumpleases, e2fsck, echo, ed,
egrep, eject, env, envdir, envuidgid, ether_wake, expand, expr,
fakeidentd, false, fbset, fbsplash, fdflush, fdformat, fdisk,
fgrep, find, findfs, flash_eraseall, flash_lock, flash_unlock,
fold, free, freeramdisk, fsck, fsck_minix, fsync, ftpd, ftpget,
ftpput, fuser, getenforce, getopt, getsebool, getty, grep,
gunzip, gzip, halt, hd, hdparm, head, hexdump, hostid, hostname,
httpd, hush, hwclock, id, ifconfig, ifdown, ifenslave, ifplugd,
ifup, inetd, init, inotifyd, insmod, install, ionice, ip, ipaddr,
ipcalc, ipcrm, ipcs, iplink, iproute, iprule, iptunnel, kbd_mode,
kill, killall, killall5, klogd, lash, last, length, less,
linux32, linux64, linuxrc, ln, load_policy, loadfont, loadkmap,
logger, login, logname, logread, losetup, lpd, lpq, lpr, ls,
lsattr, lsmod, lzmacat, lzop, lzopcat, makedevs, makemime, man,
matchpathcon, md5sum, mdev, mesg, microcom, mkdir, mke2fs,
mkfifo, mkfs_minix, mkfs_vfat, mknod, mkpasswd, mkswap, mktemp,
modprobe, more, mount, mountpoint, msh, mt, mv, nameif, nc,
netstat, nice, nmeter, nohup, nslookup, od, openvt, parse,
passwd, patch, pgrep, pidof, ping, ping6, pipe_progress,
pivot_root, pkill, popmaildir, poweroff, printenv, printf, ps,
pscan, pwd, raidautorun, rdate, rdev, readahead, readlink,
readprofile, realpath, reboot, reformime, renice, reset, resize,
restorecon, rm, rmdir, rmmod, route, rpm, rpm2cpio, rtcwake,
run_parts, runcon, runlevel, runsv, runsvdir, rx, script,
scriptreplay, sed, selinuxenabled, sendmail, seq, sestatus,
setarch, setconsole, setenforce, setfiles, setfont, setkeycodes,
setlogcons, setsebool, setsid, setuidgid, sh, sha1sum, sha256sum,
sha512sum, showkey, slattach, sleep, softlimit, sort, split,
start_stop_daemon, stat, static_sh, strings, stty, su, sulogin,
sum, sv, svlogd, swapoff, swapon, switch_root, sync, sysctl,
syslogd, tac, tail, tar, taskset, tc, tcpsvd, tee, telnet,
telnetd, test, tftp, tftpd, time, timeout, top, touch, tr,
traceroute, true, tty, ttysize, tunctl, tune2fs, udhcpc, udhcpd,
udpsvd, umount, uname, uncompress, unexpand, uniq, unix2dos,
unlzma, unlzop, unzip, uptime, usleep, uudecode, uuencode,
vconfig, vi, vlock, volname, watch, watchdog, wc, wget, which,
who, whoami, xargs, yes, zcat, zcip
COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS
acpid
acpid [-d] [-c CONFDIR] [-l LOGFILE] [-e PROC_EVENT_FILE]
[EVDEV_EVENT_FILE...]
Listen to ACPI events and spawn specific helpers on event arrival
Options:
-d Do not daemonize and log to stderr
-c DIR Config directory [/etc/acpi]
-e FILE /proc event file [/proc/acpi/event]
-l FILE Log file [/var/log/acpid]
Accept and ignore compatibility options -g -m -s -S -v
Example:
# acpid -l /var/log/my-acpi-log
# acpid -d /dev/input/event*
addgroup
addgroup [-g GID] [user_name] group_name
Add a group or add a user to a group
Options:
-g GID Group id
-S Create a system group
adduser
adduser [OPTIONS] user_name
Add a user
Options:
-h DIR Home directory
-g GECOS GECOS field
-s SHELL Login shell
-G GROUP Add user to existing group
-S Create a system user
-D Do not assign a password
-H Do not create home directory
-u UID User id
adjtimex
adjtimex [-q] [-o offset] [-f frequency] [-p timeconstant] [-t
tick]
Read and optionally set system timebase parameters. See
adjtimex(2).
Options:
-q Quiet
-o offset Time offset, microseconds
-f frequency Frequency adjust, integer kernel units (65536 is 1ppm)
(positive values make clock run faster)
-t tick Microseconds per tick, usually 10000
-p timeconstant
ar ar [-o] [-v] [-p] [-t] [-x] ARCHIVE FILES
Extract or list FILES from an ar archive
Options:
-o Preserve original dates
-p Extract to stdout
-t List
-x Extract
-v Verbose
arp arp [-vn] [-H type] [-i if] -a [hostname] [-v] [-i if]
-d hostname [pub] [-v] [-H type] [-i if] -s hostname hw_addr [temp]
[-v] [-H type] [-i if] -s hostname hw_addr [netmask nm] pub
[-v] [-H type] [-i if] -Ds hostname ifa [netmask nm] pub
Manipulate ARP cache
Options:
-a Display (all) hosts
-s Set new ARP entry
-d Delete a specified entry
-v Verbose
-n Don't resolve names
-i IF Network interface
-D Read <hwaddr> from given device
-A, -p AF Protocol family
-H HWTYPE Hardware address type
arping
arping [-fqbDUA] [-c count] [-w timeout] [-I dev] [-s sender]
target
Send ARP requests/replies
Options:
-f Quit on first ARP reply
-q Quiet
-b Keep broadcasting, don't go unicast
-D Duplicated address detection mode
-U Unsolicited ARP mode, update your neighbors
-A ARP answer mode, update your neighbors
-c N Stop after sending N ARP requests
-w timeout Time to wait for ARP reply, in seconds
-I dev Interface to use (default eth0)
-s sender Sender IP address
target Target IP address
ash ash #define ash_full_usage
awk awk [OPTIONS] [AWK_PROGRAM] [FILE]...
Options:
-v VAR=VAL Set variable
-F SEP Use SEP as field separator
-f FILE Read program from file
basename
basename FILE [SUFFIX]
Strip directory path and suffixes from FILE. If specified, also
remove any trailing SUFFIX.
Example:
$ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
foo
$ basename /usr/local/bin/
bin
$ basename /foo/bar.txt .txt
bar
bbconfig
bbconfig
Print the config file which built busybox
beep
beep -f freq -l length -d delay -r repetitions -n
Options:
-f Frequency in Hz
-l Length in ms
-d Delay in ms
-r Repetitions
-n Start new tone
blkid
blkid
Print UUIDs of all filesystems.
brctl
brctl COMMAND [BRIDGE [INTERFACE]]
Manage ethernet bridges.
Commands:
show Show a list of bridges
addbr BRIDGE Create BRIDGE
delbr BRIDGE Delete BRIDGE
addif BRIDGE IFACE Add IFACE to BRIDGE
delif BRIDGE IFACE Delete IFACE from BRIDGE
setageing BRIDGE TIME Set ageing time
setfd BRIDGE TIME Set bridge forward delay
sethello BRIDGE TIME Set hello time
setmaxage BRIDGE TIME Set max message age
setpathcost BRIDGE COST Set path cost
setportprio BRIDGE PRIO Set port priority
setbridgeprio BRIDGE PRIO Set bridge priority
stp BRIDGE [1|0] STP on/off
bunzip2
bunzip2 [OPTIONS] [FILE]
Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-' or omitted)
Options:
-c Write to standard output
-f Force
busybox
busybox
Hello world!
bzcat
bzcat FILE
Uncompress to stdout
bzip2
bzip2 [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Compress FILE(s) with bzip2 algorithm. When FILE is '-' or
unspecified, reads standard input. Implies -c.
Options:
-c Write to standard output
-d Decompress
-f Force
-1..-9 Compression level
cal cal [-jy] [[month] year]
Display a calendar
Options:
-j Use julian dates
-y Display the entire year
cat cat [-u] [FILE]...
Concatenate FILE(s) and print them to stdout
Options:
-u Use unbuffered i/o (ignored)
Example:
$ cat /proc/uptime
110716.72 17.67
catv
catv [-etv] [FILE]...
Display nonprinting characters as ^x or M-x
Options:
-e End each line with $
-t Show tabs as ^I
-v Don't use ^x or M-x escapes
chat
chat EXPECT [SEND [EXPECT [SEND...]]]
Useful for interacting with a modem connected to stdin/stdout. A
script consists of one or more "expect-send" pairs of strings, each
pair is a pair of arguments. Example: chat '' ATZ OK ATD123456
CONNECT '' ogin: pppuser word: ppppass '~'
chattr
chattr [-R] [-+=AacDdijsStTu] [-v version] files...
Change file attributes on an ext2 fs
Modifiers:
- Remove attributes
+ Add attributes
= Set attributes
Attributes:
A Don't track atime
a Append mode only
c Enable compress
D Write dir contents synchronously
d Do not backup with dump
i Cannot be modified (immutable)
j Write all data to journal first
s Zero disk storage when deleted
S Write file contents synchronously
t Disable tail-merging of partial blocks with other files
u Allow file to be undeleted
Options:
-R Recursively list subdirectories
-v Set the file's version/generation number
chcon
chcon [OPTIONS] CONTEXT FILE... chcon [OPTIONS] [-u
USER] [-r ROLE] [-l RANGE] [-t TYPE] FILE... chcon [OPTIONS]
--reference=RFILE FILE...
Change the security context of each FILE to CONTEXT
-v,--verbose Verbose
-c,--changes Report changes made
-h,--no-dereference Affect symlinks instead of their targets
-f,--silent,--quiet Suppress most error messages
--reference=RFILE Use RFILE's group instead of using a CONTEXT value
-u,--user=USER Set user/role/type/range in the target
-r,--role=ROLE security context
-t,--type=TYPE
-l,--range=RANGE
-R,--recursive Recurse subdirectories
chgrp
chgrp [-RhLHPcvf]... GROUP FILE...
Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP
Options:
-R Recurse directories
-h Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-L Traverse all symlinks to directories
-H Traverse symlinks on command line only
-P Do not traverse symlinks (default)
-c List changed files
-v Verbose
-f Hide errors
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chgrp root /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chmod
chmod [-Rcvf] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...
Each MODE is one or more of the letters ugoa, one of the symbols
+-= and one or more of the letters rwxst
Options:
-R Recurse directories
-c List changed files
-v List all files
-f Hide errors
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chmod u+x /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rwxrw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo*
$ chmod 444 /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chown
chown [-RhLHPcvf]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP
Options:
-R Recurse directories
-h Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-L Traverse all symlinks to directories
-H Traverse symlinks on command line only
-P Do not traverse symlinks (default)
-c List changed files
-v List all files
-f Hide errors
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chown root /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chown root.root /tmp/foo
ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chpasswd
chpasswd [--md5|--encrypted]
Read user:password information from stdin and update /etc/passwd
accordingly.
Options:
-e,--encrypted Supplied passwords are in encrypted form
-m,--md5 Use MD5 encryption instead of DES
chpst
chpst [-vP012] [-u USER[:GRP]] [-U USER[:GRP]] [-e DIR]
[-/ DIR] [-n NICE] [-m BYTES] [-d BYTES] [-o N] [-p N]
[-f BYTES] [-c BYTES] PROG ARGS
Change the process state and run PROG
Options:
-u USER[:GRP] Set uid and gid
-U USER[:GRP] Set $UID and $GID in environment
-e DIR Set environment variables as specified by files
in DIR: file=1st_line_of_file
-/ DIR Chroot to DIR
-n NICE Add NICE to nice value
-m BYTES Same as -d BYTES -s BYTES -l BYTES
-d BYTES Limit data segment
-o N Limit number of open files per process
-p N Limit number of processes per uid
-f BYTES Limit output file sizes
-c BYTES Limit core file size
-v Verbose
-P Create new process group
-0 Close standard input
-1 Close standard output
-2 Close standard error
chroot
chroot NEWROOT [PROG [ARGS]]
Run PROG with root directory set to NEWROOT
Example:
$ ls -l /bin/ls
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Apr 13 00:46 /bin/ls -> /BusyBox
# mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt -t minix
# chroot /mnt
# ls -l /bin/ls
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40816 Feb 5 07:45 /bin/ls*
chrt
chrt [OPTIONS] [PRIO] [PID | PROG [ARGS]]
Manipulate real-time attributes of a process
Options:
-p Operate on pid
-r Set scheduling policy to SCHED_RR
-f Set scheduling policy to SCHED_FIFO
-o Set scheduling policy to SCHED_OTHER
-m Show min and max priorities
Example:
$ chrt -r 4 sleep 900; x=$!
$ chrt -f -p 3 $x
You need CAP_SYS_NICE privileges to set scheduling attributes of a process
chvt
chvt N
Change the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
cksum
cksum FILES...
Calculate the CRC32 checksums of FILES
clear
clear
Clear screen
cmp cmp [-l] [-s] FILE1 [FILE2 [SKIP1 [SKIP2]]]
Compares FILE1 vs stdin if FILE2 is not specified
Options:
-l Write the byte numbers (decimal) and values (octal)
for all differing bytes
-s Quiet
comm
comm [-123] FILE1 FILE2
Compare FILE1 to FILE2, or to stdin if - is specified
Options:
-1 Suppress lines unique to FILE1
-2 Suppress lines unique to FILE2
-3 Suppress lines common to both files
cp cp [OPTIONS] SOURCE DEST
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
Options:
-a Same as -dpR
-c Preserve security context
-d,-P Preserve links
-H,-L Dereference all symlinks (default)
-p Preserve file attributes if possible
-f Force overwrite
-i Prompt before overwrite
-R,-r Recurse directories
-l,-s Create (sym)links
cpio
cpio -[tiopdmvu] [-F FILE] [-H newc]
Extract or list files from a cpio archive, or create a cpio archive
Main operation mode:
-t List
-i Extract
-o Create
-p Passthrough
Options:
-d Make leading directories
-m Preserve mtime
-v Verbose
-u Overwrite
-F Input file
-H Define format
crond
crond -fbS -l N -d N -L LOGFILE -c DIR
-f Foreground
-b Background (default)
-S Log to syslog (default)
-l Set log level. 0 is the most verbose, default 8
-d Set log level, log to stderr
-L Log to file
-c Working dir
crontab
crontab [-c DIR] [-u USER] [-ler]|[FILE]
-c Crontab directory
-u User
-l List crontab
-e Edit crontab
-r Delete crontab
FILE Replace crontab by FILE ('-': stdin)
cryptpw
cryptpw [OPTIONS] [PASSWORD] [SALT]
Crypt the PASSWORD using crypt(3)
Options:
-P,--password-fd=NUM Read password from fd NUM/* "
-s,--stdin Use stdin; like -P0" */
-m,--method=TYPE Encryption method TYPE
-S,--salt=SALT
cttyhack
cttyhack #define cttyhack_full_usage
cut cut [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print selected fields from each input FILE to standard output
Options:
-b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
-c LIST Output only characters from LIST
-d CHAR Use CHAR instead of tab as the field delimiter
-s Output only the lines containing delimiter
-f N Print only these fields
-n Ignored
Example:
$ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 1 -d ' '
Hello
$ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 2 -d ' '
world
date
date [OPTIONS] [+FMT] [TIME]
Display time (using +FMT), or set time
Options:
[-s] TIME Set time to TIME
-u Work in UTC (don't convert to local time)
-R Output RFC-822 compliant date string
-I[SPEC] Output ISO-8601 compliant date string
SPEC='date' (default) for date only,
'hours', 'minutes', or 'seconds' for date and
time to the indicated precision
-r FILE Display last modification time of FILE
-d TIME Display TIME, not 'now'
-D FMT Use FMT for -d TIME conversion
Recognized formats for TIME:
hh:mm[:ss]
[YYYY.]MM.DD-hh:mm[:ss]
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm[:ss]
[[[[[YY]YY]MM]DD]hh]mm[.ss]
Example:
$ date
Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000
dc dc expression...
Tiny RPN calculator. Operations: +, add, -, sub, *, mul, /, div, %,
mod, **, exp, and, or, not, eor, p - print top of the stack
(without altering the stack), f - print entire stack, o - pop the
value and set output radix (value must be 10 or 16). Examples: 'dc
2 2 add' -> 4, 'dc 8 8 * 2 2 + /' -> 16.
Example:
$ dc 2 2 + p
4
$ dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + / p
16
$ dc 0 1 and p
0
$ dc 0 1 or p
1
$ echo 72 9 div 8 mul p | dc
64
dd dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [ibs=N] [obs=N] [bs=N] [count=N]
[skip=N] [seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync|fsync]
Copy a file with converting and formatting
Options:
if=FILE Read from FILE instead of stdin
of=FILE Write to FILE instead of stdout
bs=N Read and write N bytes at a time
ibs=N Read N bytes at a time
obs=N Write N bytes at a time
count=N Copy only N input blocks
skip=N Skip N input blocks
seek=N Skip N output blocks
conv=notrunc Don't truncate output file
conv=noerror Continue after read errors
conv=sync Pad blocks with zeros
conv=fsync Physically write data out before finishing
Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k
(x1024), MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G
(x1073741824)
Example:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
4+0 records in
4+0 records out
deallocvt
deallocvt [N]
Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
delgroup
delgroup [USER] GROUP
Delete group GROUP from the system or user USER from group GROUP
deluser
deluser USER
Delete USER from the system
depmod
depmod #define depmod_full_usage
devfsd
devfsd mntpnt [-v][-fg][-np]
Manage devfs permissions and old device name symlinks
Options:
mntpnt The mount point where devfs is mounted
-v Print the protocol version numbers for devfsd
and the kernel-side protocol version and exit
-fg Run in foreground
-np Exit after parsing the configuration file
and processing synthetic REGISTER events,
do not poll for events
devmem
devmem ADDRESS [WIDTH [VALUE]]
Read/write from physical address
ADDRESS Address to act upon
WIDTH Width (8/16/...)
VALUE Data to be written
df df [-Pkmhai] [-B SIZE] [FILESYSTEM...]
Print filesystem usage statistics
Options:
-P POSIX output format
-k 1024-byte blocks (default)
-m 1M-byte blocks
-h Human readable (e.g. 1K 243M 2G)
-a Show all filesystems
-i Inodes
-B SIZE Blocksize
Example:
$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
/dev/sda1 64216 36364 27852 57% /boot
$ df /dev/sda3
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
$ POSIXLY_CORRECT=sure df /dev/sda3
Filesystem 512B-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 17381728 17107080 274648 98% /
$ POSIXLY_CORRECT=yep df -P /dev/sda3
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity Mounted on
/dev/sda3 17381728 17107080 274648 98% /
dhcprelay
dhcprelay CLIENT_IFACE[,CLIENT_IFACE2...] SERVER_IFACE [SERVER_IP]
Relay DHCP requests between clients and server
diff
diff [-abdiNqrTstw] [-L LABEL] [-S FILE] [-U LINES] FILE1
FILE2
Compare files line by line and output the differences between them.
This implementation supports unified diffs only.
Options:
-a Treat all files as text
-b Ignore changes in the amount of whitespace
-d Try hard to find a smaller set of changes
-i Ignore case differences
-L Use LABEL instead of the filename in the unified header
-N Treat absent files as empty
-q Output only whether files differ
-r Recursively compare subdirectories
-S Start with FILE when comparing directories
-T Make tabs line up by prefixing a tab when necessary
-s Report when two files are the same
-t Expand tabs to spaces in output
-U Output LINES lines of context
-w Ignore all whitespace
dirname
dirname FILENAME
Strip non-directory suffix from FILENAME
Example:
$ dirname /tmp/foo
/tmp
$ dirname /tmp/foo/
/tmp
dmesg
dmesg [-c] [-n LEVEL] [-s SIZE]
Print or control the kernel ring buffer
Options:
-c Clear ring buffer after printing
-n LEVEL Set console logging level
-s SIZE Buffer size
dnsd
dnsd [-c config] [-t seconds] [-p port] [-i iface-ip] [-d]
Small static DNS server daemon
Options:
-c Config filename
-t TTL in seconds
-p Listening port
-i Listening ip (default all)
-d Daemonize
dnsdomainname
dnsdomainname #define dnsdomainname_full_usage
dos2unix
dos2unix [OPTION] [FILE]
Convert FILE in-place from DOS to Unix format. When no file is
given, use stdin/stdout.
Options:
-u dos2unix
-d unix2dos
dpkg
dpkg [-ilCPru] [-F option] package_name
Install, remove and manage Debian packages
Options:
-i Install the package
-l List of installed packages
-C Configure an unpackaged package
-F depends Ignore dependency problems
-P Purge all files of a package
-r Remove all but the configuration files for a package
-u Unpack a package, but don't configure it
dpkg-deb
dpkg-deb [-cefxX] FILE [argument]
Perform actions on Debian packages (.debs)
Options:
-c List contents of filesystem tree
-e Extract control files to [argument] directory
-f Display control field name starting with [argument]
-x Extract packages filesystem tree to directory
-X Verbose extract
Example:
$ dpkg-deb -X ./busybox_0.48-1_i386.deb /tmp
du du [-aHLdclsxhmk] [FILE]...
Summarize disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk
space is printed in units of 1024 bytes.
Options:
-a Show file sizes too
-H Follow symlinks on command line
-L Follow all symlinks
-d N Limit output to directories (and files with -a) of depth < N
-c Show grand total
-l Count sizes many times if hard linked
-s Display only a total for each argument
-x Skip directories on different filesystems
-h Sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
-m Sizes in megabytes
-k Sizes in kilobytes (default)
Example:
$ du
16 ./CVS
12 ./kernel-patches/CVS
80 ./kernel-patches
12 ./tests/CVS
36 ./tests
12 ./scripts/CVS
16 ./scripts
12 ./docs/CVS
104 ./docs
2417 .
dumpkmap
dumpkmap > keymap
Print a binary keyboard translation table to standard output
Example:
$ dumpkmap > keymap
dumpleases
dumpleases [-r|-a] [-f LEASEFILE]
Display DHCP leases granted by udhcpd
Options:
-f,--file=FILE Leases file to load
-r,--remaining Interpret lease times as time remaining
-a,--absolute Interpret lease times as expire time
e2fsck
e2fsck [-panyrcdfvstDFSV] [-b superblock] [-B blocksize] [-I
inode_buffer_blocks] [-P process_inode_size] [-l|-L
bad_blocks_file] [-C fd] [-j external_journal] [-E
extended-options] device
Check ext2/ext3 file system
Options:
-p Automatic repair (no questions)
-n Make no changes to the filesystem
-y Assume 'yes' to all questions
-c Check for bad blocks and add them to the badblock list
-f Force checking even if filesystem is marked clean
-v Verbose
-b superblock Use alternative superblock
-B blocksize Force blocksize when looking for superblock
-j journal Set location of the external journal
-l file Add to badblocks list
-L file Set badblocks list
echo
echo [-neE] [ARG...]
Print the specified ARGs to stdout
Options:
-n Suppress trailing newline
-e Interpret backslash-escaped characters (i.e., \t=tab)
-E Disable interpretation of backslash-escaped characters
Example:
$ echo "Erik is cool"
Erik is cool
$ echo -e "Erik\nis\ncool"
Erik
is
cool
$ echo "Erik\nis\ncool"
Erik\nis\ncool
ed ed #define ed_full_usage
egrep
egrep #define egrep_full_usage
eject
eject [-t] [-T] [DEVICE]
Eject specified DEVICE (or default /dev/cdrom)
Options:
-s SCSI device
-t Close tray
-T Open/close tray (toggle)
env env [-iu] [-] [name=value]... [PROG [ARGS]]
Print the current environment or run PROG after setting up the
specified environment
Options:
-, -i Start with an empty environment
-u Remove variable from the environment
envdir
envdir dir prog args
Set various environment variables as specified by files in the
directory dir and run PROG
envuidgid
envuidgid account prog args
Set $UID to account's uid and $GID to account's gid and run PROG
ether-wake
ether-wake [-b] [-i iface] [-p aa:bb:cc:dd[:ee:ff]] MAC
Send a magic packet to wake up sleeping machines. MAC must be a
station address (00:11:22:33:44:55) or a hostname with a known
'ethers' entry.
Options:
-b Send wake-up packet to the broadcast address
-i iface Interface to use (default eth0)
-p pass Append four or six byte password PW to the packet
expand
expand [-i] [-t NUM] [FILE|-]
Convert tabs to spaces, writing to standard output.
Options:
-i,--initial Do not convert tabs after non blanks
-t,--tabs=N Tabstops every N chars
expr
expr EXPRESSION
Print the value of EXPRESSION to standard output.
EXPRESSION may be:
ARG1 | ARG2 ARG1 if it is neither null nor 0, otherwise ARG2
ARG1 & ARG2 ARG1 if neither argument is null or 0, otherwise 0
ARG1 < ARG2 1 if ARG1 is less than ARG2, else 0. Similarly:
ARG1 <= ARG2
ARG1 = ARG2
ARG1 != ARG2
ARG1 >= ARG2
ARG1 > ARG2
ARG1 + ARG2 Sum of ARG1 and ARG2. Similarly:
ARG1 - ARG2
ARG1 * ARG2
ARG1 / ARG2
ARG1 % ARG2
STRING : REGEXP Anchored pattern match of REGEXP in STRING
match STRING REGEXP Same as STRING : REGEXP
substr STRING POS LENGTH Substring of STRING, POS counted from 1
index STRING CHARS Index in STRING where any CHARS is found, or 0
length STRING Length of STRING
quote TOKEN Interpret TOKEN as a string, even if
it is a keyword like 'match' or an
operator like '/'
(EXPRESSION) Value of EXPRESSION
Beware that many operators need to be escaped or quoted for shells.
Comparisons are arithmetic if both ARGs are numbers, else
lexicographical. Pattern matches return the string matched between
\( and \) or null; if \( and \) are not used, they return the
number of characters matched or 0.
fakeidentd
fakeidentd [-fiw] [-b ADDR] [STRING]
Provide fake ident (auth) service
Options:
-f Run in foreground
-i Inetd mode
-w Inetd 'wait' mode
-b ADDR Bind to specified address
STRING Ident answer string (default is 'nobody')
false
false
Return an exit code of FALSE (1)
Example:
$ false
$ echo $?
1
fbset
fbset [OPTIONS] [MODE]
Show and modify frame buffer settings
Example:
$ fbset
mode "1024x768-76"
# D: 78.653 MHz, H: 59.949 kHz, V: 75.694 Hz
geometry 1024 768 1024 768 16
timings 12714 128 32 16 4 128 4
accel false
rgba 5/11,6/5,5/0,0/0
endmode
fbsplash
fbsplash -s IMGFILE [-c] [-d DEV] [-i INIFILE] [-f CMD]
Options:
-s Image
-c Hide cursor
-d Framebuffer device (default /dev/fb0)
-i Config file (var=value):
BAR_LEFT,BAR_TOP,BAR_WIDTH,BAR_HEIGHT
BAR_R,BAR_G,BAR_B
-f Control pipe (else exit after drawing image)
commands: 'NN' (% for progress bar) or 'exit'
fdflush
fdflush DEVICE
Force floppy disk drive to detect disk change
fdformat
fdformat [-n] DEVICE
Format floppy disk
Options:
-n Don't verify after format
fdisk
fdisk [-uls] [-C CYLINDERS] [-H HEADS] [-S SECTORS] [-b SSZ]
DISK
Change partition table
Options:
-u Start and End are in sectors (instead of cylinders)
-l Show partition table for each DISK, then exit
-s Show partition sizes in kb for each DISK, then exit
-b 2048 (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors
-C CYLINDERS Set number of cylinders/heads/sectors
-H HEADS
-S SECTORS
fgrep
fgrep #define fgrep_full_usage
find
find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION]
Search for files. The default PATH is the current directory,
default EXPRESSION is '-print'
EXPRESSION may consist of:
-follow Dereference symlinks
-xdev Don't descend directories on other filesystems
-maxdepth N Descend at most N levels. -maxdepth 0 applies
tests/actions to command line arguments only
-mindepth N Do not act on first N levels
-name PATTERN File name (w/o directory name) matches PATTERN
-iname PATTERN Case insensitive -name
-path PATTERN Path matches PATTERN
-regex PATTERN Path matches regex PATTERN
-type X File type is X (X is one of: f,d,l,b,c,...)
-perm NNN Permissions match any of (+NNN), all of (-NNN),
or exactly (NNN)
-mtime DAYS Modified time is greater than (+N), less than (-N),
or exactly (N) days
-mmin MINS Modified time is greater than (+N), less than (-N),
or exactly (N) minutes
-newer FILE Modified time is more recent than FILE's
-inum N File has inode number N
-user NAME File is owned by user NAME (numeric user ID allowed)
-group NAME File belongs to group NAME (numeric group ID allowed)
-depth Process directory name after traversing it
-size N[bck] File size is N (c:bytes,k:kbytes,b:512 bytes(def.)).
+/-N: file size is bigger/smaller than N
-print Print (default and assumed)
-print0 Delimit output with null characters rather than
newlines IF_FEATURE_FIND_CONTEXT (
-context File has specified security context")
-exec CMD ARG ; Run CMD with all instances of {} replaced by the
matching files
-prune Stop traversing current subtree
-delete Delete files, turns on -depth option
(EXPR) Group an expression
Example:
$ find / -name passwd
/etc/passwd
findfs
findfs LABEL=label or UUID=uuid
Find a filesystem device based on a label or UUID.
Example:
$ findfs LABEL=MyDevice
flash_eraseall
flash_eraseall [-jq] MTD_DEVICE
Erase an MTD device
Options:
-j format the device for jffs2
-q don't display progress messages
flash_lock
flash_lock MTD_DEVICE OFFSET SECTORS
Lock part or all of an MTD device. If SECTORS is -1, then all
sectors will be locked, regardless of the value of OFFSET
flash_unlock
flash_unlock MTD_DEVICE
Unlock an MTD device
fold
fold [-bs] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]
Wrap input lines in each FILE (standard input by default), writing
to standard output
Options:
-b Count bytes rather than columns
-s Break at spaces
-w Use WIDTH columns instead of 80
free
free
Display the amount of free and used system memory
Example:
$ free
total used free shared buffers
Mem: 257628 248724 8904 59644 93124
Swap: 128516 8404 120112
Total: 386144 257128 129016
freeramdisk
freeramdisk DEVICE
Free all memory used by the specified ramdisk
Example:
$ freeramdisk /dev/ram2
fsck
fsck [-ANPRTV] [-C fd] [-t fstype] [fs-options] [filesys...]
Check and repair filesystems
Options:
-A Walk /etc/fstab and check all filesystems
-N Don't execute, just show what would be done
-P With -A, check filesystems in parallel
-R With -A, skip the root filesystem
-T Don't show title on startup
-V Verbose
-C n Write status information to specified filedescriptor
-t type List of filesystem types to check
fsck.minix
fsck.minix [-larvsmf] /dev/name
Check MINIX filesystem
Options:
-l List all filenames
-r Perform interactive repairs
-a Perform automatic repairs
-v Verbose
-s Output superblock information
-m Show "mode not cleared" warnings
-f Force file system check
fsync
fsync [OPTIONS] FILE...
Write files' buffered blocks to disk
Options:
-d Avoid syncing metadata
ftpd
ftpd [-wvS] [-t N] [-T N] [DIR]
FTP server
ftpd should be used as an inetd service. ftpd's line for
inetd.conf:
21 stream tcp nowait root ftpd ftpd /files/to/serve
It also can be ran from tcpsvd:
tcpsvd -vE 0.0.0.0 21 ftpd /files/to/serve
Options:
-w Allow upload
-v Log to stderr
-S Log to syslog
-t,-T Idle and absolute timeouts
DIR Change root to this directory
ftpget
ftpget [OPTIONS] HOST LOCAL_FILE REMOTE_FILE
Retrieve a remote file via FTP
Options:
-c,--continue Continue previous transfer
-v,--verbose Verbose
-u,--username Username
-p,--password Password
-P,--port Port number
ftpput
ftpput [OPTIONS] HOST REMOTE_FILE LOCAL_FILE
Store a local file on a remote machine via FTP
Options:
-v,--verbose Verbose
-u,--username Username
-p,--password Password
-P,--port Port number
fuser
fuser [OPTIONS] FILE or PORT/PROTO
Find processes which use FILEs or PORTs
Options:
-m Find processes which use same fs as FILEs
-4 Search only IPv4 space
-6 Search only IPv6 space
-s Silent: just exit with 0 if any processes are found
-k Kill found processes (otherwise display PIDs)
-SIGNAL Signal to send (default: TERM)
getenforce
getenforce #define getenforce_full_usage
getopt
getopt [OPTIONS]
Parse options
-a,--alternative Allow long options starting with single -
-l,--longoptions=longopts Long options to be recognized
-n,--name=progname The name under which errors are reported
-o,--options=optstring Short options to be recognized
-q,--quiet Disable error reporting by getopt(3)
-Q,--quiet-output No normal output
-s,--shell=shell Set shell quoting conventions
-T,--test Test for getopt(1) version
-u,--unquoted Don't quote the output
Example:
$ cat getopt.test
#!/bin/sh
GETOPT=`getopt -o ab:c:: --long a-long,b-long:,c-long:: \
-n 'example.busybox' -- "$@"`
if [ $? != 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
eval set -- "$GETOPT"
while true; do
case $1 in
-a|--a-long) echo "Option a"; shift;;
-b|--b-long) echo "Option b, argument '$2'"; shift 2;;
-c|--c-long)
case "$2" in
"") echo "Option c, no argument"; shift 2;;
*) echo "Option c, argument '$2'"; shift 2;;
esac;;
--) shift; break;;
*) echo "Internal error!"; exit 1;;
esac
done
getsebool
getsebool -a or getsebool boolean...
-a Show all SELinux booleans
getty
getty [OPTIONS] BAUD_RATE TTY [TERMTYPE]
Open a tty, prompt for a login name, then invoke /bin/login
Options:
-h Enable hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control
-i Do not display /etc/issue before running login
-L Local line, do not do carrier detect
-m Get baud rate from modem's CONNECT status message
-w Wait for a CR or LF before sending /etc/issue
-n Do not prompt the user for a login name
-f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
-l login_app Invoke login_app instead of /bin/login
-t timeout Terminate after timeout if no username is read
-I initstring Init string to send before anything else
-H login_host Log login_host into the utmp file as the hostname
grep
grep [-HhrilLnqvsoweFEABCz] PATTERN [FILE]...
Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input
Options:
-H Prefix output lines with filename where match was found
-h Suppress the prefixing filename on output
-r Recurse subdirectories
-i Ignore case distinctions
-l List names of files that match
-L List names of files that do not match
-n Print line number with output lines
-q Quiet. Return 0 if PATTERN is found, 1 otherwise
-v Select non-matching lines
-s Suppress file open/read error messages
-c Only print count of matching lines
-o Show only the part of a line that matches PATTERN
-m MAX Match up to MAX times per file
-w Match whole words only
-F PATTERN is a set of newline-separated strings
-E PATTERN is an extended regular expression
-e PTRN Pattern to match
-f FILE Read pattern from file
-A Print NUM lines of trailing context
-B Print NUM lines of leading context
-C Print NUM lines of output context
-z Input is NUL terminated
Example:
$ grep root /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
$ grep ^[rR]oo. /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
gunzip
gunzip [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Uncompress FILEs (or standard input)
Options:
-c Write to standard output
-f Force
-t Test file integrity
Example:
$ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 557009 Apr 11 10:55 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
$ gunzip /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
$ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar
gzip
gzip [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Compress FILEs (or standard input)
Options:
-c Write to standard output
-d Decompress
-f Force
Example:
$ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox.tar
$ gzip /tmp/busybox.tar
$ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 554058 Apr 14 17:49 /tmp/busybox.tar.gz
halt
halt [-d delay] [-n] [-f] [-w]
Halt the system
Options:
-d Delay interval for halting
-n No call to sync()
-f Force halt (don't go through init)
-w Only write a wtmp record
hd hd FILE...
hd is an alias for hexdump -C
hdparm
hdparm [OPTIONS] [DEVICE]
Options:
-a Get/set fs readahead
-A Set drive read-lookahead flag (0/1)
-b Get/set bus state (0 == off, 1 == on, 2 == tristate)
-B Set Advanced Power Management setting (1-255)
-c Get/set IDE 32-bit IO setting
-C Check IDE power mode status
-d Get/set using_dma flag
-D Enable/disable drive defect-mgmt
-f Flush buffer cache for device on exit
-g Display drive geometry
-h Display terse usage information
-i Display drive identification
-I Detailed/current information directly from drive
-k Get/set keep_settings_over_reset flag (0/1)
-K Set drive keep_features_over_reset flag (0/1)
-L Set drive doorlock (0/1) (removable harddisks only)
-m Get/set multiple sector count
-n Get/set ignore-write-errors flag (0/1)
-p Set PIO mode on IDE interface chipset (0,1,2,3,4,...)
-P Set drive prefetch count/* "
-q Change next setting quietly" - not supported ib bbox */
-Q Get/set DMA tagged-queuing depth (if supported)
-r Get/set readonly flag (DANGEROUS to set)
-R Register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
-S Set standby (spindown) timeout
-t Perform device read timings
-T Perform cache read timings
-u Get/set unmaskirq flag (0/1)
-U Un-register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
-v Defaults; same as -mcudkrag for IDE drives
-V Display program version and exit immediately
-w Perform device reset (DANGEROUS)
-W Set drive write-caching flag (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
-x Tristate device for hotswap (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
-X Set IDE xfer mode (DANGEROUS)
-y Put IDE drive in standby mode
-Y Put IDE drive to sleep
-Z Disable Seagate auto-powersaving mode
-z Re-read partition table
head
head [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Options:
-n NUM Print first NUM lines instead of first 10
-c NUM Output the first NUM bytes
-q Never output headers giving file names
-v Always output headers giving file names
Example:
$ head -n 2 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
hexdump
hexdump [-bcCdefnosvxR] FILE...
Display file(s) or standard input in a user specified format
Options:
-b One-byte octal display
-c One-byte character display
-C Canonical hex+ASCII, 16 bytes per line
-d Two-byte decimal display
-e FORMAT STRING
-f FORMAT FILE
-n LENGTH Interpret only LENGTH bytes of input
-o Two-byte octal display
-s OFFSET Skip OFFSET bytes
-v Display all input data
-x Two-byte hexadecimal display
-R Reverse of 'hexdump -Cv'
hostid
hostid
Print out a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine
hostname
hostname [OPTIONS] [HOSTNAME | -F FILE]
Get or set hostname or DNS domain name
Options:
-s Short
-i Addresses for the hostname
-d DNS domain name
-f Fully qualified domain name
-F FILE Use FILE's content as hostname
Example:
$ hostname
sage
httpd
httpd [-ifv[v]] [-c CONFFILE] [-p [IP:]PORT] [-u USER[:GRP]]
[-r REALM] [-h HOME] or httpd -d/-e/-m STRING
Listen for incoming HTTP requests
Options:
-i Inetd mode
-f Do not daemonize
-v[v] Verbose
-c FILE Configuration file (default httpd.conf)
-p [IP:]PORT Bind to ip:port (default *:80)
-u USER[:GRP] Set uid/gid after binding to port
-r REALM Authentication Realm for Basic Authentication
-h HOME Home directory (default .)
-m STRING MD5 crypt STRING
-e STRING HTML encode STRING
-d STRING URL decode STRING
hush
hush #define hush_full_usage
hwclock
hwclock [-r|--show] [-s|--hctosys] [-w|--systohc]
[-l|--localtime] [-u|--utc] [-f FILE]
Query and set hardware clock (RTC)
Options:
-r Show hardware clock time
-s Set system time from hardware clock
-w Set hardware clock to system time
-u Hardware clock is in UTC
-l Hardware clock is in local time
-f FILE Use specified device (e.g. /dev/rtc2)
id id [OPTIONS] [USER]
Print information about USER or the current user
Options:
-Z Print the security context
-u Print user ID
-g Print group ID
-G Print supplementary group IDs
-n Print name instead of a number
-r Print real user ID instead of effective ID
Example:
$ id
uid=1000(andersen) gid=1000(andersen)
ifconfig
ifconfig [-a] interface [address]
Configure a network interface
Options:
[add ADDRESS[/PREFIXLEN]]
[del ADDRESS[/PREFIXLEN]]
[[-]broadcast [ADDRESS]] [[-]pointopoint [ADDRESS]]
[netmask ADDRESS] [dstaddr ADDRESS]
[outfill NN] [keepalive NN]
[hw ether|infiniband ADDRESS] [metric NN] [mtu NN]
[[-]trailers] [[-]arp] [[-]allmulti]
[multicast] [[-]promisc] [txqueuelen NN] [[-]dynamic]
[mem_start NN] [io_addr NN] [irq NN]
[up|down] ...
ifdown
ifdown [-ainmvf] ifaces...
Options:
-a De/configure all interfaces automatically
-i FILE Use FILE for interface definitions
-n Print out what would happen, but don't do it
(note: doesn't disable mappings)
-m Don't run any mappings
-v Print out what would happen before doing it
-f Force de/configuration
ifenslave
ifenslave [-cdf] master-iface <slave-iface...>
Configure network interfaces for parallel routing
Options:
-c, --change-active Change active slave
-d, --detach Remove slave interface from bonding device
-f, --force Force, even if interface is not Ethernet/* "
-r, --receive-slave Create a receive-only slave" */
Example:
To create a bond device, simply follow these three steps:
- ensure that the required drivers are properly loaded:
# modprobe bonding ; modprobe <3c59x|eepro100|pcnet32|tulip|...>
- assign an IP address to the bond device:
# ifconfig bond0 <addr> netmask <mask> broadcast <bcast>
- attach all the interfaces you need to the bond device:
# ifenslave bond0 eth0 eth1 eth2
If bond0 didn't have a MAC address, it will take eth0's. Then, all
interfaces attached AFTER this assignment will get the same MAC addr.
To detach a dead interface without setting the bond device down:
# ifenslave -d bond0 eth1
To set the bond device down and automatically release all the slaves:
# ifconfig bond0 down
To change active slave:
# ifenslave -c bond0 eth0
ifplugd
ifplugd [OPTIONS]
Network interface plug detection daemon.
Options:
-n Do not daemonize
-s Do not log to syslog
-i IFACE Interface
-f/-F Treat link detection error as link down/link up
(otherwise exit on error)
-a Do not up interface automatically
-M Monitor creation/destruction of interface
(otherwise it must exist)
-r PROG Script to run
-x ARG Extra argument for script
-I Don't exit on nonzero exit code from script
-p Don't run script on daemon startup
-q Don't run script on daemon quit
-l Run script on startup even if no cable is detected
-t SECS Poll time in seconds
-u SECS Delay before running script after link up
-d SECS Delay after link down
-m MODE API mode (mii, priv, ethtool, wlan, auto)
-k Kill running daemon
ifup
ifup [-ainmvf] ifaces...
Options:
-a De/configure all interfaces automatically
-i FILE Use FILE for interface definitions
-n Print out what would happen, but don't do it
(note: doesn't disable mappings)
-m Don't run any mappings
-v Print out what would happen before doing it
-f Force de/configuration
inetd
inetd [-fe] [-q N] [-R N] [CONFFILE]
Listen for network connections and launch programs
Options:
-f Run in foreground
-e Log to stderr
-q N Socket listen queue (default: 128)
-R N Pause services after N connects/min
(default: 0 - disabled)
init
init
Init is the parent of all processes
This version of init is designed to be run only by the kernel.
BusyBox init doesn't support multiple runlevels. The runlevels
field of the /etc/inittab file is completely ignored by BusyBox
init. If you want runlevels, use sysvinit.
BusyBox init works just fine without an inittab. If no inittab is
found, it has the following default behavior:
::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
::askfirst:/bin/sh
::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
::restart:/sbin/init
if it detects that /dev/console is _not_ a serial console, it will
also run:
tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh
tty3::askfirst:/bin/sh
tty4::askfirst:/bin/sh
If you choose to use an /etc/inittab file, the inittab entry format
is as follows:
<id>:<runlevels>:<action>:<process>
<id>:
WARNING: This field has a non-traditional meaning for BusyBox init!
The id field is used by BusyBox init to specify the controlling tty for
the specified process to run on. The contents of this field are
appended to "/dev/" and used as-is. There is no need for this field to
be unique, although if it isn't you may have strange results. If this
field is left blank, the controlling tty is set to the console. Also
note that if BusyBox detects that a serial console is in use, then only
entries whose controlling tty is either the serial console or /dev/null
will be run. BusyBox init does nothing with utmp. We don't need no
stinkin' utmp.
<runlevels>:
The runlevels field is completely ignored.
<action>:
Valid actions include: sysinit, respawn, askfirst, wait,
once, restart, ctrlaltdel, and shutdown.
The available actions can be classified into two groups: actions
that are run only once, and actions that are re-run when the specified
process exits.
Run only-once actions:
'sysinit' is the first item run on boot. init waits until all
sysinit actions are completed before continuing. Following the
completion of all sysinit actions, all 'wait' actions are run.
'wait' actions, like 'sysinit' actions, cause init to wait until
the specified task completes. 'once' actions are asynchronous,
therefore, init does not wait for them to complete. 'restart' is
the action taken to restart the init process. By default this should
simply run /sbin/init, but can be a script which runs pivot_root or it
can do all sorts of other interesting things. The 'ctrlaltdel' init
actions are run when the system detects that someone on the system
console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination. Typically one
wants to run 'reboot' at this point to cause the system to reboot.
Finally the 'shutdown' action specifies the actions to taken when
init is told to reboot. Unmounting filesystems and disabling swap
is a very good here.
Run repeatedly actions:
'respawn' actions are run after the 'once' actions. When a process
started with a 'respawn' action exits, init automatically restarts
it. Unlike sysvinit, BusyBox init does not stop processes from
respawning out of control. The 'askfirst' actions acts just like
respawn, except that before running the specified process it
displays the line "Please press Enter to activate this console."
and then waits for the user to press enter before starting the
specified process.
Unrecognized actions (like initdefault) will cause init to emit an
error message, and then go along with its business. All actions are
run in the order they appear in /etc/inittab.
<process>:
Specifies the process to be executed and its command line.
Example /etc/inittab file:
# This is run first except when booting in single-user mode
#
::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
# /bin/sh invocations on selected ttys
#
# Start an "askfirst" shell on the console (whatever that may be)
::askfirst:-/bin/sh
# Start an "askfirst" shell on /dev/tty2-4
tty2::askfirst:-/bin/sh
tty3::askfirst:-/bin/sh
tty4::askfirst:-/bin/sh
# /sbin/getty invocations for selected ttys
#
tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
# Example of how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
#
#::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
#::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
#
# Example how to put a getty on a modem line
#::respawn:/sbin/getty 57600 ttyS2
# Stuff to do when restarting the init process
::restart:/sbin/init
# Stuff to do before rebooting
::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
inotifyd
inotifyd PROG FILE1[:MASK] ...
Run PROG on filesystem changes. When a filesystem event matching
MASK occurs on FILEn, PROG <actual_event(s)> <FILEn>
[<subfile_name>] is run. Events:
a File is accessed
c File is modified
e Metadata changed
w Writtable file is closed
0 Unwrittable file is closed
r File is opened
D File is deleted
M File is moved
u Backing fs is unmounted
o Event queue overflowed
x File can't be watched anymore
If watching a directory:
m Subfile is moved into dir
y Subfile is moved out of dir
n Subfile is created
d Subfile is deleted
inotifyd waits for PROG to exit. When x event happens for all
FILEs, inotifyd exits
insmod
insmod [OPTIONS] MODULE [symbol=value]...
Load the specified kernel modules into the kernel
Options:
-f Force module to load into the wrong kernel version
-k Make module autoclean-able
-v Verbose
-q Quiet
-L Lock to prevent simultaneous loads of a module
-m Output load map to stdout
-o NAME Set internal module name to NAME
-x Do not export externs
install
install [-cdDsp] [-o USER] [-g GRP] [-m MODE] [source]
dest|directory
Copy files and set attributes
Options:
-c Just copy (default)
-d Create directories
-D Create leading target directories
-s Strip symbol table
-p Preserve date
-o USER Set ownership
-g GRP Set group ownership
-m MODE Set permissions
-Z Set security context
ionice
ionice [-c 1-3] [-n 0-7] [-p PID] [PROG]
Change I/O scheduling class and priority
Options:
-c Class. 1:realtime 2:best-effort 3:idle
-n Priority
ip ip [OPTIONS] {address | route | link | tunnel | rule}
{COMMAND}
ip [OPTIONS] OBJECT {COMMAND} where OBJECT := {address | route |
link | tunnel | rule} OPTIONS := { -f[amily] { inet | inet6 | link
} | -o[neline] }
ipaddr
ipaddr { {add|del} IFADDR dev STRING | {show|flush}
[dev STRING] [to PREFIX] }
ipaddr {add|delete} IFADDR dev STRING ipaddr {show|flush} [dev
STRING] [scope SCOPE-ID]
[to PREFIX] [label PATTERN]
IFADDR := PREFIX | ADDR peer PREFIX
[broadcast ADDR] [anycast ADDR]
[label STRING] [scope SCOPE-ID]
SCOPE-ID := [host | link | global | NUMBER]
ipcalc
ipcalc [OPTIONS] ADDRESS[[/]NETMASK] [NETMASK]
Calculate IP network settings from a IP address
Options:
-b,--broadcast Display calculated broadcast address
-n,--network Display calculated network address
-m,--netmask Display default netmask for IP
-p,--prefix Display the prefix for IP/NETMASK
-h,--hostname Display first resolved host name
-s,--silent Don't ever display error messages )
ipcrm
ipcrm [-MQS key] [-mqs id]
Upper-case options MQS remove an object by shmkey value. Lower-
case options remove an object by shmid value.
Options:
-mM Remove memory segment after last detach
-qQ Remove message queue
-sS Remove semaphore
ipcs
ipcs [[-smq] -i shmid] | [[-asmq] [-tcplu]]
-i Show specific resource
Resource specification:
-m Shared memory segments
-q Message queues
-s Semaphore arrays
-a All (default)
Output format:
-t Time
-c Creator
-p Pid
-l Limits
-u Summary
iplink
iplink
iplink set DEVICE { up | down | arp | multicast { on | off } |
dynamic { on | off } |
mtu MTU }
iplink show [DEVICE]
iproute
iproute { list | flush | { add | del | change | append |
replace | monitor } ROUTE }
iproute { list | flush } SELECTOR iproute get ADDRESS [from ADDRESS
iif STRING]
[oif STRING] [tos TOS]
iproute { add | del | change | append | replace | monitor } ROUTE
SELECTOR := [root PREFIX] [match PREFIX] [proto RTPROTO]
ROUTE := [TYPE] PREFIX [tos TOS] [proto RTPROTO]
[metric METRIC]
iprule
iprule {[list | add | del] RULE}
iprule [list | add | del] SELECTOR ACTION
SELECTOR := [from PREFIX] [to PREFIX] [tos TOS] [fwmark FWMARK]
[dev STRING] [pref NUMBER]
ACTION := [table TABLE_ID] [nat ADDRESS]
[prohibit | reject | unreachable]
[realms [SRCREALM/]DSTREALM]
TABLE_ID := [local | main | default | NUMBER]
iptunnel
iptunnel { add | change | del | show } [NAME] [mode { ipip |
gre | sit }] [remote ADDR] [local ADDR] [ttl TTL]
iptunnel { add | change | del | show } [NAME]
[mode { ipip | gre | sit }] [remote ADDR] [local ADDR]
[[i|o]seq] [[i|o]key KEY] [[i|o]csum]
[ttl TTL] [tos TOS] [[no]pmtudisc] [dev PHYS_DEV]
kbd_mode
kbd_mode [-a|k|s|u] [-C TTY]
Report or set the keyboard mode
Options set mode:
-a Default (ASCII)
-k Medium-raw (keyboard)
-s Raw (scancode)
-u Unicode (utf-8)
-C TTY Affect TTY instead of /dev/tty
kill
kill [-l] [-SIG] PID...
Send a signal (default is TERM) to given PIDs
Options:
-l List all signal names and numbers/* "
-s SIG Yet another way of specifying SIG" */
Example:
$ ps | grep apache
252 root root S [apache]
263 www-data www-data S [apache]
264 www-data www-data S [apache]
265 www-data www-data S [apache]
266 www-data www-data S [apache]
267 www-data www-data S [apache]
$ kill 252
killall
killall [-l] [-q] [-SIG] process-name...
Send a signal (default is TERM) to given processes
Options:
-l List all signal names and numbers/* "
-s SIG Yet another way of specifying SIG" */
-q Do not complain if no processes were killed
Example:
$ killall apache
killall5
killall5 [-l] [-SIG] [-o PID]...
Send a signal (default is TERM) to all processes outside current
session
Options:
-l List all signal names and numbers
-o PID Do not signal this PID/* "
-s SIG Yet another way of specifying SIG" */
klogd
klogd [-c N] [-n]
Kernel logger
Options:
-c N Only messages with level < N are printed to console
-n Run in foreground
lash
lash #define lash_full_usage
last
last [-HW] [-f file]
Show listing of the last users that logged into the system
Options:/* "
-H Show header line" */
-W Display with no host column truncation
-f file Read from file instead of /var/log/wtmp
length
length STRING
Print STRING's length
Example:
$ length Hello
5
less
less [-EMNmh~I?] [FILE]...
View a file or list of files. The position within files can be
changed, and files can be manipulated in various ways.
Options:
-E Quit once the end of a file is reached
-M,-m Display a status line containing the line numbers
and percentage through the file
-N Prefix line numbers to each line
-I Ignore case in all searches
-~ Suppress ~s displayed past the end of the file
linux32
linux32 #define linux32_full_usage
linux64
linux64 #define linux64_full_usage
linuxrc
linuxrc #define linuxrc_full_usage
ln ln [OPTIONS] TARGET... LINK_NAME|DIRECTORY
Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET.
Use '--' to indicate that all following arguments are non-options.
Options:
-s Make symlinks instead of hardlinks
-f Remove existing destination files
-n Don't dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
-b Make a backup of the target (if exists) before link operation
-S suf Use suffix instead of ~ when making backup files
Example:
$ ln -s BusyBox /tmp/ls
$ ls -l /tmp/ls
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Apr 12 18:39 ls -> BusyBox*
load_policy
load_policy #define load_policy_full_usage
loadfont
loadfont < font
Load a console font from standard input/* "
-C TTY Affect TTY instead of /dev/tty" */
Example:
$ loadfont < /etc/i18n/fontname
loadkmap
loadkmap < keymap
Load a binary keyboard translation table from standard input /* "
-C TTY Affect TTY instead of /dev/tty" */
Example:
$ loadkmap < /etc/i18n/lang-keymap
logger
logger [OPTIONS] [MESSAGE]
Write MESSAGE to the system log. If MESSAGE is omitted, log stdin.
Options:
-s Log to stderr as well as the system log
-t TAG Log using the specified tag (defaults to user name)
-p PRIO Priority (numeric or facility.level pair)
Example:
$ logger "hello"
login
login [-p] [-h HOST] [[-f] USER]
Begin a new session on the system
Options:
-f Do not authenticate (user already authenticated)
-h Name of the remote host
-p Preserve environment
logname
logname
Print the name of the current user
Example:
$ logname
root
logread
logread [OPTIONS]
Show messages in syslogd's circular buffer
Options:
-f Output data as log grows
losetup
losetup [-o OFS] LOOPDEV FILE - associate loop devices
losetup -d LOOPDEV - disassociate losetup [-f] - show
Options:
-o OFS Start OFS bytes into FILE
-f Show first free loop device
No arguments will display all current associations. One argument
(losetup /dev/loop1) will display the current association (if any),
or disassociate it (with -d). The display shows the offset and
filename of the file the loop device is currently bound to.
Two arguments (losetup /dev/loop1 file.img) create a new
association, with an optional offset (-o 12345). Encryption is not
yet supported. losetup -f will show the first loop free loop
device
lpd lpd SPOOLDIR [HELPER [ARGS]]
SPOOLDIR must contain (symlinks to) device nodes or directories
with names matching print queue names. In the first case, jobs are
sent directly to the device. Otherwise each job is stored in queue
directory and HELPER program is called. Name of file to print is
passed in $DATAFILE variable. Example:
tcpsvd -E 0 515 softlimit -m 999999 lpd /var/spool ./print
lpq lpq [-P queue[@host[:port]]] [-U USERNAME] [-d JOBID...]
[-fs]
Options:
-P lp service to connect to (else uses $PRINTER)
-d Delete jobs
-f Force any waiting job to be printed
-s Short display
lpr lpr -P queue[@host[:port]] -U USERNAME -J TITLE -Vmh
[FILE]...
Options:
-P lp service to connect to (else uses $PRINTER)
-m Send mail on completion
-h Print banner page too
-V Verbose
ls ls [-1AacCdeFilnpLRrSsTtuvwxXhkK] [FILE]...
List directory contents
Options:
-1 List in a single column
-A Don't list . and ..
-a Don't hide entries starting with .
-C List by columns
-c With -l: sort by ctime
--color[={always,never,auto}] Control coloring
-d List directory entries instead of contents
-e List full date and time
-F Append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries
-i List inode numbers
-l Long listing format
-n List numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
-p Append indicator (one of /=@|) to entries
-L List entries pointed to by symlinks
-R List subdirectories recursively
-r Sort in reverse order
-S Sort by file size
-s List the size of each file, in blocks
-T NUM Assume tabstop every NUM columns
-t With -l: sort by modification time
-u With -l: sort by access time
-v Sort by version
-w NUM Assume the terminal is NUM columns wide
-x List by lines
-X Sort by extension
-h List sizes in human readable format (1K 243M 2G)
-k List security context
-K List security context in long format
-Z List security context and permission
lsattr
lsattr [-Radlv] [FILE]...
List file attributes on an ext2 fs
Options:
-R Recursively list subdirectories
-a Do not hide entries starting with .
-d List directory entries instead of contents
-l List long flag names
-v List the file's version/generation number
lsmod
lsmod
List the currently loaded kernel modules
lzmacat
lzmacat FILE
Uncompress to stdout
lzop
lzop [-cfvd123456789CF] [FILE]...
-c Write to standard output
-f Force
-v Verbose
-d Decompress
-F Don't store or verify checksum
-C Also write checksum of compressed block
-1..9 Compression level
lzopcat
lzopcat [-vCF] [FILE]...
-v Verbose
-F Don't store or verify checksum
makedevs
makedevs [-d device_table] rootdir
Create a range of special files as specified in a device table.
Device table entries take the form of: <type> <mode> <uid> <gid>
<major> <minor> <start> <inc> <count> Where name is the file name,
type can be one of:
f Regular file
d Directory
c Character device
b Block device
p Fifo (named pipe)
uid is the user id for the target file, gid is the group id for the
target file. The rest of the entries (major, minor, etc) apply to
to device special files. A '-' may be used for blank entries.
Example:
For example:
<name> <type> <mode><uid><gid><major><minor><start><inc><count>
/dev d 755 0 0 - - - - -
/dev/console c 666 0 0 5 1 - - -
/dev/null c 666 0 0 1 3 0 0 -
/dev/zero c 666 0 0 1 5 0 0 -
/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 0 0 0 -
/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 1 1 1 15
Will Produce:
/dev
/dev/console
/dev/null
/dev/zero
/dev/hda
/dev/hda[0-15]
makemime
makemime [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Create multipart MIME-encoded message from FILEs. /* "Transfer
encoding is base64, disposition is inline (not attachment) " */
Options:
-o FILE Output. Default: stdout
-a HDR Add header. Examples:
"From: user@host.org", "Date: `date -R`
-c CT Content type. Default: text/plain
-C CS Charset. Default: " CONFIG_FEATURE_MIME_CHARSET /* "
-e ENC Transfer encoding. Ignored. base64 is assumed" */
Other options are silently ignored
man man [OPTIONS] [MANPAGE]...
Format and display manual page
Options:
-a Display all pages
-w Show page locations
matchpathcon
matchpathcon [-n] [-N] [-f file_contexts_file] [-p prefix] [-V]
-n Do not display path
-N Do not use translations
-f Use alternate file_context file
-p Use prefix to speed translations
-V Verify file context on disk matches defaults
md5sum
md5sum [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
or: md5sum [OPTIONS] -c [FILE]
Print or check MD5 checksums
Options:
-c Check sums against given list
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
Example:
$ md5sum < busybox
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003
$ md5sum busybox
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
$ md5sum -c -
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
busybox: OK
^D
mdev
mdev [-s]
-s Scan /sys and populate /dev during system boot
It can be run by kernel as a hotplug helper. To activate it:
echo /bin/mdev >/proc/sys/kernel/hotplug
It uses /etc/mdev.conf with lines
[-]DEVNAME UID:GID PERM [>|=PATH] [@|$|*PROG]
The mdev config file contains lines that look like:
hd[a-z][0-9]* 0:3 660
That's device name (with regex match), uid:gid, and permissions.
Optionally, that can be followed (on the same line) by a special
character and a command line to run after creating/before deleting
the corresponding device(s). The environment variable $MDEV
indicates the active device node (which is useful if it's a regex
match). For example:
hdc root:cdrom 660 *ln -s $MDEV cdrom
The special characters are @ (run after creating), $ (run before
deleting), and * (run both after creating and before deleting). The
commands run in the /dev directory, and use system() which calls
/bin/sh.
Config file parsing stops on the first matching line. If no config
entry is matched, devices are created with default 0:0 660. (Make
the last line match .* to override this.)
mesg
mesg [y|n]
Control write access to your terminal
y Allow write access to your terminal
n Disallow write access to your terminal
microcom
microcom [-d DELAY] [-t TIMEOUT] [-s SPEED] [-X] TTY
Copy bytes for stdin to TTY and from TTY to stdout
Options:
-d Wait up to DELAY ms for TTY output before sending every
next byte to it
-t Exit if both stdin and TTY are silent for TIMEOUT ms
-s Set serial line to SPEED
-X Disable special meaning of NUL and Ctrl-X from stdin
mkdir
mkdir [OPTIONS] DIRECTORY...
Create DIRECTORY
Options:
-m Set permission mode (as in chmod), not rwxrwxrwx - umask
-p No error if existing, make parent directories as needed
-Z Set security context
Example:
$ mkdir /tmp/foo
$ mkdir /tmp/foo
/tmp/foo: File exists
$ mkdir /tmp/foo/bar/baz
/tmp/foo/bar/baz: No such file or directory
$ mkdir -p /tmp/foo/bar/baz
mke2fs
mke2fs [-c|-l filename] [-b block-size] [-f fragment-size] [-g
blocks-per-group] [-i bytes-per-inode] [-j] [-J journal-options]
[-N number-of-inodes] [-n] [-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o
creator-os] [-O feature[,...]] [-q] [r fs-revision-level] [-E
extended-options] [-v] [-F] [-L volume-label] [-M
last-mounted-directory] [-S] [-T filesystem-type] device
[blocks-count]
-b size Block size in bytes
-c Check for bad blocks before creating
-E opts Set extended options
-f size Fragment size in bytes
-F Force (ignore sanity checks)
-g num Number of blocks in a block group
-i ratio The bytes/inode ratio
-j Create a journal (ext3)
-J opts Set journal options (size/device)
-l file Read bad blocks list from file
-L lbl Set the volume label
-m percent Percent of fs blocks to reserve for admin
-M dir Set last mounted directory
-n Do not actually create anything
-N num Number of inodes to create
-o os Set the 'creator os' field
-O features Dir_index/filetype/has_journal/journal_dev/sparse_super
-q Quiet
-r rev Set filesystem revision
-S Write superblock and group descriptors only
-T fs-type Set usage type (news/largefile/largefile4)
-v Verbose
mkfifo
mkfifo [OPTIONS] name
Create named pipe (identical to 'mknod name p')
Options:
-m MODE Mode (default a=rw)
-Z Set security context
mkfs.minix
mkfs.minix [-c | -l filename] [-nXX] [-iXX] /dev/name [blocks]
Make a MINIX filesystem
Options:
-c Check device for bad blocks
-n [14|30] Maximum length of filenames
-i INODES Number of inodes for the filesystem
-l FILENAME Read bad blocks list from FILENAME
-v Make version 2 filesystem
mkfs_vfat
mkfs_vfat [-v] [-n LABEL] FILE_OR_DEVICE [SIZE_IN_KB]
Make a FAT32 filesystem
Options:/* "
-c Check device for bad blocks" */
-v Verbose/* "
-I Allow to use entire disk device (e.g. /dev/hda)" */
-n LBL Volume label
mknod
mknod [OPTIONS] NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR
Create a special file (block, character, or pipe)
Options:
-m Create the special file using the specified mode (default a=rw)
TYPEs include:
b: Make a block device
c or u: Make a character device
p: Make a named pipe (MAJOR and MINOR are ignored)
-Z Set security context
Example:
$ mknod /dev/fd0 b 2 0
$ mknod -m 644 /tmp/pipe p
mkpasswd
mkpasswd [OPTIONS] [PASSWORD] [SALT]
Crypt the PASSWORD using crypt(3)
Options:
-P,--password-fd=NUM Read password from fd NUM/* "
-s,--stdin Use stdin; like -P0" */
-m,--method=TYPE Encryption method TYPE
-S,--salt=SALT
mkswap
mkswap DEVICE
Prepare block device to be used as swap partition
mktemp
mktemp [-dt] [-p DIR] [TEMPLATE]
Create a temporary file with name based on TEMPLATE and print its
name. TEMPLATE must end with XXXXXX (e.g. [/dir/]nameXXXXXX).
Options:
-d Make a directory instead of a file/* "
-q Fail silently if an error occurs" - we ignore it */
-t Generate a path rooted in temporary directory
-p DIR Use DIR as a temporary directory (implies -t)
For -t or -p, directory is chosen as follows: $TMPDIR if set, else
-p DIR, else /tmp
Example:
$ mktemp /tmp/temp.XXXXXX
/tmp/temp.mWiLjM
$ ls -la /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
-rw------- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
modprobe
modprobe [-knqrsv] MODULE [symbol=value...]
Options:
-k Make module autoclean-able
-n Dry run
-q Quiet
-r Remove module (stacks) or do autoclean
-s Report via syslog instead of stderr
-v Verbose
-b Apply blacklist to module names too
modprobe can (un)load a stack of modules, passing each module
options (when loading). modprobe uses a configuration file to
determine what option(s) to pass each module it loads.
The configuration file is searched (in this order):
/etc/modprobe.conf (2.6 only)
/etc/modules.conf
/etc/conf.modules (deprecated)
They all have the same syntax (see below). If none is present, it
is _not_ an error; each loaded module is then expected to load
without options. Once a file is found, the others are tested for.
/etc/modules.conf entry format:
alias <alias_name> <mod_name>
Makes it possible to modprobe alias_name, when there is no such module.
It makes sense if your mod_name is long, or you want a more representative
name for that module (eg. 'scsi' in place of 'aha7xxx').
This makes it also possible to use a different set of options (below) for
the module and the alias.
A module can be aliased more than once.
options <mod_name|alias_name> <symbol=value...>
When loading module mod_name (or the module aliased by alias_name), pass
the "symbol=value" pairs as option to that module.
Sample /etc/modules.conf file:
options tulip irq=3
alias tulip tulip2
options tulip2 irq=4 io=0x308
Other functionality offered by 'classic' modprobe is not available
in this implementation.
If module options are present both in the config file, and on the
command line, then the options from the command line will be passed
to the module _after_ the options from the config file. That way,
you can have defaults in the config file, and override them for a
specific usage from the command line.
Example:
(with the above /etc/modules.conf):
$ modprobe tulip
will load the module 'tulip' with default option 'irq=3'
$ modprobe tulip irq=5
will load the module 'tulip' with option 'irq=5', thus overriding the default
$ modprobe tulip2
will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308',
which are the default for alias 'tulip2'
$ modprobe tulip2 irq=8
will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=8',
which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overridden by the option 'irq=8'
from the command line
$ modprobe tulip2 irq=2 io=0x210
will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=4 io=0x210',
which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overridden by the options 'irq=2 io=0x210'
from the command line
more
more [FILE]...
View FILE or standard input one screenful at a time
Example:
$ dmesg | more
mount
mount [flags] DEVICE NODE [-o OPT,OPT]
Mount a filesystem. Filesystem autodetection requires /proc be
mounted.
Options:
-a Mount all filesystems in fstab
-f Update /etc/mtab, but don't mount
-i Don't run mount helper
-n Don't update /etc/mtab
-r Read-only mount
-w Read-write mount (default)
-t FSTYPE Filesystem type
-O OPT Mount only filesystems with option OPT (-a only)
B<-o> OPT:
loop Ignored (loop devices are autodetected)
[a]sync Writes are [a]synchronous
[no]atime Disable/enable updates to inode access times
[no]diratime Disable/enable atime updates to directories
[no]relatime Disable/enable atime updates relative to modification time
[no]dev (Dis)allow use of special device files
[no]exec (Dis)allow use of executable files
[no]suid (Dis)allow set-user-id-root programs
[r]shared Convert [recursively] to a shared subtree
[r]slave Convert [recursively] to a slave subtree
[r]private Convert [recursively] to a private subtree
[un]bindable Make mount point [un]able to be bind mounted
bind Bind a directory to an additional location
move Relocate an existing mount point
remount Remount a mounted filesystem, changing its flags
ro/rw Read-only/read-write mount
There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem
You'll have to see the written documentation for those filesystems
Returns 0 for success, number of failed mounts for -a, or errno for
one mount.
Example:
$ mount
/dev/hda3 on / type minix (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
$ mount /dev/fd0 /mnt -t msdos -o ro
$ mount /tmp/diskimage /opt -t ext2 -o loop
$ mount cd_image.iso mydir
mountpoint
mountpoint [-q] <[-dn] DIR | -x DEVICE>
Check if the directory is a mountpoint
Options:
-q Quiet
-d Print major/minor device number of the filesystem
-n Print device name of the filesystem
-x Print major/minor device number of the blockdevice
Example:
$ mountpoint /proc
/proc is not a mountpoint
$ mountpoint /sys
/sys is a mountpoint
msh msh #define msh_full_usage
mt mt [-f device] opcode value
Control magnetic tape drive operation
Available Opcodes:
bsf bsfm bsr bss datacompression drvbuffer eof eom erase fsf fsfm
fsr fss load lock mkpart nop offline ras1 ras2 ras3 reset retension
rewind rewoffline seek setblk setdensity setpart tell unload unlock
weof wset
mv mv [OPTIONS] SOURCE DEST or: mv [OPTIONS] SOURCE...
DIRECTORY
Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
Options:
-f Don't prompt before overwriting
-i Interactive, prompt before overwrite
Example:
$ mv /tmp/foo /bin/bar
nameif
nameif [-s] [-c FILE] [{IFNAME MACADDR}]
Rename network interface while it in the down state
Options:
-c FILE Use configuration file (default is /etc/mactab)
-s Use syslog (LOCAL0 facility)
IFNAME MACADDR new_interface_name interface_mac_address
Example:
$ nameif -s dmz0 00:A0:C9:8C:F6:3F
or
$ nameif -c /etc/my_mactab_file
nc nc [OPTIONS] HOST PORT - connect nc [OPTIONS] -l -p PORT
[HOST] [PORT] - listen
Options:
-e PROG Run PROG after connect (must be last)
-l Listen mode, for inbound connects
-n Don't do DNS resolution
-s ADDR Local address
-p PORT Local port
-u UDP mode
-v Verbose
-w SEC Timeout for connects and final net reads
-i SEC Delay interval for lines sent" /* ", ports scanned" */
-o FILE Hex dump traffic
-z Zero-I/O mode (scanning)/* "
-r Randomize local and remote ports" */
To use netcat as a terminal emulator on a serial port:
$ stty 115200 -F /dev/ttyS0 $ stty raw -echo -ctlecho && nc -f
/dev/ttyS0
Example:
$ nc foobar.somedomain.com 25
220 foobar ESMTP Exim 3.12 #1 Sat, 15 Apr 2000 00:03:02 -0600
help
214-Commands supported:
214- HELO EHLO MAIL RCPT DATA AUTH
214 NOOP QUIT RSET HELP
quit
221 foobar closing connection
netstat
netstat [-laentuwxrWp]
Display networking information
Options:
-l Display listening server sockets
-a Display all sockets (default: connected)
-e Display other/more information
-n Don't resolve names
-t Tcp sockets
-u Udp sockets
-w Raw sockets
-x Unix sockets
-r Display routing table
-W Display with no column truncation
-p Display PID/Program name for sockets
nice
nice [-n ADJUST] [PROG [ARGS]]
Run PROG with modified scheduling priority
Options:
-n ADJUST Adjust priority by ADJUST
nmeter
nmeter format_string
Monitor system in real time
Format specifiers: %Nc or %[cN] Monitor CPU. N - bar size,
default 10
(displays: S:system U:user N:niced D:iowait I:irq i:softirq)
%[niface] Monitor network interface 'iface'
%m Monitor allocated memory
%[mf] Monitor free memory
%[mt] Monitor total memory
%s Monitor allocated swap
%f Monitor number of used file descriptors
%Ni Monitor total/specific IRQ rate
%x Monitor context switch rate
%p Monitor forks
%[pn] Monitor # of processes
%b Monitor block io
%Nt Show time (with N decimal points)
%Nd Milliseconds between updates (default:1000)
%r Print <cr> instead of <lf> at EOL
Example:
nmeter '%250d%t %20c int %i bio %b mem %m forks%p'
nohup
nohup PROG [ARGS]
Run PROG immune to hangups, with output to a non-tty
Example:
$ nohup make &
nslookup
nslookup [HOST] [SERVER]
Query the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST
optionally using a specified DNS server
Example:
$ nslookup localhost
Server: default
Address: default
Name: debian
Address: 127.0.0.1
od od [-aBbcDdeFfHhIiLlOovXx] [-t TYPE] [FILE]
Write an unambiguous representation, octal bytes by default, of
FILE to standard output. With no FILE or when FILE is -, read
standard input.
openvt
openvt [-c N] [-sw] [PROG [ARGS]]
Start PROG on a new virtual terminal
Options:
-c N Use specified VT
-s Switch to the VT/* "
-l Run PROG as login shell (by prepending '-')" */
-w Wait for PROG to exit
Example:
openvt 2 /bin/ash
parse
parse [-n maxtokens] [-m mintokens] [-d delims] [-f flags]
file ...
[-n maxtokens] [-m mintokens] [-d delims] [-f flags] file ...
passwd
passwd [OPTIONS] [USER]
Change USER's password. If no USER is specified, changes the
password for the current user.
Options:
-a Algorithm to use for password (choices: des, md5)" /* ", sha1)" */
-d Delete password for the account
-l Lock (disable) account
-u Unlock (re-enable) account
patch
patch [-p NUM] [-i DIFF] [-R] [-N]
-p NUM Strip NUM leading components from file names
-i DIFF Read DIFF instead of stdin
-R Reverse patch
-N Ignore already applied patches
Example:
$ patch -p1 < example.diff
$ patch -p0 -i example.diff
pgrep
pgrep [-flnovx] [-s SID|-P PPID|PATTERN]
Display process(es) selected by regex PATTERN
Options:
-l Show command name too
-f Match against entire command line
-n Show the newest process only
-o Show the oldest process only
-v Negate the match
-x Match whole name (not substring)
-s Match session ID (0 for current)
-P Match parent process ID
pidof
pidof [NAME...]
List PIDs of all processes with names that match NAMEs USAGE_PIDOF
-s Show only one PID
-o PID Omit given pid
Use %PPID to omit pid of pidof's parent
Example:
$ pidof init
1
$ pidof /bin/sh
20351 5973 5950
$ pidof /bin/sh -o %PPID
20351 5950
ping
ping [OPTIONS] HOST
Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts
Options:
-4, -6 Force IPv4 or IPv6 hostname resolution
-c CNT Send only CNT pings
-s SIZE Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default:56)
-I IFACE/IP Use interface or IP address as source
-W SEC Seconds to wait for the first response (default:10)
(after all -c CNT packets are sent)
-w SEC Seconds until ping exits (default:infinite)
(can exit earlier with -c CNT)
-q Quiet, only displays output at start
and when finished
Example:
$ ping localhost
PING slag (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=20.1 ms
--- debian ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 20.1/20.1/20.1 ms
ping6
ping6 [OPTIONS] HOST
Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts
Options:
-c CNT Send only CNT pings
-s SIZE Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default:56)
-I IFACE/IP Use interface or IP address as source
-q Quiet, only displays output at start
and when finished
Example:
$ ping6 ip6-localhost
PING ip6-localhost (::1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from ::1: icmp6_seq=0 ttl=64 time=20.1 ms
--- ip6-localhost ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 20.1/20.1/20.1 ms
pipe_progress
pipe_progress #define pipe_progress_full_usage
pivot_root
pivot_root NEW_ROOT PUT_OLD
Move the current root file system to PUT_OLD and make NEW_ROOT the
new root file system
pkill
pkill [-l|-SIGNAL] [-fnovx] [-s SID|-P PPID|PATTERN]
Send a signal to process(es) selected by regex PATTERN
Options:
-l List all signals
-f Match against entire command line
-n Signal the newest process only
-o Signal the oldest process only
-v Negate the match
-x Match whole name (not substring)
-s Match session ID (0 for current)
-P Match parent process ID
popmaildir
popmaildir [OPTIONS] Maildir [connection-helper ...]
Fetch content of remote mailbox to local maildir
Options:
-b Binary mode. Ignored
-d Debug. Ignored
-m Show used memory. Ignored
-V Show version. Ignored
-c Use tcpclient. Ignored
-a Use APOP protocol. Implied. If server supports APOP -> use it
-s Skip authorization
-T Get messages with TOP instead with RETR
-k Keep retrieved messages on the server
-t timeout Set network timeout
-F "program arg1 arg2 ..." Filter by program. May be multiple
-M "program arg1 arg2 ..." Deliver by program
-R size Remove old messages on the server >= size (in bytes). Ignored
-Z N1-N2 Remove messages from N1 to N2 (dangerous). Ignored
-L size Do not retrieve new messages >= size (in bytes). Ignored
-H lines Type specified number of lines of a message. Ignored
Example:
$ popmaildir -k ~/Maildir -- nc pop.drvv.ru 110 [<password_file]
$ popmaildir ~/Maildir -- openssl s_client -quiet -connect pop.gmail.com:995 [<password_file]
poweroff
poweroff [-d delay] [-n] [-f]
Halt and shut off power
Options:
-d Delay interval for halting
-n No call to sync()
-f Force power off (don't go through init)
printenv
printenv [VARIABLES...]
Print all or part of environment. If no environment VARIABLE
specified, print them all.
printf
printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT...]
Format and print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, where FORMAT
controls the output exactly as in C printf
Example:
$ printf "Val=%d\n" 5
Val=5
ps ps
Report process status
USAGE_PS
-Z Show SE Linux context
w Wide output
Example:
$ ps
PID Uid Gid State Command
1 root root S init
2 root root S [kflushd]
3 root root S [kupdate]
4 root root S [kpiod]
5 root root S [kswapd]
742 andersen andersen S [bash]
743 andersen andersen S -bash
745 root root S [getty]
2990 andersen andersen R ps
pscan
pscan [-cb] [-p MIN_PORT] [-P MAX_PORT] [-t TIMEOUT] [-T
MIN_RTT] HOST
Scan a host, print all open ports
Options:
-c Show closed ports too
-b Show blocked ports too
-p Scan from this port (default 1)
-P Scan up to this port (default 1024)
-t Timeout (default 5000 ms)
-T Minimum rtt (default 5 ms, increase for congested hosts)
pwd pwd
Print the full filename of the current working directory
Example:
$ pwd
/root
raidautorun
raidautorun DEVICE
Tell the kernel to automatically search and start RAID arrays
Example:
$ raidautorun /dev/md0
rdate
rdate [-sp] HOST
Get and possibly set the system date and time from a remote HOST
Options:
-s Set the system date and time (default)
-p Print the date and time
rdev
rdev
Print the device node associated with the filesystem mounted at '/'
Example:
$ rdev
/dev/mtdblock9 /
readahead
readahead [FILE]...
Preload FILE(s) in RAM cache so that subsequent reads for
thosefiles do not block on disk I/O
readlink
readlink [-fnv] FILE
Display the value of a symlink
Options:
-f Canonicalize by following all symlinks
-n Don't add newline
-v Verbose
readprofile
readprofile [OPTIONS]
Options:
-m mapfile (Default: /boot/System.map)
-p profile (Default: /proc/profile)
-M mult Set the profiling multiplier to mult
-i Print only info about the sampling step
-v Verbose
-a Print all symbols, even if count is 0
-b Print individual histogram-bin counts
-s Print individual counters within functions
-r Reset all the counters (root only)
-n Disable byte order auto-detection
realpath
realpath pathname...
Return the absolute pathnames of given argument
reboot
reboot [-d delay] [-n] [-f]
Reboot the system
Options:
-d Delay interval for rebooting
-n No call to sync()
-f Force reboot (don't go through init)
reformime
reformime [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Parse MIME-encoded message
Options:
-x prefix Extract content of MIME sections to files
-X prog [args] Filter content of MIME sections through prog.
Must be the last option
Other options are silently ignored.
renice
renice {{-n INCREMENT} | PRIORITY} [[-p | -g | -u] ID...]
Change priority of running processes
Options:
-n Adjust current nice value (smaller is faster)
-p Process id(s) (default)
-g Process group id(s)
-u Process user name(s) and/or id(s)
reset
reset
Reset the screen
resize
resize
Resize the screen
restorecon
restorecon [-iFnrRv] [-e excludedir]... [-o filename] [-f filename
| pathname]
Reset security contexts of files in pathname
-i Ignore files that do not exist
-f file File with list of files to process. Use - for stdin
-e directory Directory to exclude
-R,-r Recurse directories
-n Don't change any file labels
-o file Save list of files with incorrect context
-v Verbose
-vv Show changed labels
-F Force reset of context to match file_context
for customizable files, or the user section,
if it has changed
rm rm [OPTIONS] FILE...
Remove (unlink) the FILE(s). Use '--' to indicate that all
following arguments are non-options.
Options:
-i Always prompt before removing
-f Never prompt
-r,-R Remove directories recursively
Example:
$ rm -rf /tmp/foo
rmdir
rmdir [OPTIONS] DIRECTORY...
Remove the DIRECTORY, if it is empty.
Options:
-p|--parents Include parents
-ignore-fail-on-non-empty
Example:
# rmdir /tmp/foo
rmmod
rmmod [OPTIONS] [MODULE]...
Unload the specified kernel modules from the kernel
Options:
-w Wait until the module is no longer used
-f Force unloading
-a Remove all unused modules (recursively)
Example:
$ rmmod tulip
route
route [{add|del|delete}]
Edit kernel routing tables
Options:
-n Don't resolve names
-e Display other/more information
-A inet{6} Select address family
rpm rpm -i -q[ildc]p package.rpm
Manipulate RPM packages
Options:
-i Install package
-q Query package
-p Query uninstalled package
-i Show information
-l List contents
-d List documents
-c List config files
rpm2cpio
rpm2cpio package.rpm
Output a cpio archive of the rpm file
rtcwake
rtcwake [-a | -l | -u] [-d DEV] [-m MODE] [-s SEC | -t TIME]
Enter a system sleep state until specified wakeup time
-a,--auto Read clock mode from adjtime
-l,--local Clock is set to local time
-u,--utc Clock is set to UTC time
-d,--device=DEV Specify the RTC device
-m,--mode=MODE Set the sleep state (default: standby)
-s,--seconds=SEC Set the timeout in SEC seconds from now
-t,--time=TIME Set the timeout to TIME seconds from epoch
run-parts
run-parts [-t] [-l] [-a ARG] [-u MASK] DIRECTORY
Run a bunch of scripts in a directory
Options:
-t Print what would be run, but don't actually run anything
-a ARG Pass ARG as argument for every program
-u MASK Set the umask to MASK before running every program
-l Print names of all matching files even if they are not executable
Example:
$ run-parts -a start /etc/init.d
$ run-parts -a stop=now /etc/init.d
Let's assume you have a script foo/dosomething:
#!/bin/sh
for i in $*; do eval $i; done; unset i
case "$1" in
start*) echo starting something;;
stop*) set -x; shutdown -h $stop;;
esac
Running this yields:
$run-parts -a stop=+4m foo/
+ shutdown -h +4m
runcon
runcon [-c] [-u USER] [-r ROLE] [-t TYPE] [-l RANGE] PROG
[ARGS] runcon CONTEXT PROG [ARGS]
Run PROG in a different security context
CONTEXT Complete security context
-c,--compute Compute process transition context before modifying
-t,--type=TYPE Type (for same role as parent)
-u,--user=USER User identity
-r,--role=ROLE Role
-l,--range=RNG Levelrange
runlevel
runlevel [utmp]
Example:
$ runlevel /var/run/utmp
N 2
runsv
runsv dir
Start and monitor a service and optionally an appendant log service
runsvdir
runsvdir [-P] [-s SCRIPT] dir
Start a runsv process for each subdirectory. If it exits, restart
it.
-P Put each runsv in a new session
-s SCRIPT Run SCRIPT <signo> after signal is processed
rx rx FILE
Receive a file using the xmodem protocol
Example:
$ rx /tmp/foo
script
script [-afqt] [-c PROG] [OUTFILE]
Options:
-a Append output
-c Run PROG, not shell
-f Flush output after each write
-q Quiet
-t Send timing to stderr
scriptreplay
scriptreplay timingfile [typescript [divisor]]
Play back typescripts, using timing information
sed sed [-efinr] SED_CMD [FILE]...
Options:
-e CMD Add CMD to sed commands to be executed
-f FILE Add FILE contents to sed commands to be executed
-i Edit files in-place
-n Suppress automatic printing of pattern space
-r Use extended regex syntax
If no -e or -f is given, the first non-option argument is taken as
the sed command to interpret. All remaining arguments are names of
input files; if no input files are specified, then the standard
input is read. Source files will not be modified unless -i option
is given.
Example:
$ echo "foo" | sed -e 's/f[a-zA-Z]o/bar/g'
bar
selinuxenabled
selinuxenabled #define selinuxenabled_full_usage
sendmail
sendmail [OPTIONS] [RECIPIENT_EMAIL]...
Read email from stdin and send it
Standard options:
-t Read additional recipients from message body
-f sender Sender (required)
-o options Various options. -oi implied, others are ignored
Busybox specific options:
-w seconds Network timeout
-H 'PROG ARGS' Run connection helper
Examples:
-H 'exec openssl s_client -quiet -tls1 -starttls smtp
-connect smtp.gmail.com:25' <email.txt
[4<username_and_passwd.txt | -au<username> -ap<password>]
-H 'exec openssl s_client -quiet -tls1
-connect smtp.gmail.com:465' <email.txt
[4<username_and_passwd.txt | -au<username> -ap<password>]
-S server[:port] Server
-au<username> Username for AUTH LOGIN
-ap<password> Password for AUTH LOGIN
-am<method> Authentication method. Ignored. LOGIN is implied
Other options are silently ignored; -oi -t is implied Use makemime
applet to create message with attachments
seq seq [-w] [-s SEP] [FIRST [INC]] LAST
Print numbers from FIRST to LAST, in steps of INC. FIRST, INC
default to 1
Options:
-w Pad to last with leading zeros
-s SEP String separator
sestatus
sestatus [-vb]
-v Verbose
-b Display current state of booleans
setarch
setarch personality program [args...]
Personality may be:
linux32 Set 32bit uname emulation
linux64 Set 64bit uname emulation
setconsole
setconsole [-r|--reset] [DEVICE]
Redirect system console output to DEVICE (default: /dev/tty)
Options:
-r Reset output to /dev/console
setenforce
setenforce [Enforcing | Permissive | 1 | 0]
setfiles
setfiles [-dnpqsvW] [-e dir]... [-o file] [-r alt_root_path] [-c
policyfile] spec_file pathname
Reset file contexts under pathname according to spec_file
-c file Check the validity of the contexts against the specified binary policy
-d Show which specification matched each file
-l Log changes in file labels to syslog
-n Don't change any file labels
-q Suppress warnings
-r dir Use an altenate root path
-e dir Exclude directory
-F Force reset of context to match file_context for customizable files
-o file Save list of files with incorrect context
-s Take a list of files from standard input (instead of command line)
-v Show changes in file labels, if type or role are changing
-vv Show changes in file labels, if type, role, or user are changing
-W Display warnings about entries that had no matching files
setfont
setfont FONT [-m MAPFILE] [-C TTY]
Load a console font
Options:
-m MAPFILE Load console screen map
-C TTY Affect TTY instead of /dev/tty
Example:
$ setfont -m koi8-r /etc/i18n/fontname
setkeycodes
setkeycodes SCANCODE KEYCODE...
Set entries into the kernel's scancode-to-keycode map, allowing
unusual keyboards to generate usable keycodes.
SCANCODE may be either xx or e0xx (hexadecimal), and KEYCODE is
given in decimal
Example:
$ setkeycodes e030 127
setlogcons
setlogcons N
Redirect the kernel output to console N (0 for current)
setsebool
setsebool boolean value
Change boolean setting
setsid
setsid PROG [ARG...]
Run PROG in a new session. PROG will have no controlling terminal
and will not be affected by keyboard signals (Ctrl-C etc). See
setsid(2) for details.
setuidgid
setuidgid account prog args
Set uid and gid to account's uid and gid, removing all
supplementary groups and run PROG
sh sh #define sh_full_usage
sha1sum
sha1sum [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
or: sha1sum [OPTIONS] -c [FILE]
Print or check SHA1 checksums.
Options:
-c Check sums against given list
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
sha256sum
sha256sum [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
or: sha256sum [OPTIONS] -c [FILE]
Print or check SHA1 checksums.
Options:
-c Check sums against given list
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
sha512sum
sha512sum [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
or: sha512sum [OPTIONS] -c [FILE]
Print or check SHA1 checksums.
Options:
-c Check sums against given list
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
showkey
showkey [-a | -k | -s]
Show keys pressed
Options:
-a Display decimal/octal/hex values of the keys
-k Display interpreted keycodes (default)
-s Display raw scan-codes
slattach
slattach [-cehmLF] [-s SPEED] [-p PROTOCOL] DEVICE
Attach network interface(s) to serial line(s)
Options:
-p PROT Set protocol (slip, cslip, slip6, clisp6 or adaptive)
-s SPD Set line speed
-e Exit after initializing device
-h Exit when the carrier is lost
-c PROG Run PROG when the line is hung up
-m Do NOT initialize the line in raw 8 bits mode
-L Enable 3-wire operation
-F Disable RTS/CTS flow control
sleep
sleep [N]...
Pause for a time equal to the total of the args given, where each arg can
have an optional suffix of (s)econds, (m)inutes, (h)ours, or (d)ays
Example:
$ sleep 2
[2 second delay results]
$ sleep 1d 3h 22m 8s
[98528 second delay results]
softlimit
softlimit [-a BYTES] [-m BYTES] [-d BYTES] [-s BYTES] [-l BYTES]
[-f BYTES] [-c BYTES] [-r BYTES] [-o N] [-p N] [-t N]
PROG ARGS
Set soft resource limits, then run PROG
Options:
-a BYTES Limit total size of all segments
-m BYTES Same as -d BYTES -s BYTES -l BYTES -a BYTES
-d BYTES Limit data segment
-s BYTES Limit stack segment
-l BYTES Limit locked memory size
-o N Limit number of open files per process
-p N Limit number of processes per uid
Options controlling file sizes:
-f BYTES Limit output file sizes
-c BYTES Limit core file size
Efficiency opts:
-r BYTES Limit resident set size
-t N Limit CPU time, process receives
a SIGXCPU after N seconds
sort
sort [-nrugMcszbdfimSTokt] [-o FILE] [-k
start[.offset][opts][,end[.offset][opts]] [-t CHAR] [FILE]...
Sort lines of text
Options:
-b Ignore leading blanks
-c Check whether input is sorted
-d Dictionary order (blank or alphanumeric only)
-f Ignore case
-g General numerical sort
-i Ignore unprintable characters
-k Sort key
-M Sort month
-n Sort numbers
-o Output to file
-k Sort by key
-t CHAR Key separator
-r Reverse sort order
-s Stable (don't sort ties alphabetically)
-u Suppress duplicate lines
-z Lines are terminated by NUL, not newline
-mST Ignored for GNU compatibility
Example:
$ echo -e "e\nf\nb\nd\nc\na" | sort
a
b
c
d
e
f
$ echo -e "c 3\nb 2\nd 2" | $SORT -k 2,2n -k 1,1r
d 2
b 2
c 3
split
split [OPTIONS] [INPUT [PREFIX]]
Options:
-b n[k|m] Split by bytes
-l n Split by lines
-a n Use n letters as suffix
Example:
$ split TODO foo
$ cat TODO | split -a 2 -l 2 TODO_
start-stop-daemon
start-stop-daemon [OPTIONS] [-S|-K] ... [-- arguments...]
Search for matching processes, and then -K: stop all matching
processes. -S: start a process unless a matching process is found.
Process matching:
-u,--user USERNAME|UID Match only this user's processes
-n,--name NAME Match processes with NAME
in comm field in /proc/PID/stat
-x,--exec EXECUTABLE Match processes with this command
in /proc/PID/cmdline
-p,--pidfile FILE Match a process with PID from the file
All specified conditions must match
B<-S> only:
-x,--exec EXECUTABLE Program to run
-a,--startas NAME Zeroth argument
-b,--background Background
-N,--nicelevel N Change nice level
-c,--chuid USER[:[GRP]] Change to user/group
-m,--make-pidfile Write PID to the pidfile specified by -p
B<-K> only:
-s,--signal SIG Signal to send
-t,--test Match only, exit with 0 if a process is found
Other:
-o,--oknodo Exit with status 0 if nothing is done
-v,--verbose Verbose
-q,--quiet Quiet
-c USER[:[GRP]] Change to user/group
-m Write PID to the pidfile specified by -p
B<-K> only:
-s SIG Signal to send
-t Match only, exit with 0 if a process is found
Other:
-o Exit with status 0 if nothing is done
-v Verbose
-q Quiet )
stat
stat [OPTIONS] FILE...
Display file (default) or filesystem status
Options:
-c fmt Use the specified format
-f Display filesystem status
-L Dereference links
-t Display info in terse form
-Z Print security context
Valid format sequences for files:
%a Access rights in octal
%A Access rights in human readable form
%b Number of blocks allocated (see %B)
%B The size in bytes of each block reported by %b
%d Device number in decimal
%D Device number in hex
%f Raw mode in hex
%F File type
%g Group ID of owner
%G Group name of owner
%h Number of hard links
%i Inode number
%n File name
%N Quoted file name with dereference if symlink
%o I/O block size
%s Total size, in bytes
%t Major device type in hex
%T Minor device type in hex
%u User ID of owner
%U User name of owner
%x Time of last access
%X Time of last access as seconds since Epoch
%y Time of last modification
%Y Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
%z Time of last change
%Z Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
Valid format sequences for file systems:
%a Free blocks available to non-superuser
%b Total data blocks in file system
%c Total file nodes in file system
%d Free file nodes in file system
%f Free blocks in file system
%C Security context in SELinux
%i File System ID in hex
%l Maximum length of filenames
%n File name
%s Block size (for faster transfer)
%S Fundamental block size (for block counts)
%t Type in hex
%T Type in human readable form
static_sh
static_sh #define static_sh_full_usage
strings
strings [-afo] [-n LEN] [FILE]...
Display printable strings in a binary file
Options:
-a Scan whole file (default)
-f Precede strings with filenames
-n LEN At least LEN characters form a string (default 4)
-o Precede strings with decimal offsets
stty
stty [-a|g] [-F DEVICE] [SETTING]...
Without arguments, prints baud rate, line discipline, and
deviations from stty sane
Options:
-F DEVICE Open device instead of stdin
-a Print all current settings in human-readable form
-g Print in stty-readable form
[SETTING] See manpage
su su [OPTIONS] [-] [username]
Change user id or become root
Options:
-p, -m Preserve environment
-c CMD Command to pass to 'sh -c'
-s SH Shell to use instead of default shell
sulogin
sulogin [OPTIONS] [TTY]
Single user login
Options:
-t N Timeout
sum sum [-rs] [FILE]...
Checksum and count the blocks in a file
Options:
-r Use BSD sum algorithm (1K blocks)
-s Use System V sum algorithm (512byte blocks)
sv sv [-v] [-w sec] command service...
Control services monitored by runsv supervisor. Commands (only
first character is enough):
status: query service status up: if service isn't running, start
it. If service stops, restart it once: like 'up', but if service
stops, don't restart it down: send TERM and CONT signals. If ./run
exits, start ./finish
if it exists. After it stops, do not restart service
exit: send TERM and CONT signals to service and log service. If they exit,
runsv exits too
pause, cont, hup, alarm, interrupt, quit, 1, 2, term, kill: send
STOP, CONT, HUP, ALRM, INT, QUIT, USR1, USR2, TERM, KILL signal to service
svlogd
svlogd [-ttv] [-r c] [-R abc] [-l len] [-b buflen] dir...
Continuously read log data from standard input, optionally filter
log messages, and write the data to one or more automatically
rotated logs
swapoff
swapoff [-a] [DEVICE]
Stop swapping on DEVICE
Options:
-a Stop swapping on all swap devices
swapon
swapon [-a] [-p pri] [DEVICE]
Start swapping on DEVICE
Options:
-a Start swapping on all swap devices
-p pri Set swap device priority
switch_root
switch_root [-c /dev/console] NEW_ROOT NEW_INIT [ARGS]
Free initramfs and switch to another root fs: chroot to NEW_ROOT,
delete all in /, move NEW_ROOT to /, execute NEW_INIT. PID must be
1. NEW_ROOT must be a mountpoint.
Options:
-c DEV Reopen stdio to DEV after switch
sync
sync
Write all buffered blocks to disk
sysctl
sysctl [OPTIONS] [VALUE]...
Configure kernel parameters at runtime
Options:
-n Don't print key names
-e Don't warn about unknown keys
-w Change sysctl setting
-p FILE Load sysctl settings from FILE (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
-a Display all values
-A Display all values in table form
Example:
sysctl [-n] [-e] variable...
sysctl [-n] [-e] -w variable=value...
sysctl [-n] [-e] -a
sysctl [-n] [-e] -p file (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
sysctl [-n] [-e] -A
syslogd
syslogd [OPTIONS]
System logging utility. Note that this version of syslogd ignores
/etc/syslog.conf.
Options:
-n Run in foreground
-O FILE Log to given file (default:/var/log/messages)
-l n Set local log level
-S Smaller logging output
-s SIZE Max size (KB) before rotate (default:200KB, 0=off)
-b NUM Number of rotated logs to keep (default:1, max=99, 0=purge)
-R HOST[:PORT] Log to IP or hostname on PORT (default PORT=514/UDP)
-L Log locally and via network (default is network only if -R)
-D Drop duplicates
-C[size(KiB)] Log to shared mem buffer (read it using logread) /* NB: -Csize shouldn't have space (because size is optional) */
Example:
$ syslogd -R masterlog:514
$ syslogd -R 192.168.1.1:601
tac tac [FILE]...
Concatenate FILE(s) and print them in reverse
tail
tail [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Options:
-c N[kbm] Output the last N bytes
-n N[kbm] Print last N lines instead of last 10
-f Output data as the file grows
-q Never output headers giving file names
-s SEC Wait SEC seconds between reads with -f
-v Always output headers giving file names
If the first character of N (bytes or lines) is a '+', output
begins with the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise,
print the last N items in the file. N bytes may be suffixed by k
(x1024), b (x512), or m (1024^2).
Example:
$ tail -n 1 /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 10.0.0.1
tar tar -[czjaZxtvO] [-X FILE] [-f TARFILE] [-C DIR]
[FILE(s)]...
Create, extract, or list files from a tar file
Options:
c Create
x Extract
t List
Archive format selection:
z Filter the archive through gzip
j Filter the archive through bzip2
a Filter the archive through lzma
Z Filter the archive through compress
File selection:
f Name of TARFILE or "-" for stdin
O Extract to stdout
exclude File to exclude
X File with names to exclude
C Change to directory DIR before operation
v Verbose
Example:
$ zcat /tmp/tarball.tar.gz | tar -xf -
$ tar -cf /tmp/tarball.tar /usr/local
taskset
taskset [-p] [MASK] [PID | PROG [ARGS]]
Set or get CPU affinity
Options:
-p Operate on an existing PID
Example:
$ taskset 0x7 ./dgemm_test&
$ taskset -p 0x1 $!
pid 4790's current affinity mask: 7
pid 4790's new affinity mask: 1
$ taskset 0x7 /bin/sh -c './taskset -p 0x1 $$'
pid 6671's current affinity mask: 1
pid 6671's new affinity mask: 1
$ taskset -p 1
pid 1's current affinity mask: 3
tc tc /*"[OPTIONS] "*/"OBJECT CMD [dev STRING]
OBJECT: {qdisc|class|filter} CMD: {add|del|change|replace|show}
qdisc [ handle QHANDLE ] [ root | ingress | parent CLASSID ]
/* "[ estimator INTERVAL TIME_CONSTANT ]
" */ [ [ QDISC_KIND ] [ help | OPTIONS ] ]
QDISC_KIND := { [p|b]fifo | tbf | prio | cbq | red | etc. }
qdisc show [ dev STRING ] [ingress]
class [ classid CLASSID ] [ root | parent CLASSID ]
[ [ QDISC_KIND ] [ help | OPTIONS ] ]
class show [ dev STRING ] [ root | parent CLASSID ]
filter [ pref PRIO ] [ protocol PROTO ]
/* " [ estimator INTERVAL TIME_CONSTANT ]
" */ [ root | classid CLASSID ] [ handle FILTERID ]
[ [ FILTER_TYPE ] [ help | OPTIONS ] ]
filter show [ dev STRING ] [ root | parent CLASSID ]
tcpsvd
tcpsvd [-hEv] [-c N] [-C N[:MSG]] [-b N] [-u USER] [-l NAME] IP
PORT PROG
Create TCP socket, bind to IP:PORT and listen for incoming
connection. Run PROG for each connection.
IP IP to listen on. '0' = all PORT Port to listen on
PROG [ARGS] Program to run -l NAME Local hostname (else
looks up local hostname in DNS) -u USER[:GROUP] Change to
user/group after bind -c N Handle up to N connections
simultaneously -b N Allow a backlog of approximately N TCP
SYNs -C N[:MSG] Allow only up to N connections from the same IP
New connections from this IP address are closed
immediately. MSG is written to the peer before close
B<-h> Look up peer's hostname
B<-E> Do not set up environment variables
B<-v> Verbose
tee tee [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output
Options:
-a Append to the given FILEs, do not overwrite
-i Ignore interrupt signals (SIGINT)
Example:
$ echo "Hello" | tee /tmp/foo
$ cat /tmp/foo
Hello
telnet
telnet HOST [PORT]
Connect to telnet server
telnetd
telnetd [OPTIONS]
Handle incoming telnet connections
Options:
-l LOGIN Exec LOGIN on connect
-f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
-K Close connection as soon as login exits
(normally wait until all programs close slave pty)
-p PORT Port to listen on
-b ADDR Address to bind to
-F Run in foreground
-i Run as inetd subservice
test
test EXPRESSION ]
Check file types, compare values etc. Return a 0/1 exit code
depending on logical value of EXPRESSION
Example:
$ test 1 -eq 2
$ echo $?
1
$ test 1 -eq 1
$ echo $?
0
$ [ -d /etc ]
$ echo $?
0
$ [ -d /junk ]
$ echo $?
1
tftp
tftp [OPTIONS] HOST [PORT]
Transfer a file from/to tftp server
Options:
-l FILE Local FILE
-r FILE Remote FILE
-g Get file
-p Put file
-b SIZE Transfer blocks of SIZE octets
tftpd
tftpd [-cr] [-u USER] [DIR]
Transfer a file on tftp client's request.
tftpd should be used as an inetd service. tftpd's line for
inetd.conf:
69 dgram udp nowait root tftpd tftpd /files/to/serve
It also can be ran from udpsvd:
udpsvd -vE 0.0.0.0 69 tftpd /files/to/serve
Options:
-r Prohibit upload
-c Allow file creation via upload
-u Access files as USER
time
time [OPTIONS] PROG [ARGS]
Run PROG. When it finishes, its resource usage is displayed.
Options:
-v Verbose
timeout
timeout [-t SECS] [-s SIG] PROG [ARGS]
Runs PROG. Sends SIG to it if it is not gone in SECS seconds.
Defaults: SECS: 10, SIG: TERM.
top top [-b] [-nCOUNT] [-dSECONDS]
Provide a view of process activity in real time. Read the status
of all processes from /proc each SECONDS and show the status for
however many processes will fit on the screen.
touch
touch [-c] [-d DATE] FILE [FILE]...
Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s]
Options:
-c Do not create files
-d DT Date/time to use
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
/bin/ls: /tmp/foo: No such file or directory
$ touch /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 15 01:11 /tmp/foo
tr tr [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]
Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from standard input,
writing to standard output
Options:
-c Take complement of STRING1
-d Delete input characters coded STRING1
-s Squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character
Example:
$ echo "gdkkn vnqkc" | tr [a-y] [b-z]
hello world
traceroute
traceroute [-FIldnrv] [-f 1st_ttl] [-m max_ttl] [-p port#] [-q
nqueries] [-s src_addr] [-t tos] [-w wait] [-g gateway] [-i
iface] [-z pausemsecs] HOST [data size]
Trace the route to HOST
Options:
-F Set the don't fragment bit
-I Use ICMP ECHO instead of UDP datagrams
-l Display the ttl value of the returned packet
-d Set SO_DEBUG options to socket
-n Print hop addresses numerically rather than symbolically
-r Bypass the normal routing tables and send directly to a host
-v Verbose
-m max_ttl Max time-to-live (max number of hops)
-p port# Base UDP port number used in probes
(default is 33434)
-q nqueries Number of probes per 'ttl' (default 3)
-s src_addr IP address to use as the source address
-t tos Type-of-service in probe packets (default 0)
-w wait Time in seconds to wait for a response
(default 3 sec)
-g Loose source route gateway (8 max)
true
true
Return an exit code of TRUE (0)
Example:
$ true
$ echo $?
0
tty tty
Print file name of standard input's terminal
Options:
-s Print nothing, only return exit status
Example:
$ tty
/dev/tty2
ttysize
ttysize [w] [h]
Print dimension(s) of standard input's terminal, on error return
80x25
tunctl
tunctl [-f device] ([-t name] | -d name) [-u owner] [-g group]
[-b]
Create or delete tun interfaces Options:
-f name tun device (/dev/net/tun)
-t name Create iface 'name'
-d name Delete iface 'name'
-u owner Set iface owner
-g group Set iface group
-b Brief output
Example:
# tunctl
# tunctl -d tun0
tune2fs
tune2fs [-c max-mounts-count] [-e errors-behavior] [-g group]
[-i interval[d|m|w]] [-j] [-J journal-options] [-l] [-s
sparse-flag] [-m reserved-blocks-percent] [-o
[^]mount-options[,...]] [-r reserved-blocks-count] [-u user] [-C
mount-count] [-L volume-label] [-M last-mounted-dir] [-O
[^]feature[,...]] [-T last-check-time] [-U UUID] device
Adjust filesystem options on ext[23] filesystems
udhcpc
udhcpc [-Cfbnqtvo] [-c CID] [-V VCLS] [-H HOSTNAME] [-i
INTERFACE] [-p pidfile] [-r IP] [-s script] [-O
dhcp-option]... [-P N]
-V,--vendorclass=CLASSID Vendor class identifier
-i,--interface=INTERFACE Interface to use (default eth0)
-H,-h,--hostname=HOSTNAME Client hostname
-c,--clientid=CLIENTID Client identifier
-C,--clientid-none Suppress default client identifier
-p,--pidfile=file Create pidfile
-r,--request=IP IP address to request
-s,--script=file Run file at DHCP events (default "CONFIG_UDHCPC_DEFAULT_SCRIPT
-t,--retries=N Send up to N request packets
-T,--timeout=N Try to get a lease for N seconds (default 3)
-A,--tryagain=N Wait N seconds (default 20) after failure
-O,--request-option=OPT Request DHCP option OPT (cumulative)
-o,--no-default-options Do not request any options (unless -O is also given)
-f,--foreground Run in foreground USE_FOR_MMU(
-b,--background Background if lease is not immediately obtained )
-S,--syslog Log to syslog too
-n,--now Exit with failure if lease is not immediately obtained
-q,--quit Quit after obtaining lease
-R,--release Release IP on quit
-P,--client-port N Use port N instead of default 68
-a,--arping Use arping to validate offered address )
-t N Send up to N request packets
-T N Try to get a lease for N seconds (default 3)
-A N Wait N seconds (default 20) after failure
-O OPT Request DHCP option OPT (cumulative)
-o Do not request any options (unless -O is also given)
-f Run in foreground USE_FOR_MMU(
-b Background if lease is not immediately obtained )
-S Log to syslog too
-n Exit with failure if lease is not immediately obtained
-q Quit after obtaining lease
-R Release IP on quit
-P N Use port N instead of default 68
-a Use arping to validate offered address )
udhcpd
udhcpd [-fS] [-P N] [configfile]
DHCP server
-f Run in foreground
-S Log to syslog too
-P N Use port N instead of default 67
udpsvd
udpsvd [-hEv] [-c N] [-u USER] [-l NAME] IP PORT PROG
Create UDP socket, bind to IP:PORT and wait for incoming packets.
Run PROG for each packet, redirecting all further packets with same
peer ip:port to it
IP IP to listen on. '0' = all PORT Port to listen on
PROG [ARGS] Program to run -l NAME Local hostname (else
looks up local hostname in DNS) -u USER[:GROUP] Change to
user/group after bind -c N Handle up to N connections
simultaneously -h Look up peer's hostname -E Do not
set up environment variables -v Verbose
umount
umount [flags] FILESYSTEM|DIRECTORY
Unmount file systems
Options:
-a Unmount all file systems in /etc/mtab
-n Don't erase /etc/mtab entries
-r Try to remount devices as read-only if mount is busy
-l Lazy umount (detach filesystem)
-f Force umount (i.e., unreachable NFS server)
-d Free loop device if it has been used
Example:
$ umount /dev/hdc1
uname
uname [-amnrspv]
Print system information.
Options:
-a Print all
-m The machine (hardware) type
-n Hostname
-r OS release
-s OS name (default)
-p Processor type
-v OS version
Example:
$ uname -a
Linux debian 2.4.23 #2 Tue Dec 23 17:09:10 MST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux
uncompress
uncompress [-c] [-f] [name...]
Uncompress .Z file[s]
Options:
-c Extract to stdout
-f Overwrite an existing file
unexpand
unexpand [-f][-a][-t NUM] [FILE|-]
Convert spaces to tabs, writing to standard output.
Options:
-a,--all Convert all blanks
-f,--first-only Convert only leading blanks
-t,--tabs=N Tabstops every N chars
uniq
uniq [-fscduw]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
Discard duplicate lines
Options:
-c Prefix lines by the number of occurrences
-d Only print duplicate lines
-u Only print unique lines
-f N Skip first N fields
-s N Skip first N chars (after any skipped fields)
-w N Compare N characters in line
Example:
$ echo -e "a\na\nb\nc\nc\na" | sort | uniq
a
b
c
unix2dos
unix2dos [OPTION] [FILE]
Convert FILE in-place from Unix to DOS format. When no file is
given, use stdin/stdout.
Options:
-u dos2unix
-d unix2dos
unlzma
unlzma [OPTIONS] [FILE]
Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-' or omitted)
Options:
-c Write to standard output
-f Force
unlzop
unlzop [-cfvCF] [FILE]...
-c Write to standard output
-f Force
-v Verbose
-F Don't store or verify checksum
unzip
unzip [-opts[modifiers]] file[.zip] [list] [-x xlist] [-d
exdir]
Extract files from ZIP archives
Options:
-l List archive contents (with -q for short form)
-n Never overwrite existing files (default)
-o Overwrite files without prompting
-p Send output to stdout
-q Quiet
-x Exclude these files
-d Extract files into this directory
uptime
uptime
Display the time since the last boot
Example:
$ uptime
1:55pm up 2:30, load average: 0.09, 0.04, 0.00
usleep
usleep N
Pause for N microseconds
Example:
$ usleep 1000000
[pauses for 1 second]
uudecode
uudecode [-o outfile] [infile]
Uudecode a file Finds outfile name in uuencoded source unless -o is
given
Example:
$ uudecode -o busybox busybox.uu
$ ls -l busybox
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ams ams 245264 Jun 7 21:35 busybox
uuencode
uuencode [-m] [infile] stored_filename
Uuencode a file to stdout
Options:
-m Use base64 encoding per RFC1521
Example:
$ uuencode busybox busybox
begin 755 busybox
<encoded file snipped>
$ uudecode busybox busybox > busybox.uu
$
vconfig
vconfig COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Create and remove virtual ethernet devices
Options:
add [interface-name] [vlan_id]
rem [vlan-name]
set_flag [interface-name] [flag-num] [0 | 1]
set_egress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
set_ingress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
set_name_type [name-type]
vi vi [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Edit FILE
Options:
-c Initial command to run ($EXINIT also available)
-R Read-only - do not write to the file
-H Short help regarding available features
vlock
vlock [OPTIONS]
Lock a virtual terminal. A password is required to unlock.
Options:
-a Lock all VTs
volname
volname [DEVICE]
Show CD volume name of the DEVICE (default /dev/cdrom)
watch
watch [-n seconds] [-t] PROG [ARGS]
Run PROG periodically
Options:
-n Loop period in seconds (default 2)
-t Don't print header
Example:
$ watch date
Mon Dec 17 10:31:40 GMT 2000
Mon Dec 17 10:31:42 GMT 2000
Mon Dec 17 10:31:44 GMT 2000
watchdog
watchdog [-t N[ms]] [-T N[ms]] [-F] DEV
Periodically write to watchdog device DEV
Options:
-T N Reboot after N seconds if not reset (default 60)
-t N Reset every N seconds (default 30)
-F Run in foreground
Use 500ms to specify period in milliseconds
wc wc [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print line, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line
if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, read standard
input.
Options:
-c Print the byte counts
-l Print the newline counts
-L Print the length of the longest line
-w Print the word counts
Example:
$ wc /etc/passwd
31 46 1365 /etc/passwd
wget
wget [-c|--continue] [-s|--spider] [-q|--quiet]
[-O|--output-document file] [--header 'header: value']
[-Y|--proxy on/off] [-P DIR] [-U|--user-agent agent] url
Retrieve files via HTTP or FTP
Options:
-s Spider mode - only check file existence
-c Continue retrieval of aborted transfer
-q Quiet
-P Set directory prefix to DIR
-O Save to filename ('-' for stdout)
-U Adjust 'User-Agent' field
-Y Use proxy ('on' or 'off')
which
which [COMMAND]...
Locate a COMMAND
Example:
$ which login
/bin/login
who who [-a]
Show who is logged on
Options:
-a show all
whoami
whoami
Print the user name associated with the current effective user id
xargs
xargs [OPTIONS] [PROG [ARGS]]
Run PROG on every item given by standard input
Options:
-p Ask user whether to run each command
-r Do not run command if input is empty
-0 Input is separated by NUL characters
-t Print the command on stderr before execution
-e[STR] STR stops input processing
-n N Pass no more than N args to PROG
-s N Pass command line of no more than N bytes
-x Exit if size is exceeded
Example:
$ ls | xargs gzip
$ find . -name '*.c' -print | xargs rm
yes yes [OPTIONS] [STRING]
Repeatedly output a line with STRING, or 'y'
zcat
zcat FILE
Uncompress to stdout
zcip
zcip [OPTIONS] IFACE SCRIPT
Manage a ZeroConf IPv4 link-local address
Options:
-f Run in foreground
-q Quit after obtaining address
-r 169.254.x.x Request this address first
-v Verbose
With no -q, runs continuously monitoring for ARP conflicts, exits
only on I/O errors (link down etc)
LIBC NSS
GNU Libc (glibc) uses the Name Service Switch (NSS) to configure the
behavior of the C library for the local environment, and to configure
how it reads system data, such as passwords and group information.
This is implemented using an /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file, and
using one or more of the /lib/libnss_* libraries. BusyBox tries to
avoid using any libc calls that make use of NSS. Some applets however,
such as login and su, will use libc functions that require NSS.
If you enable CONFIG_USE_BB_PWD_GRP, BusyBox will use internal
functions to directly access the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and
/etc/shadow files without using NSS. This may allow you to run your
system without the need for installing any of the NSS configuration
files and libraries.
When used with glibc, the BusyBox 'networking' applets will similarly
require that you install at least some of the glibc NSS stuff (in
particular, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /lib/libnss_dns*, /lib/libnss_files*,
and /lib/libresolv*).
Shameless Plug: As an alternative, one could use a C library such as
uClibc. In addition to making your system significantly smaller,
uClibc does not require the use of any NSS support files or libraries.
MAINTAINER
Denis Vlasenko <vda.linux@googlemail.com>
AUTHORS
The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know
it or not. If you have written code included in BusyBox, you should
probably be listed here so you can obtain your bit of eternal glory.
If you should be listed here, or the description of what you have done
needs more detail, or is incorect, please send in an update.
Emanuele Aina <emanuele.aina@tiscali.it> run-parts
Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>
Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
Lots of tedious effort writing these boring docs that
nobody is going to actually read.
Laurence Anderson <l.d.anderson@warwick.ac.uk>
rpm2cpio, unzip, get_header_cpio, read_gz interface, rpm
Jeff Angielski <jeff@theptrgroup.com>
ftpput, ftpget
Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>
expr, hostid, logname, whoami
John Beppu <beppu@codepoet.org>
du, nslookup, sort
Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>
tiny-ls(ls)
Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>
fbset, ping, hostname
Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>
more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance
Jordan Crouse <jordan@cosmicpenguin.net>
ipcalc
Magnus Damm <damm@opensource.se>
tftp client insmod powerpc support
Larry Doolittle <ldoolitt@recycle.lbl.gov>
pristine source directory compilation, lots of patches and fixes.
Glenn Engel <glenne@engel.org>
httpd
Gennady Feldman <gfeldman@gena01.com>
Sysklogd (single threaded syslogd, IPC Circular buffer support,
logread), various fixes.
Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>
cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.
Daniel Jacobowitz <dan@debian.org>
mktemp.c
Matt Kraai <kraai@alumni.cmu.edu>
documentation, bugfixes, test suite
Stephan Linz <linz@li-pro.net>
ipcalc, Red Hat equivalence
John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>
tr
Glenn McGrath <bug1@iinet.net.au>
Common unarchving code and unarchiving applets, ifupdown, ftpgetput,
nameif, sed, patch, fold, install, uudecode.
Various bugfixes, review and apply numerous patches.
Manuel Novoa III <mjn3@codepoet.org>
cat, head, mkfifo, mknod, rmdir, sleep, tee, tty, uniq, usleep, wc, yes,
mesg, vconfig, make_directory, parse_mode, dirname, mode_string,
get_last_path_component, simplify_path, and a number trivial libbb routines
also bug fixes, partial rewrites, and size optimizations in
ash, basename, cal, cmp, cp, df, du, echo, env, ln, logname, md5sum, mkdir,
mv, realpath, rm, sort, tail, touch, uname, watch, arith, human_readable,
interface, dutmp, ifconfig, route
Vladimir Oleynik <dzo@simtreas.ru>
cmdedit; xargs(current), httpd(current);
ports: ash, crond, fdisk, inetd, stty, traceroute, top;
locale, various fixes
and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.
Bruce Perens <bruce@pixar.com>
Original author of BusyBox in 1995, 1996. Some of his code can
still be found hiding here and there...
Tim Riker <Tim@Rikers.org>
bug fixes, member of fan club
Kent Robotti <robotti@metconnect.com>
reset, tons and tons of bug reports and patches.
Chip Rosenthal <chip@unicom.com>, <crosenth@covad.com>
wget - Contributed by permission of Covad Communications
Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>
Lots of bugs fixes and patches.
Gyepi Sam <gyepi@praxis-sw.com>
Remote logging feature for syslogd
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>
mkswap, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix
Mark Whitley <markw@codepoet.org>
grep, sed, cut, xargs(previous),
style-guide, new-applet-HOWTO, bug fixes, etc.
Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>
gzip, mini-netcat(nc)
Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>
tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance
Tito Ragusa <farmatito@tiscali.it>
devfsd and size optimizations in strings, openvt and deallocvt.