1BUSYBOX(1) BusyBox BUSYBOX(1)
2
6 BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux
7
9 BusyBox <function> [arguments...] # or
10 <function> [arguments...] # if symlinked
12
14 BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a
15 single small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most
16 of the utilities you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc.
17 The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than their full-
18 featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide
19 the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU counter‐
20 parts.
21 BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources
23 in mind. It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or
24 exclude commands (or features) at compile time. This makes it easy to
25 customize your embedded systems. To create a working system, just add
26 /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. BusyBox provides a fairly complete
27 POSIX environment for any small or embedded system.
28 BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the
30 components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or
31 'make menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable.
32 Then run 'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration.
33 After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to
35 install BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the
36 target directory specified by PREFIX. PREFIX can be set when configur‐
37 ing BusyBox, or you can specify an alternative location at install time
38 (i.e., with a command line like 'make PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you
39 enabled any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or
40 hardlinks), these will also be installed in the location pointed to by
41 PREFIX.
42
44 BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable
45 program that performs the same job as more than one utility program.
46 That means there is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single
47 binary acts like a large number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to
48 be smaller since all the built-in utility programs (we call them
49 applets) can share code for many common operations.
50 You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the
52 command line. For example, entering
53 /bin/busybox ls
55 will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.
57 Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful.
59 So most people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.
60 For example, entering
62 ln -s /bin/busybox ls
64 ./ls
65 will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been com‐
67 piled into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to make
68 all these links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this for
69 you when you run the 'make install' command.
70 If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a
72 list of the applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.
73
75 Most BusyBox commands support the --help argument to provide a terse
76 runtime description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VER‐
77 BOSE_USAGE option has been enabled, more detailed usage information
78 will also be available.
79
81 Currently defined functions include:
82 [, [[, addgroup, adduser, adjtimex, ar, arping, ash, awk,
84 basename, bbconfig, bunzip2, busybox, bzcat, cal, cat, catv,
85 chattr, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, chvt, cksum, clear, cmp,
86 comm, cp, cpio, crond, crontab, cut, date, dc, dd, deallocvt,
87 delgroup, deluser, devfsd, df, diff, dirname, dmesg, dnsd,
88 dos2unix, dpkg, dpkg_deb, du, dumpkmap, dumpleases, e2fsck, echo,
89 ed, eject, env, ether_wake, expr, fakeidentd, false, fbset,
90 fdflush, fdformat, fdisk, find, fold, free, freeramdisk, fsck,
91 fsck_minix, ftpget, ftpput, fuser, getopt, getty, grep, gunzip,
92 gzip, halt, hdparm, head, hexdump, hostid, hostname, httpd,
93 hwclock, id, ifconfig, ifdown, ifup, inetd, init, insmod,
94 install, ip, ipaddr, ipcalc, ipcrm, ipcs, iplink, iproute,
95 iptunnel, kill, killall, klogd, lash, last, length, less, ln,
96 load_policy, loadfont, loadkmap, logger, login, logname, logread,
97 losetup, ls, lsattr, lsmod, lzmacat, makedevs, md5sum, mdev,
98 mesg, mkdir, mke2fs, mkfifo, mkfs_minix, mknod, mkswap, mktemp,
99 modprobe, more, mount, mountpoint, mt, mv, nameif, nc, netstat,
100 nice, nohup, nslookup, od, openvt, passwd, patch, pidof, ping,
101 ping6, pivot_root, poweroff, printenv, printf, ps, pwd, rdate,
102 readlink, readprofile, realpath, reboot, renice, reset, rm,
103 rmdir, rmmod, route, rpm, rpm2cpio, run_parts, runlevel, rx, sed,
104 seq, setarch, setconsole, setkeycodes, setlogcons, setsid,
105 sha1sum, sleep, sort, start_stop_daemon, stat, strings, stty, su,
106 sulogin, sum, swapoff, swapon, switch_root, sync, sysctl,
107 syslogd, tail, tar, tee, telnet, telnetd, test, tftp, time, top,
108 touch, tr, traceroute, true, tty, tune2fs, udhcpc, udhcpd,
109 umount, uname, uncompress, uniq, unix2dos, unlzma, unzip, uptime,
110 usleep, uudecode, uuencode, vconfig, vi, vlock, watch, watchdog,
111 wc, wget, which, who, whoami, xargs, yes, zcat, zcip
112
114 addgroup
115 addgroup [-g GID] group_name [user_name]
116 Adds a group to the system
118 Options:
120 -g GID specify gid
122 adduser
124 adduser [OPTIONS] user_name
125 Adds a user to the system
127 Options:
129 -h DIR Assign home directory DIR
131 -g GECOS Assign gecos field GECOS
132 -s SHELL Assign login shell SHELL
133 -G Add the user to existing group GROUP
134 -S create a system user (ignored)
135 -D Do not assign a password (logins still possible via ssh)
136 -H Do not create the home directory
137 adjtimex
139 adjtimex [-q] [-o offset] [-f frequency] [-p timeconstant] [-t
140 tick]
141 Reads and optionally sets system timebase parameters. See adj‐
143 timex(2).
144 Options:
146 -q quiet mode - do not print
148 -o offset time offset, microseconds
149 -f frequency frequency adjust, integer kernel units (65536 is 1ppm)
150 (positive values make the system clock run fast)
151 -t tick microseconds per tick, usually 10000
152 -p timeconstant
153 ar ar [-o] [-v] [-p] [-t] [-x] ARCHIVE FILES
155 Extract or list FILES from an ar archive.
157 Options:
159 -o preserve original dates
161 -p extract to stdout
162 -t list
163 -x extract
164 -v verbosely list files processed
165 arping
167 arping [-fqbDUA] [-c count] [-w timeout] [-i device] [-s
168 sender] target
169 Ping hosts by ARP requests/replies.
171 Options:
173 -f Quit on first ARP reply
175 -q Be quiet
176 -b Keep broadcasting, don't go unicast
177 -D Duplicated address detection mode
178 -U Unsolicited ARP mode, update your neighbours
179 -A ARP answer mode, update your neighbours
180 -c count Stop after sending count ARP request packets
181 -w timeout Time to wait for ARP reply, in seconds
182 -i device Outgoing interface name, default is eth0
183 -s sender Set specific sender IP address
184 target Target IP address of ARP request
185 ash ash [FILE]... or: ash -c command [args]...
187 The ash shell (command interpreter)
189 awk awk [OPTION]... [program-text] [FILE ...]
191 Options:
193 -v var=val assign value 'val' to variable 'var'
195 -F sep use 'sep' as field separator
196 -f progname read program source from file 'progname'
197 basename
199 basename FILE [SUFFIX]
200 Strips directory path and suffixes from FILE. If specified, also
202 removes any trailing SUFFIX.
203 Example:
205 $ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
207 foo
208 $ basename /usr/local/bin/
209 bin
210 $ basename /foo/bar.txt .txt
211 bar
212 bbconfig
214 bbconfig
215 Print the config file which built busybox
217 bunzip2
219 bunzip2 [OPTION]... [FILE]
220 Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-' or omitted).
222 Options:
224 -c Write output to standard output
226 -f Force
227 busybox
229 busybox
230 Hello world!
232 bzcat
234 bzcat FILE
235 Uncompress to stdout.
237 cal cal [-jy] [[month] year]
239 Display a calendar.
241 Options:
243 -j Use julian dates
245 -y Display the entire year
246 cat cat [-u] [FILE]...
248 Concatenates FILE(s) and prints them to stdout.
250 Options:
252 -u ignored since unbuffered i/o is always used
254 Example:
256 $ cat /proc/uptime
258 110716.72 17.67
259 catv
261 catv [-etv] [FILE]...
262 Display nonprinting characters as ^x or M-x.
264 -e End each line with $
266 -t Show tabs as ^I
267 -v Don't use ^x or M-x escapes.
268 chattr
270 chattr [-R] [-+=AacDdijsStTu] [-v version] files...
271 change file attributes on an ext2 fs
273 Modifiers:
275 - remove attributes
277 + add attributes
278 = set attributes
279 Attributes:
280 A don't track atime
282 a append mode only
283 c enable compress
284 D write dir contents synchronously
285 d do not backup with dump
286 i cannot be modified (immutable)
287 j write all data to journal first
288 s zero disk storage when deleted
289 S write file contents synchronously
290 t disable tail-merging of partial blocks with other files
291 u allow file to be undeleted
292 Options:
293 -R recursively list subdirectories
295 -v set the file's version/generation number
296 chgrp
298 chgrp [OPTION]... GROUP FILE...
299 Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP.
301 Options:
303 -R Changes files and directories recursively
305 Example:
307 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
309 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
310 $ chgrp root /tmp/foo
311 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
312 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
313 chmod
315 chmod [-R] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...
316 Each MODE is one or more of the letters ugoa, one of the symbols
318 +-= and one or more of the letters rwxst.
319 Options:
321 -R Changes files and directories recursively
323 Example:
325 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
327 -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
328 $ chmod u+x /tmp/foo
329 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
330 -rwxrw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo*
331 $ chmod 444 /tmp/foo
332 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
333 -r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
334 chown
336 chown [ -Rh ]... OWNER[<.⎪:>[GROUP]] FILE...
337 Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.
339 Options:
341 -R Changes files and directories recursively
343 -h Do not dereference symbolic links
344 Example:
346 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
348 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
349 $ chown root /tmp/foo
350 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
351 -r--r--r-- 1 root andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
352 $ chown root.root /tmp/foo
353 ls -l /tmp/foo
354 -r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
355 chroot
357 chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND...]
358 Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT.
360 Example:
362 $ ls -l /bin/ls
364 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Apr 13 00:46 /bin/ls -> /BusyBox
365 # mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt -t minix
366 # chroot /mnt
367 # ls -l /bin/ls
368 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40816 Feb 5 07:45 /bin/ls*
369 chvt
371 chvt N
372 Changes the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
374 cksum
376 cksum FILES...
377 Calculates the CRC32 checksums of FILES.
379 clear
381 clear
382 Clear screen.
384 cmp cmp [-l] [-s] FILE1 [FILE2]
386 Compares FILE1 vs stdin if FILE2 is not specified.
388 Options:
390 -l Write the byte numbers (decimal) and values (octal)
392 for all differing bytes
393 -s quiet mode - do not print
394 comm
396 comm [-123] FILE1 FILE2
397 Compares FILE1 to FILE2, or to stdin if = is specified.
399 Options:
401 -1 Suppress lines unique to FILE1
403 -2 Suppress lines unique to FILE2
404 -3 Suppress lines common to both files
405 cp cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
407 Copies SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
409 -a Same as -dpR
411 -d,-P Preserves links
412 -H,-L Dereference all symlinks (implied by default)
413 -p Preserves file attributes if possible
414 -f force (implied; ignored) - always set
415 -i interactive, prompt before overwrite
416 -R,-r Copies directories recursively
417 cpio
419 cpio -[dimtuv][F cpiofile]
420 Extract or list files from a cpio archive Main operation mode:
422 d make leading directories
424 i extract
425 m preserve mtime
426 t list
427 v verbose
428 u unconditional overwrite
429 F input from file
430 crond
432 crond -d[#] -c <crondir> -f -b
433 -d [#] -l [#] -S -L logfile -f -b -c dir
435 -d num debug level
436 -l num log level (8 - default)
437 -S log to syslogd (default)
438 -L file log to file
439 -f run in foreground
440 -b run in background (default)
441 -c dir working dir
442 crontab
444 crontab [-c dir] {file⎪-}⎪[-u⎪-l⎪-e⎪-d user]
445 file <opts> replace crontab from file
447 - <opts> replace crontab from stdin
448 -u user specify user
449 -l [user] list crontab for user
450 -e [user] edit crontab for user
451 -d [user] delete crontab for user
452 -c dir specify crontab directory
453 cut cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...
455 Prints selected fields from each input FILE to standard output.
457 Options:
459 -b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
461 -c LIST Output only characters from LIST
462 -d CHAR Use CHAR instead of tab as the field delimiter
463 -s Output only the lines containing delimiter
464 -f N Print only these fields
465 -n Ignored
466 Example:
468 $ echo "Hello world" ⎪ cut -f 1 -d ' '
470 Hello
471 $ echo "Hello world" ⎪ cut -f 2 -d ' '
472 world
473 date
475 date [OPTION]... [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]] [+FORMAT]
476 Displays the current time in the given FORMAT, or sets the system
478 date.
479 Options:
481 -R Outputs RFC-822 compliant date string
483 -d STRING Displays time described by STRING, not `now'
484 -I[TIMESPEC] Outputs an ISO-8601 compliant date/time string
485 TIMESPEC=`date' (or missing) for date only,
486 `hours', `minutes', or `seconds' for date and,
487 time to the indicated precision
488 -D hint Use 'hint' as date format, via strptime()
489 -s Sets time described by STRING
490 -r FILE Displays the last modification time of FILE
491 -u Prints or sets Coordinated Universal Time
492 Example:
494 $ date
496 Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000
497 dc dc expression ...
499 This is a Tiny RPN calculator that understands the following opera‐
501 tions: +, add, -, sub, *, mul, /, div, %, mod, **, exp, and, or,
502 not, eor. For example: 'dc 2 2 add' -> 4, and 'dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + /'
503 -> 16.
504 Options: p - Prints the value on the top of the stack, without
506 altering the stack f - Prints the entire contents of the stack
507 without altering anything o - Pops the value off the top of the
508 stack and uses it to set the output radix
509 Only 10 and 16 are supported
511 Example:
513 $ dc 2 2 + p
515 4
516 $ dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + / p
517 16
518 $ dc 0 1 and p
519 0
520 $ dc 0 1 or p
521 1
522 $ echo 72 9 div 8 mul p ⎪ dc
523 64
524 dd dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [ibs=N] [obs=N] [bs=N] [count=N]
526 [skip=N] [seek=N] [conv=notrunc⎪noerror⎪sync]
527 Copy a file, converting and formatting according to options
529 if=FILE read from FILE instead of stdin
531 of=FILE write to FILE instead of stdout
532 bs=N read and write N bytes at a time
533 ibs=N read N bytes at a time
534 obs=N write N bytes at a time
535 count=N copy only N input blocks
536 skip=N skip N input blocks
537 seek=N skip N output blocks
538 conv=notrunc don't truncate output file
539 conv=noerror continue after read errors
540 conv=sync pad blocks with zeros
541 Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k
543 (x1024), MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G
544 (x1073741824)
545 Example:
547 $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
549 4+0 records in
550 4+0 records out
551 deallocvt
553 deallocvt [N]
554 Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
556 delgroup
558 delgroup GROUP
559 Deletes group GROUP from the system
561 deluser
563 deluser USER
564 Deletes user USER from the system
566 devfsd
568 devfsd mntpnt [-v][-fg][-np]
569 Optional daemon for managing devfs permissions and old device name
571 symlinks.
572 Options:
574 mntpnt The mount point where devfs is mounted.
576 -v Print the protocol version numbers for devfsd
578 and the kernel-side protocol version and exits.
579 -fg Run the daemon in the foreground.
581 -np Exit after parsing the configuration file
583 and processing synthetic REGISTER events.
584 Do not poll for events.
585 df df [-hmk] [FILESYSTEM ...]
587 Print the filesystem space used and space available.
589 Options:
591 -h print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
593 -m print sizes in megabytes
594 -k print sizes in kilobytes(default)
595 Example:
597 $ df
599 Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
600 /dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
601 /dev/sda1 64216 36364 27852 57% /boot
602 $ df /dev/sda3
603 Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
604 /dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
605 diff
607 diff [-abdiNqrTstw] [-L LABEL] [-S FILE] [-U LINES] FILE1
608 FILE2
609 Compare files line by line and output the differences between them.
611 This diff implementation only supports unified diffs.
612 Options:
614 -a Treat all files as text
616 -b Ignore changes in the amount of whitespace
617 -d Try hard to find a smaller set of changes
618 -i Ignore case differences
619 -L Use LABEL instead of the filename in the unified header
620 -N Treat absent files as empty
621 -q Output only whether files differ
622 -r Recursively compare any subdirectories
623 -S Start with FILE when comparing directories
624 -T Make tabs line up by prefixing a tab when necessary
625 -s Report when two files are the same
626 -t Expand tabs to spaces in output
627 -U Output LINES lines of context
628 -w Ignore all whitespace
629 dirname
631 dirname FILENAME
632 Strips non-directory suffix from FILENAME
634 Example:
636 $ dirname /tmp/foo
638 /tmp
639 $ dirname /tmp/foo/
640 /tmp
641 dmesg
643 dmesg [-c] [-n LEVEL] [-s SIZE]
644 Prints or controls the kernel ring buffer
646 Options:
648 -c Clears the ring buffer's contents after printing
650 -n LEVEL Sets console logging level
651 -s SIZE Use a buffer of size SIZE
652 dnsd
654 dnsd [-c config] [-t seconds] [-p port] [-i iface-ip] [-d]
655 Small and static DNS server daemon
657 Options:
659 -c config filename
661 -t TTL in seconds
662 -p listening port
663 -i listening iface ip (default all)
664 -d daemonize
665 dos2unix
667 dos2unix [option] [FILE]
668 Converts FILE from dos format to unix format. When no option is
670 given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When
671 no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output.
672 Options:
674 -u output will be in UNIX format
676 -d output will be in DOS format
677 dpkg
679 dpkg [-ilCPru] [-F option] package_name
680 dpkg is a utility to install, remove and manage Debian packages.
682 Options:
684 -i Install the package
686 -l List of installed packages
687 -C Configure an unpackaged package
688 -F depends Ignore dependency problems
689 -P Purge all files of a package
690 -r Remove all but the configuration files for a package
691 -u Unpack a package, but don't configure it
692 dpkg-deb
694 dpkg-deb [-cefxX] FILE [argument]
695 Perform actions on Debian packages (.debs)
697 Options:
699 -c List contents of filesystem tree
701 -e Extract control files to [argument] directory
702 -f Display control field name starting with [argument]
703 -x Extract packages filesystem tree to directory
704 -X Verbose extract
705 Example:
707 $ dpkg-deb -X ./busybox_0.48-1_i386.deb /tmp
709 du du [-aHLdclsxhmk] [FILE]...
711 Summarizes disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk
713 space is printed in units of 1024 bytes.
714 Options:
716 -a show sizes of files in addition to directories
718 -H follow symbolic links that are FILE command line args
719 -L follow all symbolic links encountered
720 -d N limit output to directories (and files with -a) of depth < N
721 -c output a grand total
722 -l count sizes many times if hard linked
723 -s display only a total for each argument
724 -x skip directories on different filesystems
725 -h print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
726 -m print sizes in megabytes
727 -k print sizes in kilobytes(default)
728 Example:
730 $ du
732 16 ./CVS
733 12 ./kernel-patches/CVS
734 80 ./kernel-patches
735 12 ./tests/CVS
736 36 ./tests
737 12 ./scripts/CVS
738 16 ./scripts
739 12 ./docs/CVS
740 104 ./docs
741 2417 .
742 dumpkmap
744 dumpkmap > keymap
745 Prints out a binary keyboard translation table to standard output.
747 Example:
749 $ dumpkmap > keymap
751 dumpleases
753 dumpleases [-r⎪-a] [-f LEASEFILE]
754 Displays the DHCP leases granted by udhcpd.
756 Options:
758 -f, --file=FILENAME Leases file to load
760 -r, --remaining Interpret lease times as time remaining
761 -a, --absolute Interpret lease times as expire time
762 e2fsck
764 e2fsck [-panyrcdfvstDFSV] [-b superblock] [-B blocksize] [-I
765 inode_buffer_blocks] [-P process_inode_size] [-l⎪-L
766 bad_blocks_file] [-C fd] [-j external_journal] [-E
767 extended-options] device
768 Check a Linux ext2/ext3 file system.
770 Options:
772 -p Automatic repair (no questions)
774 -n Make no changes to the filesystem
775 -y Assume 'yes' to all questions
776 -c Check for bad blocks and add them to the badblock list
777 -f Force checking even if filesystem is marked clean
778 -v Be verbose
779 -b superblock Use alternative superblock
780 -B blocksize Force blocksize when looking for superblock
781 -j journal Set location of the external journal
782 -l file Add to badblocks list
783 -L file Set badblocks list
784 echo
786 echo [-neE] [ARG ...]
787 Prints the specified ARGs to stdout
789 Options:
791 -n suppress trailing newline
793 -e interpret backslash-escaped characters (i.e., \t=tab)
794 -E disable interpretation of backslash-escaped characters
795 Example:
797 $ echo "Erik is cool"
799 Erik is cool
800 $ echo -e "Erik\nis\ncool"
801 Erik
802 is
803 cool
804 $ echo "Erik\nis\ncool"
805 Erik\nis\ncool
806 ed ed #define ed_full_usage
808 eject
810 eject [-t] [DEVICE]
811 Eject specified DEVICE (or default /dev/cdrom).
813 Options:
815 -t close tray
817 env env [-iu] [-] [name=value]... [command]
819 Prints the current environment or runs a program after setting up
821 the specified environment.
822 Options:
824 -, -i start with an empty environment
826 -u remove variable from the environment
827 ether_wake
829 ether_wake [-b] [-i iface] [-p aa:bb:cc:dd[:ee:ff]] MAC
830 Send a magic packet to wake up sleeping machines. MAC must be a
832 station address (00:11:22:33:44:55) or
833 a hostname with a known 'ethers' entry.
835 Options:
837 -b Send wake-up packet to the broadcast address
839 -i iface Use interface ifname instead of the default "eth0"
840 -p pass Append the four or six byte password PW to the packet
841 expr
843 expr EXPRESSION
844 Prints the value of EXPRESSION to standard output.
846 EXPRESSION may be:
848 ARG1 ⎪ ARG2 ARG1 if it is neither null nor 0, otherwise ARG2
850 ARG1 & ARG2 ARG1 if neither argument is null or 0, otherwise 0
851 ARG1 < ARG2 ARG1 is less than ARG2
852 ARG1 <= ARG2 ARG1 is less than or equal to ARG2
853 ARG1 = ARG2 ARG1 is equal to ARG2
854 ARG1 != ARG2 ARG1 is unequal to ARG2
855 ARG1 >= ARG2 ARG1 is greater than or equal to ARG2
856 ARG1 > ARG2 ARG1 is greater than ARG2
857 ARG1 + ARG2 arithmetic sum of ARG1 and ARG2
858 ARG1 - ARG2 arithmetic difference of ARG1 and ARG2
859 ARG1 * ARG2 arithmetic product of ARG1 and ARG2
860 ARG1 / ARG2 arithmetic quotient of ARG1 divided by ARG2
861 ARG1 % ARG2 arithmetic remainder of ARG1 divided by ARG2
862 STRING : REGEXP anchored pattern match of REGEXP in STRING
863 match STRING REGEXP same as STRING : REGEXP
864 substr STRING POS LENGTH substring of STRING, POS counted from 1
865 index STRING CHARS index in STRING where any CHARS is found,
866 or 0
867 length STRING length of STRING
868 quote TOKEN interpret TOKEN as a string, even if
869 it is a keyword like `match' or an
870 operator like `/'
871 ( EXPRESSION ) value of EXPRESSION
872 Beware that many operators need to be escaped or quoted for shells.
874 Comparisons are arithmetic if both ARGs are numbers, else lexico‐
875 graphical. Pattern matches return the string matched between \(
876 and \) or null; if \( and \) are not used, they return the number
877 of characters matched or 0.
878 fakeidentd
880 fakeidentd [-b ip] [STRING]
881 Returns a set string to auth requests
883 -b Bind to ip address
885 STRING The ident answer string (default is nobody)
886 false
888 false
889 Return an exit code of FALSE (1).
891 Example:
893 $ false
895 $ echo $?
896 1
897 fbset
899 fbset [options] [mode]
900 Show and modify frame buffer settings
902 Example:
904 $ fbset
906 mode "1024x768-76"
907 # D: 78.653 MHz, H: 59.949 kHz, V: 75.694 Hz
908 geometry 1024 768 1024 768 16
909 timings 12714 128 32 16 4 128 4
910 accel false
911 rgba 5/11,6/5,5/0,0/0
912 endmode
913 fdflush
915 fdflush DEVICE
916 Forces floppy disk drive to detect disk change
918 fdformat
920 fdformat [-n] DEVICE
921 Low-level formats a floppy disk
923 Options:
925 -n Don't verify after format
927 fdisk
929 fdisk [-luv] [-C CYLINDERS] [-H HEADS] [-S SECTORS] [-b SSZ]
930 DISK
931 Change partition table Options:
933 -l List partition table(s)
935 -u Give Start and End in sector (instead of cylinder) units
936 -s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks
937 -b 2048: (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors
938 -C CYLINDERS Set the number of cylinders
939 -H HEADS Set the number of heads
940 -S SECTORS Set the number of sectors
941 -v Give fdisk version
942 find
944 find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION]
945 Search for files in a directory hierarchy. The default PATH is the
947 current directory; default EXPRESSION is '-print'
948 EXPRESSION may consist of:
950 -follow Dereference symbolic links
952 -name PATTERN File name (leading directories removed) matches PATTERN
953 -print Print (default and assumed)
954 -print0 Delimit output with null characters rather than
955 newlines
956 -type X Filetype matches X (where X is one of: f,d,l,b,c,...)
957 -perm PERMS Permissions match any of (+NNN); all of (-NNN);
958 or exactly (NNN)
959 -mtime DAYS Modified time is greater than (+N); less than (-N);
960 or exactly (N) days
961 -mmin MINS Modified time is greater than (+N); less than (-N);
962 or exactly (N) minutes
963 -newer FILE Modified time is more recent than FILE's
964 -inum N File has inode number N
965 -exec CMD Execute CMD with all instances of {} replaced by the
966 files matching EXPRESSION
967 Example:
969 $ find / -name passwd
971 /etc/passwd
972 fold
974 fold [-bs] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]
975 Wrap input lines in each FILE (standard input by default), writing
977 to standard output.
978 Options:
980 -b count bytes rather than columns
982 -s break at spaces
983 -w use WIDTH columns instead of 80
984 free
986 free
987 Displays the amount of free and used system memory
989 Example:
991 $ free
993 total used free shared buffers
994 Mem: 257628 248724 8904 59644 93124
995 Swap: 128516 8404 120112
996 Total: 386144 257128 129016
997 freeramdisk
999 freeramdisk DEVICE
1000 Frees all memory used by the specified ramdisk.
1002 Example:
1004 $ freeramdisk /dev/ram2
1006 fsck
1008 fsck [-ANPRTV] [ -C [ fd ] ] [-t fstype] [fs-options]
1009 [filesys ...]
1010 Check and repair filesystems.
1012 Options:
1014 -A Walk /etc/fstab and check all filesystems
1016 -N Don't execute, just show what would be done
1017 -P When using -A, check filesystems in parallel
1018 -R When using -A, skip the root filesystem
1019 -T Don't show title on startup
1020 -V Verbose mode
1021 -C Write status information to specified filedescriptor
1022 -t List of filesystem types to check
1023 fsck.minix
1025 fsck.minix [-larvsmf] /dev/name
1026 Performs a consistency check for MINIX filesystems.
1028 Options:
1030 -l Lists all filenames
1032 -r Perform interactive repairs
1033 -a Perform automatic repairs
1034 -v verbose
1035 -s Outputs super-block information
1036 -m Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings
1037 -f Force file system check
1038 ftpget
1040 ftpget [options] remote-host local-file remote-file
1041 Retrieve a remote file via FTP.
1043 Options:
1045 -c, --continue Continue a previous transfer
1047 -v, --verbose Verbose
1048 -u, --username Username to be used
1049 -p, --password Password to be used
1050 -P, --port Port number to be used
1051 ftpput
1053 ftpput [options] remote-host remote-file local-file
1054 Store a local file on a remote machine via FTP.
1056 Options:
1058 -v, --verbose Verbose
1060 -u, --username Username to be used
1061 -p, --password Password to be used
1062 -P, --port Port number to be used
1063 fuser
1065 fuser [options] file OR port/proto
1066 Options:
1068 -m Show all processes on the same mounted fs
1070 -k Kill all processes that match.
1071 -s Don't print or kill anything.
1072 -4 When using port/proto only search IPv4 space
1073 -6 When using port/proto only search IPv6 space
1074 -SIGNAL When used with -k, this signal will be used to kill
1075 getopt
1077 getopt [OPTIONS]...
1078 Parse command options
1080 -a, --alternative Allow long options starting with single -
1082 -l, --longoptions=longopts Long options to be recognized
1083 -n, --name=progname The name under which errors are reported
1084 -o, --options=optstring Short options to be recognized
1085 -q, --quiet Disable error reporting by getopt(3)
1086 -Q, --quiet-output No normal output
1087 -s, --shell=shell Set shell quoting conventions
1088 -T, --test Test for getopt(1) version
1089 -u, --unquoted Do not quote the output
1090 Example:
1092 $ cat getopt.test
1094 #!/bin/sh
1095 GETOPT=`getopt -o ab:c:: --long a-long,b-long:,c-long:: \
1096 -n 'example.busybox' -- "$@"`
1097 if [ $? != 0 ] ; then exit 1 ; fi
1098 eval set -- "$GETOPT"
1099 while true ; do
1100 case $1 in
1101 -a⎪--a-long) echo "Option a" ; shift ;;
1102 -b⎪--b-long) echo "Option b, argument `$2'" ; shift 2 ;;
1103 -c⎪--c-long)
1104 case "$2" in
1105 "") echo "Option c, no argument"; shift 2 ;;
1106 *) echo "Option c, argument `$2'" ; shift 2 ;;
1107 esac ;;
1108 --) shift ; break ;;
1109 *) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
1110 esac
1111 done
1112 getty
1114 getty [OPTIONS]... baud_rate,... line [termtype]
1115 Opens a tty, prompts for a login name, then invokes /bin/login
1117 Options:
1119 -h Enable hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control
1121 -i Do not display /etc/issue before running login
1122 -L Local line, so do not do carrier detect
1123 -m Get baud rate from modem's CONNECT status message
1124 -w Wait for a CR or LF before sending /etc/issue
1125 -n Do not prompt the user for a login name
1126 -f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
1127 -l login_app Invoke login_app instead of /bin/login
1128 -t timeout Terminate after timeout if no username is read
1129 -I initstring Sets the init string to send before anything else
1130 -H login_host Log login_host into the utmp file as the hostname
1131 grep
1133 grep [-ihHnqvsEABC] PATTERN [FILEs...]
1134 Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input.
1136 Options:
1138 -H prefix output lines with filename where match was found
1140 -h suppress the prefixing filename on output
1141 -i ignore case distinctions
1142 -l list names of files that match
1143 -L list names of files that do not match
1144 -n print line number with output lines
1145 -q be quiet. Returns 0 if PATTERN was found, 1 otherwise
1146 -v select non-matching lines
1147 -s suppress file open/read error messages
1148 -c only print count of matching lines
1149 -f read PATTERN from file
1150 -e PATTERN is a regular expression
1151 -F PATTERN is a set of newline-separated strings
1152 -E PATTERN is an extended regular expression
1153 -A print NUM lines of trailing context
1154 -B print NUM lines of leading context
1155 -C print NUM lines of output context
1156 Example:
1158 $ grep root /etc/passwd
1160 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
1161 $ grep ^[rR]oo. /etc/passwd
1162 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
1163 gunzip
1165 gunzip [OPTION]... FILE
1166 Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-').
1168 Options:
1170 -c Write output to standard output
1172 -f Force read when source is a terminal
1173 -t Test compressed file integrity
1174 Example:
1176 $ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
1178 -rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 557009 Apr 11 10:55 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
1179 $ gunzip /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
1180 $ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
1181 -rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar
1182 gzip
1184 gzip [OPTION]... [FILE]...
1185 Compress FILE(s) with maximum compression. When FILE is '-' or
1187 unspecified, reads standard input. Implies -c.
1188 Options:
1190 -c Write output to standard output instead of FILE.gz
1192 -d Decompress
1193 -f Force write when destination is a terminal
1194 Example:
1196 $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
1198 -rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox.tar
1199 $ gzip /tmp/busybox.tar
1200 $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
1201 -rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 554058 Apr 14 17:49 /tmp/busybox.tar.gz
1202 halt
1204 halt [-d<delay>] [-n<nosync>] [-f<force>]
1205 Halt the system. Options:
1207 -d delay interval for halting
1209 -n no call to sync()
1210 -f force halt (don't go through init)
1211 hdparm
1213 hdparm [options] [device] ..
1214 If no device name is specified try to read from stdin.
1216 Options:
1218 -a get/set fs readahead
1220 -A set drive read-lookahead flag (0/1)
1221 -b get/set bus state (0 == off, 1 == on, 2 == tristate)
1222 -B set Advanced Power Management setting (1-255)
1223 -c get/set IDE 32-bit IO setting
1224 -C check IDE power mode status
1225 -d get/set using_dma flag
1226 -D enable/disable drive defect-mgmt
1227 -f flush buffer cache for device on exit
1228 -g display drive geometry
1229 -h display terse usage information
1230 -i display drive identification
1231 -I detailed/current information directly from drive
1232 -k get/set keep_settings_over_reset flag (0/1)
1233 -K set drive keep_features_over_reset flag (0/1)
1234 -L set drive doorlock (0/1) (removable harddisks only)
1235 -m get/set multiple sector count
1236 -n get/set ignore-write-errors flag (0/1)
1237 -p set PIO mode on IDE interface chipset (0,1,2,3,4,...)
1238 -P set drive prefetch count
1239 -q change next setting quietly
1240 -Q get/set DMA tagged-queuing depth (if supported)
1241 -r get/set readonly flag (DANGEROUS to set)
1242 -R register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
1243 -S set standby (spindown) timeout
1244 -t perform device read timings
1245 -T perform cache read timings
1246 -u get/set unmaskirq flag (0/1)
1247 -U un-register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
1248 -v defaults; same as -mcudkrag for IDE drives
1249 -V display program version and exit immediately
1250 -w perform device reset (DANGEROUS)
1251 -W set drive write-caching flag (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
1252 -x tristate device for hotswap (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
1253 -X set IDE xfer mode (DANGEROUS)
1254 -y put IDE drive in standby mode
1255 -Y put IDE drive to sleep
1256 -Z disable Seagate auto-powersaving mode
1257 -z re-read partition table
1258 head
1260 head [OPTION]... [FILE]...
1261 Print first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
1263 than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
1264 With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
1265 Options:
1267 -n NUM Print first NUM lines instead of first 10
1269 -c NUM output the first NUM bytes
1270 -q never output headers giving file names
1271 -v always output headers giving file names
1272 Example:
1274 $ head -n 2 /etc/passwd
1276 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
1277 daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
1278 hexdump
1280 hexdump [-[bcCdefnosvx]] [OPTION] FILE
1281 The hexdump utility is a filter which displays the specified files,
1283 or the standard input, if no files are specified, in a user speci‐
1284 fied format
1285 -b One-byte octal display
1287 -c One-byte character display
1288 -C Canonical hex+ASCII, 16 bytes per line
1289 -d Two-byte decimal display
1290 -e FORMAT STRING
1291 -f FORMAT FILE
1292 -n LENGTH Interpret only length bytes of input
1293 -o Two-byte octal display
1294 -s OFFSET Skip offset byte
1295 -v display all input data
1296 -x Two-byte hexadecimal display
1297 hostid
1299 hostid
1300 Print out a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine.
1302 hostname
1304 hostname [OPTION] {hostname ⎪ -F FILE}
1305 Get or set the hostname or DNS domain name. If a hostname is given
1307 (or FILE with the -F parameter), the host name will be set.
1308 Options:
1310 -s Short
1312 -i Addresses for the hostname
1313 -d DNS domain name
1314 -f Fully qualified domain name
1315 -F FILE Use the contents of FILE to specify the hostname
1316 Example:
1318 $ hostname
1320 sage
1321 httpd
1323 httpd [-c <conf file>] [-p <port>] [-u user] [-r <realm>] [-m
1324 pass] [-h home] [-d/-e <string>]
1325 Listens for incoming http server requests.
1327 Options:
1329 -c FILE Specifies configuration file. (default httpd.conf)
1331 -p PORT Server port (default 80)
1332 -u USER Set uid to USER after listening privileges port
1333 -r REALM Authentication Realm for Basic Authentication
1334 -m PASS Crypt PASS with md5 algorithm
1335 -h HOME Specifies http HOME directory (default ./)
1336 -e STRING Html encode STRING
1337 -d STRING URL decode STRING
1338 hwclock
1340 hwclock [-r⎪--show] [-s⎪--hctosys] [-w⎪--systohc] [-l⎪--local‐
1341 time] [-u⎪--utc]
1342 Query and set the hardware clock (RTC)
1344 Options:
1346 -r read hardware clock and print result
1348 -s set the system time from the hardware clock
1349 -w set the hardware clock to the current system time
1350 -u the hardware clock is kept in coordinated universal time
1351 -l the hardware clock is kept in local time
1352 id id [OPTIONS]... [USERNAME]
1354 Print information for USERNAME or the current user
1356 Options:
1358 USAGE_SELINUX(" -Z prints only the security context
1360 ") B<-g> prints only the group ID
1361 -u prints only the user ID
1363 -n print a name instead of a number
1364 -r prints the real user ID instead of the effective ID
1365 Example:
1367 $ id
1369 uid=1000(andersen) gid=1000(andersen)
1370 ifconfig
1372 ifconfig USAGE_IFCONFIG_OPT_A("[-a]") " <interface>
1373 [<address>]
1374 configure a network interface
1376 Options:
1378 USAGE_IPV6(" [add <address>[/<prefixlen>]]
1380 ") USAGE_IPV6(" [del <address>[/<prefixlen>]]
1381 ") [[-]broadcast [<address>]] [[-]pointopoint [<address>]]
1382 [netmask <address>] [dstaddr <address>]
1384 USAGE_SIOCSKEEPALIVE(" [outfill <NN>] [keepalive <NN>]
1385 ") " USAGE_IFCONFIG_HW("[hw ether <address>] ") [metric <NN>] [mtu <NN>]
1386 [[-]trailers] [[-]arp] [[-]allmulti]
1388 [multicast] [[-]promisc] [txqueuelen <NN>] [[-]dynamic]
1389 USAGE_IFCONFIG_MII(" [mem_start <NN>] [io_addr <NN>] [irq <NN>]
1390 ") [up⎪down] ...
1391 ifdown
1393 ifdown <-ahinv> <ifaces...>
1394 ifdown <options> <ifaces...>
1396 Options:
1398 -h this help
1400 -a de/configure all interfaces automatically
1401 -i FILE use FILE for interface definitions
1402 -n print out what would happen, but don't do it
1403 (note that this option doesn't disable mappings)
1404 -v print out what would happen before doing it
1405 -m don't run any mappings
1406 -f force de/configuration
1407 ifup
1409 ifup <-ahinv> <ifaces...>
1410 ifup <options> <ifaces...>
1412 Options:
1414 -h this help
1416 -a de/configure all interfaces automatically
1417 -i FILE use FILE for interface definitions
1418 -n print out what would happen, but don't do it
1419 (note that this option doesn't disable mappings)
1420 -v print out what would happen before doing it
1421 -m don't run any mappings
1422 -f force de/configuration
1423 inetd
1425 inetd [-f] [-q len] [conf]
1426 Listens for network connections and launches programs
1428 Option:
1430 -f Run as a foreground progress
1432 -q Sets the size of the socket listen queue to
1433 the specified value. Default is 128
1434 init
1436 init
1437 Init is the parent of all processes.
1439 This version of init is designed to be run only by the kernel.
1441 BusyBox init doesn't support multiple runlevels. The runlevels
1443 field of the /etc/inittab file is completely ignored by BusyBox
1444 init. If you want runlevels, use sysvinit.
1445 BusyBox init works just fine without an inittab. If no inittab is
1447 found, it has the following default behavior:
1448 ::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
1450 ::askfirst:/bin/sh
1451 ::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
1452 ::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
1453 ::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
1454 ::restart:/sbin/init
1455 if it detects that /dev/console is _not_ a serial console, it will
1457 also run:
1458 tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh
1460 tty3::askfirst:/bin/sh
1461 tty4::askfirst:/bin/sh
1462 If you choose to use an /etc/inittab file, the inittab entry format
1464 is as follows:
1465 <id>:<runlevels>:<action>:<process>
1467 <id>:
1469 WARNING: This field has a non-traditional meaning for BusyBox init!
1471 The id field is used by BusyBox init to specify the controlling tty for
1472 the specified process to run on. The contents of this field are
1473 appended to "/dev/" and used as-is. There is no need for this field to
1474 be unique, although if it isn't you may have strange results. If this
1475 field is left blank, the controlling tty is set to the console. Also
1476 note that if BusyBox detects that a serial console is in use, then only
1477 entries whose controlling tty is either the serial console or /dev/null
1478 will be run. BusyBox init does nothing with utmp. We don't need no
1479 stinkin' utmp.
1480 <runlevels>:
1482 The runlevels field is completely ignored.
1484 <action>:
1486 Valid actions include: sysinit, respawn, askfirst, wait,
1488 once, restart, ctrlaltdel, and shutdown.
1489 The available actions can be classified into two groups: actions
1491 that are run only once, and actions that are re-run when the specified
1492 process exits.
1493 Run only-once actions:
1495 'sysinit' is the first item run on boot. init waits until all
1497 sysinit actions are completed before continuing. Following the
1498 completion of all sysinit actions, all 'wait' actions are run.
1499 'wait' actions, like 'sysinit' actions, cause init to wait until
1500 the specified task completes. 'once' actions are asynchronous,
1501 therefore, init does not wait for them to complete. 'restart' is
1502 the action taken to restart the init process. By default this should
1503 simply run /sbin/init, but can be a script which runs pivot_root or it
1504 can do all sorts of other interesting things. The 'ctrlaltdel' init
1505 actions are run when the system detects that someone on the system
1506 console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination. Typically one
1507 wants to run 'reboot' at this point to cause the system to reboot.
1508 Finally the 'shutdown' action specifies the actions to taken when
1509 init is told to reboot. Unmounting filesystems and disabling swap
1510 is a very good here
1511 Run repeatedly actions:
1513 'respawn' actions are run after the 'once' actions. When a process
1515 started with a 'respawn' action exits, init automatically restarts
1516 it. Unlike sysvinit, BusyBox init does not stop processes from
1517 respawning out of control. The 'askfirst' actions acts just like
1518 respawn, except that before running the specified process it
1519 displays the line "Please press Enter to activate this console."
1520 and then waits for the user to press enter before starting the
1521 specified process.
1522 Unrecognized actions (like initdefault) will cause init to emit an
1524 error message, and then go along with its business. All actions are
1525 run in the order they appear in /etc/inittab.
1526 <process>:
1528 Specifies the process to be executed and its command line.
1530 Example /etc/inittab file:
1532 # This is run first except when booting in single-user mode.
1534 #
1535 ::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
1536 # /bin/sh invocations on selected ttys
1538 #
1539 # Start an "askfirst" shell on the console (whatever that may be)
1540 ::askfirst:-/bin/sh
1541 # Start an "askfirst" shell on /dev/tty2-4
1542 tty2::askfirst:-/bin/sh
1543 tty3::askfirst:-/bin/sh
1544 tty4::askfirst:-/bin/sh
1545 # /sbin/getty invocations for selected ttys
1547 #
1548 tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
1549 tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
1550 # Example of how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
1552 #
1553 #::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
1554 #::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
1555 #
1556 # Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
1557 #::respawn:/sbin/getty 57600 ttyS2
1558 # Stuff to do when restarting the init process
1560 ::restart:/sbin/init
1561 # Stuff to do before rebooting
1563 ::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
1564 ::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
1565 ::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
1566 insmod
1568 insmod [OPTION]... MODULE [symbol=value]...
1569 Loads the specified kernel modules into the kernel.
1571 Options:
1573 -f Force module to load into the wrong kernel version
1575 -k Make module autoclean-able
1576 -v verbose output
1577 -q quiet output
1578 -L Lock to prevent simultaneous loads of a module
1579 USAGE_INSMOD_MAP(" -m Output load map to stdout
1580 ") B<-o> NAME Set internal module name to NAME
1581 -x do not export externs
1583 install
1585 install [-cgmops] [sources] <dest⎪directory>
1586 Copies files and set attributes
1588 Options:
1590 -c copy the file, default
1592 -d create directories
1593 -g set group ownership
1594 -m set permission modes
1595 -o set ownership
1596 -p preserve date
1597 -s strip symbol tables
1598 ip ip [ OPTIONS ] { address ⎪ link ⎪ route ⎪ tunnel } { COM‐
1600 MAND ⎪ help }
1601 ip [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND ⎪ help } where OBJECT := { link ⎪
1603 addr ⎪ route ⎪ tunnel } OPTIONS := { -f[amily] { inet ⎪ inet6 ⎪
1604 link } ⎪ -o[neline] }
1605 ipaddr
1607 ipaddr { {add⎪del} IFADDR dev STRING ⎪ {show⎪flush} [
1608 dev STRING ] [ to PREFIX ] }
1609 ipaddr {add⎪delete} IFADDR dev STRING ipaddr {show⎪flush} [ dev
1611 STRING ] [ scope SCOPE-ID ]
1612 [ to PREFIX ] [ label PATTERN ]
1614 IFADDR := PREFIX ⎪ ADDR peer PREFIX
1615 [ broadcast ADDR ] [ anycast ADDR ]
1616 [ label STRING ] [ scope SCOPE-ID ]
1617 SCOPE-ID := [ host ⎪ link ⎪ global ⎪ NUMBER ]
1618 ipcalc
1620 ipcalc [OPTION]... <ADDRESS>[[/]<NETMASK>] [NETMASK]
1621 Calculate IP network settings from a IP address
1623 Options:
1625 -b --broadcast Display calculated broadcast address
1627 -n --network Display calculated network address
1628 -m --netmask Display default netmask for IP XUSAGE_IPCALC_FANCY(
1629 -p --prefix Display the prefix for IP/NETMASK
1630 -h --hostname Display first resolved host name
1631 -s --silent Don't ever display error messages")
1632 ipcrm
1634 ipcrm [-[MQS] key] [-[mqs] id]
1635 The upper-case options MQS are used to remove a shared memory seg‐
1637 ment by an shmkey value. The lower-case options mqs are used to
1638 remove a segment by shmid value.
1639 -m ⎪ -M Remove the memory segment after the last detach
1641 -q ⎪ -Q Remove the message queue
1642 -s ⎪ -S Remove the semaphore
1643 ipcs
1645 ipcs [[-smq] -i shmid] ⎪ [[-asmq] [-tclup]]
1646 -i specify a specific resource id
1648 Resource specification:
1649 -m shared memory segments
1651 -q message queues
1652 -s semaphore arrays
1653 -a all (default)
1654 Output format:
1655 -t time
1657 -p pid
1658 -s creator
1659 -a limits
1660 -i summary
1661 iplink
1663 iplink
1664 iplink set DEVICE { up ⎪ down ⎪ arp { on ⎪ off } ⎪
1666 dynamic { on ⎪ off } ⎪
1668 mtu MTU }
1669 iplink show [ DEVICE ]
1670 iproute
1672 iproute { list ⎪ flush ⎪ { add ⎪ del ⎪ change ⎪ append ⎪
1673 replace ⎪ monitor } ROUTE }
1674 iproute { list ⎪ flush } SELECTOR iproute get ADDRESS [ from
1676 ADDRESS iif STRING ]
1677 [ oif STRING ] [ tos TOS ]
1679 iproute { add ⎪ del ⎪ change ⎪ append ⎪ replace ⎪ monitor } ROUTE
1680 SELECTOR := [ root PREFIX ] [ match PREFIX ] [ proto RTPROTO ]
1681 ROUTE := [ TYPE ] PREFIX [ tos TOS ] [ proto RTPROTO ]
1682 iptunnel
1684 iptunnel { add ⎪ change ⎪ del ⎪ show } [ NAME ] [ mode
1685 { ipip ⎪ gre ⎪ sit } ] [ remote ADDR ] [ local ADDR ] [
1686 ttl TTL ]
1687 iptunnel { add ⎪ change ⎪ del ⎪ show } [ NAME ]
1689 [ mode { ipip ⎪ gre ⎪ sit } ] [ remote ADDR ] [ local ADDR ]
1691 [ [i⎪o]seq ] [ [i⎪o]key KEY ] [ [i⎪o]csum ]
1692 [ ttl TTL ] [ tos TOS ] [ [no]pmtudisc ] [ dev PHYS_DEV ]
1693 kill
1695 kill [-signal] process-id [process-id ...]
1696 Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).
1698 Options:
1700 -l List all signal names and numbers
1702 Example:
1704 $ ps ⎪ grep apache
1706 252 root root S [apache]
1707 263 www-data www-data S [apache]
1708 264 www-data www-data S [apache]
1709 265 www-data www-data S [apache]
1710 266 www-data www-data S [apache]
1711 267 www-data www-data S [apache]
1712 $ kill 252
1713 killall
1715 killall [-q] [-signal] process-name [process-name ...]
1716 Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).
1718 Options:
1720 -l List all signal names and numbers
1722 -q Do not complain if no processes were killed
1723 Example:
1725 $ killall apache
1727 klogd
1729 klogd [-c n] [-n]
1730 Kernel logger. Options:
1732 -c n Sets the default log level of console messages to n
1734 -n Run as a foreground process
1735 lash
1737 lash [FILE]... or: sh -c command [args]...
1738 The BusyBox LAme SHell (command interpreter)
1740 This command does not yet have proper documentation.
1742 Use lash just as you would use any other shell. It properly han‐
1744 dles pipes, redirects, job control, can be used as the shell for
1745 scripts, and has a sufficient set of builtins to do what is needed.
1746 It does not (yet) support Bourne Shell syntax. If you need things
1747 like "if-then-else", "while", and such use ash or bash. If you
1748 just need a very simple and extremely small shell, this will do the
1749 job.
1750 last
1752 last
1753 Shows listing of the last users that logged into the system
1755 length
1757 length STRING
1758 Prints out the length of the specified STRING.
1760 Example:
1762 $ length Hello
1764 5
1765 less
1767 less [-EMNmh~?] FILE1 FILE2...
1768 View a file or list of files. The position within files can be
1770 changed, and files can be manipulated in various ways with the fol‐
1771 lowing options:
1772 -E Quit once the end of a file is reached
1774 -M Display a status line containing the current line numbers
1775 and the percentage through the file
1776 -N Prefix line numbers to each line
1777 -m Display a status line containing the percentage through the
1778 file
1779 -~ Suppress ~s displayed when input past the end of the file is
1780 reached.
1781 -h, -? Display this help message
1782 ln ln [OPTION] TARGET... LINK_NAME⎪DIRECTORY
1784 Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET
1786 You may use '--' to indicate that all following arguments are
1788 non-options.
1789 Options:
1791 -s make symbolic links instead of hard links
1793 -f remove existing destination files
1794 -n no dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
1795 -b make a backup of the target (if exists) before link operation
1796 -S suffix use suffix instead of ~ when making backup files
1797 Example:
1799 $ ln -s BusyBox /tmp/ls
1801 $ ls -l /tmp/ls
1802 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Apr 12 18:39 ls -> BusyBox*
1803 load_policy
1805 load_policy
1806 load SELinux policy
1808 Example:
1810 $ load_policy /etc/selinux/strict/policy/policy.17
1812 loadfont
1814 loadfont < font
1815 Loads a console font from standard input.
1817 Example:
1819 $ loadfont < /etc/i18n/fontname
1821 loadkmap
1823 loadkmap < keymap
1824 Loads a binary keyboard translation table from standard input.
1826 Example:
1828 $ loadkmap < /etc/i18n/lang-keymap
1830 logger
1832 logger [OPTION]... [MESSAGE]
1833 Write MESSAGE to the system log. If MESSAGE is omitted, log stdin.
1835 Options:
1837 -s Log to stderr as well as the system log
1839 -t TAG Log using the specified tag (defaults to user name)
1840 -p PRIORITY Enter the message with the specified priority
1841 This may be numerical or a ``facility.level'' pair
1842 Example:
1844 $ logger "hello"
1846 login
1848 login [OPTION]... [username] [ENV=VAR ...]
1849 Begin a new session on the system
1851 Options:
1853 -f Do not authenticate (user already authenticated)
1855 -h Name of the remote host for this login
1856 -p Preserve environment
1857 logname
1859 logname
1860 Print the name of the current user.
1862 Example:
1864 $ logname
1866 root
1867 logread
1869 logread [OPTION]...
1870 Shows the messages from syslogd (using circular buffer).
1872 Options:
1874 -f output data as the log grows
1876 losetup
1878 losetup [-od] LOOPDEVICE [FILE]
1879 Associate LOOPDEVICE with FILE, or display current association.
1881 Options:
1883 -d Disassociate LOOPDEVICE
1885 -o OFFSET Start OFFSET bytes into FILE
1886 One argument (losetup /dev/loop1) will display the current associa‐
1888 tion (if any), or disassociate it (with -d). The display shows the
1889 offset and filename of the file the loop device is currently bound
1890 to.
1891 Two arguments (losetup /dev/loop1 file.img) create a new associa‐
1893 tion, with an optional offset (-o 12345). Encryption is not yet
1894 supported.
1895 ls ls [-1Aa" USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS("c") "Cd" USAGE_LS_TIME‐
1897 STAMPS("e") USAGE_LS_FILETYPES("F") "iln" USAGE_LS_FILETYPES("p")
1898 USAGE_LS_FOLLOWLINKS("L") USAGE_LS_RECURSIVE("R") USAGE_LS_SORT‐
1899 FILES("rS") "s" USAGE_AUTOWIDTH("T") USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS("tu")
1900 USAGE_LS_SORTFILES("v") USAGE_AUTOWIDTH("w") "x" USAGE_LS_SORT‐
1901 FILES("X") "hk" USAGE_SELINUX("K") "] [filenames...]
1902 List directory contents
1904 Options:
1906 -1 list files in a single column
1908 -A do not list implied . and ..
1909 -a do not hide entries starting with .
1910 -C list entries by columns
1911 USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS(" -c with -l: show ctime
1912 ") USAGE_LS_COLOR(" -B<-color>[={always,never,auto}] to control coloring
1913 ") B<-d> list directory entries instead of contents
1914 USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS(" -e list both full date and full time
1916 ") USAGE_LS_FILETYPES(" B<-F> append indicator (one of */=@⎪) to entries
1917 ") B<-i> list the i-node for each file
1918 -l use a long listing format
1920 -n list numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
1921 USAGE_LS_FILETYPES(" -p append indicator (one of /=@⎪) to entries
1922 ") USAGE_LS_FOLLOWLINKS(" B<-L> list entries pointed to by symbolic links
1923 ") USAGE_LS_RECURSIVE(" B<-R> list subdirectories recursively
1924 ") USAGE_LS_SORTFILES(" B<-r> sort the listing in reverse order
1925 ") USAGE_LS_SORTFILES(" B<-S> sort the listing by file size
1926 ") B<-s> list the size of each file, in blocks
1927 USAGE_AUTOWIDTH(" -T NUM assume Tabstop every NUM columns
1929 ") USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS(" B<-t> with B<-l>: show modification time
1930 ") USAGE_LS_TIMESTAMPS(" B<-u> with B<-l>: show access time
1931 ") USAGE_LS_SORTFILES(" B<-v> sort the listing by version
1932 ") USAGE_AUTOWIDTH(" B<-w> NUM assume the terminal is NUM columns wide
1933 ") B<-x> list entries by lines instead of by columns
1934 USAGE_LS_SORTFILES(" -X sort the listing by extension
1936 ") B<-h> print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
1937 USAGE_SELINUX(" -k print security context
1939 ") USAGE_SELINUX(" B<-K> print security context in long format
1940 ")
1941 lsattr
1943 lsattr [-Radlv] [files...]
1944 list file attributes on an ext2 fs
1946 Options:
1948 -R recursively list subdirectories
1950 -a do not hide entries starting with .
1951 -d list directory entries instead of contents
1952 -l print long flag names
1953 -v list the file's version/generation number
1954 lsmod
1956 lsmod
1957 List the currently loaded kernel modules.
1959 lzmacat
1961 lzmacat FILE
1962 Uncompress to stdout.
1964 makedevs
1966 makedevs [-d device_table] rootdir
1967 Creates a range of special files as specified in a device table.
1969 Device table entries take the form of: <type> <mode> <uid> <gid>
1970 <major> <minor> <start> <inc> <count> Where name is the file name,
1971 type can be one of:
1972 f A regular file
1974 d Directory
1975 c Character special device file
1976 b Block special device file
1977 p Fifo (named pipe)
1978 uid is the user id for the target file, gid is the group id for the
1979 target file. The rest of the entries (major, minor, etc) apply to
1980 to device special files. A '-' may be used for blank entries.
1981 Example:
1983 For example:
1985 <name> <type> <mode><uid><gid><major><minor><start><inc><count>
1986 /dev d 755 0 0 - - - - -
1987 /dev/console c 666 0 0 5 1 - - -
1988 /dev/null c 666 0 0 1 3 0 0 -
1989 /dev/zero c 666 0 0 1 5 0 0 -
1990 /dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 0 0 0 -
1991 /dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 1 1 1 15
1992 Will Produce:
1994 /dev
1995 /dev/console
1996 /dev/null
1997 /dev/zero
1998 /dev/hda
1999 /dev/hda[0-15]
2000 md5sum
2002 md5sum [OPTION] [FILEs...] USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK("
2003 or: md5sum [OPTION] -c [FILE]")
2004 Print" USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK(" or check") " MD5 checksums.
2006 Options: With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard
2008 input. USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK("
2009 -c check MD5 sums against given list
2011 The following two options are useful only when verifying checksums:
2013 -s don't output anything, status code shows success
2015 -w warn about improperly formated MD5 checksum lines")
2016 Example:
2018 $ md5sum < busybox
2020 6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003
2021 $ md5sum busybox
2022 6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
2023 $ md5sum -c -
2024 6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
2025 busybox: OK
2026 ^D
2027 mdev
2029 mdev [-s]
2030 -s Scan /sys and populate /dev during system boot
2032 Called with no options (via hotplug) it uses environment variables
2034 to determine which device to add/remove.
2035 The mdev config file contains lines that look like:
2037 hd[a-z][0-9]* 0:3 660
2038 That's device name (with regex match), uid:gid, and permissions.
2040 Optionally, that can be followed (on the same line) by a special
2042 character and a command line to run after creating/before deleting
2043 the corresponding device(s). The environment variable $MDEV indi‐
2044 cates the active device node (which is useful if it's a regex
2045 match). For example:
2046 hdc root:cdrom 660 *ln -s $MDEV cdrom
2048 The special characters are @ (run after creating), $ (run before
2050 deleting), and * (run both after creating and before deleting).
2051 The commands run in the /dev directory, and use system() which
2052 calls /bin/sh.
2053 Config file parsing stops on the first matching line. If no config
2055 entry is matched, devices are created with default 0:0 660. (Make
2056 the last line match .* to override this.)
2057 mesg
2059 mesg [y⎪n]
2060 mesg controls write access to your terminal
2062 y Allow write access to your terminal
2064 n Disallow write access to your terminal
2065 mkdir
2067 mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY...
2068 Create the DIRECTORY(ies) if they do not already exist
2070 Options:
2072 -m set permission mode (as in chmod), not rwxrwxrwx - umask
2074 -p no error if existing, make parent directories as needed
2075 Example:
2077 $ mkdir /tmp/foo
2079 $ mkdir /tmp/foo
2080 /tmp/foo: File exists
2081 $ mkdir /tmp/foo/bar/baz
2082 /tmp/foo/bar/baz: No such file or directory
2083 $ mkdir -p /tmp/foo/bar/baz
2084 mke2fs
2086 mke2fs [-c⎪-l filename] [-b block-size] [-f fragment-size] [-g
2087 blocks-per-group] [-i bytes-per-inode] [-j] [-J journal-options]
2088 [-N number-of-inodes] [-n] [-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o cre‐
2089 ator-os] [-O feature[,...]] [-q] [r fs-revision-level] [-E
2090 extended-options] [-v] [-F] [-L volume-label] [-M
2091 last-mounted-directory] [-S] [-T filesystem-type] device
2092 [blocks-count]
2093 -b size block size in bytes
2095 -c check for bad blocks before creating
2096 -E opts set extended options
2097 -f size fragment size in bytes
2098 -F force (ignore sanity checks)
2099 -g num number of blocks in a block group
2100 -i ratio the bytes/inode ratio
2101 -j create a journal (ext3)
2102 -J opts set journal options (size/device)
2103 -l file read bad blocks list from file
2104 -L lbl set the volume label
2105 -m percent percent of fs blocks to reserve for admin
2106 -M dir set last mounted directory
2107 -n do not actually create anything
2108 -N num number of inodes to create
2109 -o os set the 'creator os' field
2110 -O features dir_index/filetype/has_journal/journal_dev/sparse_super
2111 -q quiet execution
2112 -r rev set filesystem revision
2113 -S write superblock and group descriptors only
2114 -T fs-type set usage type (news/largefile/largefile4)
2115 -v verbose execution
2116 mkfifo
2118 mkfifo [OPTIONS] name
2119 Creates a named pipe (identical to 'mknod name p')
2121 Options:
2123 -m create the pipe using the specified mode (default a=rw)
2125 mkfs.minix
2127 mkfs.minix [-c ⎪ -l filename] [-nXX] [-iXX] /dev/name [blocks]
2128 Make a MINIX filesystem.
2130 Options:
2132 -c Check the device for bad blocks
2134 -n [14⎪30] Specify the maximum length of filenames
2135 -i INODES Specify the number of inodes for the filesystem
2136 -l FILENAME Read the bad blocks list from FILENAME
2137 -v Make a Minix version 2 filesystem
2138 mknod
2140 mknod [OPTIONS] NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR
2141 Create a special file (block, character, or pipe).
2143 Options:
2145 -m create the special file using the specified mode (default a=rw)
2147 TYPEs include:
2149 b: Make a block (buffered) device
2151 c or u: Make a character (un-buffered) device
2152 p: Make a named pipe. MAJOR and MINOR are ignored for named pipes
2153 Example:
2155 $ mknod /dev/fd0 b 2 0
2157 $ mknod -m 644 /tmp/pipe p
2158 mkswap
2160 mkswap [-c] [-v0⎪-v1] device [block-count]
2161 Prepare a disk partition to be used as a swap partition.
2163 Options:
2165 -c Check for read-ability
2167 -v0 Make version 0 swap [max 128 Megs]
2168 -v1 Make version 1 swap [big!] (default for kernels >
2169 2.1.117)
2170 block-count Number of block to use (default is entire partition)
2171 mktemp
2173 mktemp [-dq] TEMPLATE
2174 Creates a temporary file with its name based on TEMPLATE. TEMPLATE
2176 is any name with six `Xs' (i.e., /tmp/temp.XXXXXX).
2177 Options:
2179 -d Make a directory instead of a file
2181 -q Fail silently if an error occurs
2182 Example:
2184 $ mktemp /tmp/temp.XXXXXX
2186 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
2187 $ ls -la /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
2188 -rw------- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
2189 modprobe
2191 modprobe [-knqrsv] MODULE [symbol=value ...]
2192 Options:
2194 -k Make module autoclean-able
2196 -n Just show what would be done
2197 -q Quiet output
2198 -r Remove module (stacks) or do autoclean
2199 -s Report via syslog instead of stderr
2200 -v Verbose output
2201 modprobe can (un)load a stack of modules, passing each module
2203 options (when loading). modprobe uses a configuration file to
2204 determine what option(s) to pass each module it loads.
2205 The configuration file is searched (in order) amongst:
2207 /etc/modprobe.conf (2.6 only)
2209 /etc/modules.conf
2210 /etc/conf.modules (deprecated)
2211 They all have the same syntax (see below). If none is present, it
2213 is _not_ an error; each loaded module is then expected to load
2214 without options. Once a file is found, the others are tested for.
2215 /etc/modules.conf entry format:
2217 alias <alias_name> <mod_name>
2219 Makes it possible to modprobe alias_name, when there is no such module.
2220 It makes sense if your mod_name is long, or you want a more representative
2221 name for that module (eg. 'scsi' in place of 'aha7xxx').
2222 This makes it also possible to use a different set of options (below) for
2223 the module and the alias.
2224 A module can be aliased more than once.
2225 options <mod_name⎪alias_name> <symbol=value ...>
2227 When loading module mod_name (or the module aliased by alias_name), pass
2228 the "symbol=value" pairs as option to that module.
2229 Sample /etc/modules.conf file:
2231 options tulip irq=3
2233 alias tulip tulip2
2234 options tulip2 irq=4 io=0x308
2235 Other functionality offered by 'classic' modprobe is not available
2237 in this implementation.
2238 If module options are present both in the config file, and on the
2240 command line, then the options from the command line will be passed
2241 to the module _after_ the options from the config file. That way,
2242 you can have defaults in the config file, and override them for a
2243 specific usage from the command line.
2244 Example:
2246 (with the above /etc/modules.conf):
2248 $ modprobe tulip
2250 will load the module 'tulip' with default option 'irq=3'
2251 $ modprobe tulip irq=5
2253 will load the module 'tulip' with option 'irq=5', thus overriding the default
2254 $ modprobe tulip2
2256 will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308',
2257 which are the default for alias 'tulip2'
2258 $ modprobe tulip2 irq=8
2260 will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=8',
2261 which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overridden by the option 'irq=8'
2262 from the command line
2264 $ modprobe tulip2 irq=2 io=0x210
2266 will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=4 io=0x210',
2267 which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overridden by the options 'irq=2 io=0x210'
2268 from the command line
2270 more
2272 more [FILE ...]
2273 More is a filter for viewing FILE one screenful at a time.
2275 Example:
2277 $ dmesg ⎪ more
2279 mount
2281 mount [flags] DEVICE NODE [-o options,more-options]
2282 Mount a filesystem. Filesystem autodetection requires /proc be
2284 mounted.
2285 Flags:
2287 -a: Mount all filesystems in fstab
2289 USAGE_MTAB( -f: "Fake" Add entry to mount table but don't mount it
2290 -n: Don't write a mount table entry
2291 ) -o option: One of many filesystem options, listed below
2292 -r: Mount the filesystem read-only
2293 -t fs-type: Specify the filesystem type
2294 -w: Mount for reading and writing (default)
2295 Options for use with the "-o" flag:
2297 async/sync: Writes are asynchronous / synchronous
2299 atime/noatime: Enable / disable updates to inode access times
2300 dev/nodev: Allow use of special device files / disallow them
2301 exec/noexec: Allow use of executable files / disallow them
2302 USAGE_MOUNT_LOOP( loop: Ignored (loop devices are autodetected)
2303 ) suid/nosuid: Allow set-user-id-root programs / disallow them
2304 remount: Re-mount a mounted filesystem, changing its flags
2305 ro/rw: Mount for read-only / read-write
2306 bind: Bind a directory to an additional location
2307 move: Relocate an existing mount point.
2308 There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem
2310 You'll have to see the written documentation for those filesystems
2311 Returns 0 for success, number of failed mounts for -a, or errno for
2313 one mount.
2314 Example:
2316 $ mount
2318 /dev/hda3 on / type minix (rw)
2319 proc on /proc type proc (rw)
2320 devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
2321 $ mount /dev/fd0 /mnt -t msdos -o ro
2322 $ mount /tmp/diskimage /opt -t ext2 -o loop
2323 $ mount cd_image.iso mydir
2324 mountpoint
2326 mountpoint [-q] <[-d] DIR ⎪ -x DEVICE>
2327 mountpoint checks if the directory is a mountpoint
2329 Options:
2331 -q: Be more quiet
2333 -d: Print major/minor device number of the filesystem
2334 -x: Print major/minor device number of the blockdevice
2335 Example:
2337 $ mountpoint /proc
2339 /proc is not a mountpoint
2340 $ mountpoint /sys
2341 /sys is a mountpoint
2342 mt mt [-f device] opcode value
2344 Control magnetic tape drive operation
2346 Available Opcodes:
2348 bsf bsfm bsr bss datacompression drvbuffer eof eom erase fsf fsfm
2350 fsr fss load lock mkpart nop offline ras1 ras2 ras3 reset retension
2351 rewind rewoffline seek setblk setdensity setpart tell unload unlock
2352 weof wset
2353 mv mv [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST or: mv [OPTION]... SOURCE...
2355 DIRECTORY
2356 Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
2358 Options:
2360 -f don't prompt before overwriting
2362 -i interactive, prompt before overwrite
2363 Example:
2365 $ mv /tmp/foo /bin/bar
2367 nameif
2369 nameif [-s] [-c FILE] [{IFNAME MACADDR}]
2370 Nameif renaming network interface while it in the down state.
2372 Options:
2374 -c FILE Use configuration file (default is /etc/mactab)
2376 -s Use syslog (LOCAL0 facility)
2377 IFNAME MACADDR new_interface_name interface_mac_address
2378 Example:
2380 $ nameif -s dmz0 00:A0:C9:8C:F6:3F
2382 or
2383 $ nameif -c /etc/my_mactab_file
2384 nc nc [OPTIONS] [IP] [port]
2386 Netcat opens a pipe to IP:port
2388 Options:
2390 -l listen mode, for inbound connects
2392 -p PORT local port number
2393 -i SECS delay interval for lines sent
2394 USAGE_NC_EXEC( -e PROG program to exec after connect (dangerous!)
2395 ) -w SECS timeout for connects and final net reads
2396 Example:
2398 $ nc foobar.somedomain.com 25
2400 220 foobar ESMTP Exim 3.12 #1 Sat, 15 Apr 2000 00:03:02 -0600
2401 help
2402 214-Commands supported:
2403 214- HELO EHLO MAIL RCPT DATA AUTH
2404 214 NOOP QUIT RSET HELP
2405 quit
2406 221 foobar closing connection
2407 netstat
2409 netstat [-laenrtuwx]
2410 Netstat displays Linux networking information.
2412 Options:
2414 -l display listening server sockets
2416 -a display all sockets (default: connected)
2417 -e display other/more information
2418 -n don't resolve names
2419 -r display routing table
2420 -t tcp sockets
2421 -u udp sockets
2422 -w raw sockets
2423 -x unix sockets
2424 nice
2426 nice [-n ADJUST] [COMMAND [ARG] ...]
2427 Nice runs a program with modified scheduling priority.
2429 Options:
2431 -n ADJUST Adjust the scheduling priority by ADJUST
2433 nohup
2435 nohup COMMAND [ARGS]
2436 run a command immune to hangups, with output to a non-tty
2438 Example:
2440 $ nohup make &
2442 nslookup
2444 nslookup [HOST] [SERVER]
2445 Queries the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST option‐
2447 ally using a specified DNS server
2448 Example:
2450 $ nslookup localhost
2452 Server: default
2453 Address: default
2454 Name: debian
2456 Address: 127.0.0.1
2457 od od [-aBbcDdeFfHhIiLlOovXx] [FILE]
2459 Write an unambiguous representation, octal bytes by default, of
2461 FILE to standard output. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read
2462 standard input.
2463 openvt
2465 openvt <vtnum> <COMMAND> [ARGS...]
2466 Start a command on a new virtual terminal
2468 Example:
2470 openvt 2 /bin/ash
2472 passwd
2474 passwd [OPTION] [name]
2475 Change a user password. If no name is specified, changes the pass‐
2477 word for the current user. Options:
2478 -a Define which algorithm shall be used for the password
2480 (Choices: des, md5 PASSWORD_ALG_TYPES(", sha1") )
2481 -d Delete the password for the specified user account
2482 -l Locks (disables) the specified user account
2483 -u Unlocks (re-enables) the specified user account
2484 patch
2486 patch [-p<num>] [-i <diff>]
2487 -p <num> Strip <num> leading components from file names
2489 -i <diff> Read <diff> instead of stdin
2490 Example:
2492 $ patch -p1 < example.diff
2494 $ patch -p0 -i example.diff
2495 pidof
2497 pidof process-name [OPTION] [process-name ...]
2498 Lists the PIDs of all processes with names that match the names on
2500 the command line.
2501 USAGE_PIDOF USAGE_FEATURE_PIDOF_SINGLE("
2503 -s display only a single PID") USAGE_FEATURE_PIDOF_OMIT("
2504 -o omit given pid.") USAGE_FEATURE_PIDOF_OMIT("
2505 Use %PPID to omit the parent pid of pidof itself")
2506 Example:
2508 $ pidof init
2510 1
2511 USAGE_FEATURE_PIDOF_OMIT("$ pidof /bin/sh
2512 20351 5973 5950
2513 ") USAGE_FEATURE_PIDOF_OMIT("$ pidof /bin/sh -o %PPID
2514 20351 5950")
2515 ping
2517 ping [OPTION]... host
2518 Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts.
2520 Options:
2522 -c COUNT Send only COUNT pings
2524 -s SIZE Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default=56)
2525 -q Quiet mode, only displays output at start
2526 and when finished
2527 Example:
2529 $ ping localhost
2531 PING slag (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
2532 64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=20.1 ms
2533 --- debian ping statistics ---
2535 1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
2536 round-trip min/avg/max = 20.1/20.1/20.1 ms
2537 ping6
2539 ping6 [OPTION]... host
2540 Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts.
2542 Options:
2544 -c COUNT Send only COUNT pings
2546 -s SIZE Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default=56)
2547 -q Quiet mode, only displays output at start
2548 and when finished
2549 Example:
2551 $ ping6 ip6-localhost
2553 PING ip6-localhost (::1): 56 data bytes
2554 64 bytes from ::1: icmp6_seq=0 ttl=64 time=20.1 ms
2555 --- ip6-localhost ping statistics ---
2557 1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
2558 round-trip min/avg/max = 20.1/20.1/20.1 ms
2559 pivot_root
2561 pivot_root NEW_ROOT PUT_OLD
2562 Move the current root file system to PUT_OLD and make NEW_ROOT the
2564 new root file system.
2565 poweroff
2567 poweroff [-d<delay>] [-n<nosync>] [-f<force>]
2568 Halt and shut off power. Options:
2570 -d delay interval for halting
2572 -n no call to sync()
2573 -f force power off (don't go through init)
2574 printenv
2576 printenv [VARIABLES...]
2577 print all or part of environment
2579 If no environment VARIABLE specified, print them all.
2581 printf
2583 printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT...]
2584 Formats and prints ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, Where FORMAT
2586 controls the output exactly as in C printf.
2587 Example:
2589 $ printf "Val=%d\n" 5
2591 Val=5
2592 ps ps
2594 Report process status
2596 USAGE_PS USAGE_SELINUX("
2598 -Z show SE Linux context") USAGE_PS_WIDE("
2599 w wide output")
2600 Example:
2602 $ ps
2604 PID Uid Gid State Command
2605 1 root root S init
2606 2 root root S [kflushd]
2607 3 root root S [kupdate]
2608 4 root root S [kpiod]
2609 5 root root S [kswapd]
2610 742 andersen andersen S [bash]
2611 743 andersen andersen S -bash
2612 745 root root S [getty]
2613 2990 andersen andersen R ps
2614 pwd pwd
2616 Print the full filename of the current working directory.
2618 Example:
2620 $ pwd
2622 /root
2623 rdate
2625 rdate [-sp] HOST
2626 Get and possibly set the system date and time from a remote HOST.
2628 Options:
2630 -s Set the system date and time (default)
2632 -p Print the date and time
2633 readlink
2635 readlink USAGE_READLINK_FOLLOW("[-f] ") "FILE
2636 Displays the value of a symbolic link. USAGE_READLINK_FOLLOW("
2638 Options:
2640 -f canonicalize by following all symlinks")
2642 readprofile
2644 readprofile [OPTIONS]...
2645 Options:
2647 -m <mapfile> (default: /boot/System.map)
2649 -p <profile> (default: /proc/profile)
2650 -M <mult> set the profiling multiplier to <mult>
2651 -i print only info about the sampling step
2652 -v print verbose data
2653 -a print all symbols, even if count is 0
2654 -b print individual histogram-bin counts
2655 -s print individual counters within functions
2656 -r reset all the counters (root only)
2657 -n disable byte order auto-detection
2658 realpath
2660 realpath pathname ...
2661 Returns the absolute pathnames of given argument.
2663 reboot
2665 reboot [-d<delay>] [-n<nosync>] [-f<force>]
2666 Reboot the system. Options:
2668 -d delay interval for rebooting
2670 -n no call to sync()
2671 -f force reboot (don't go through init)
2672 renice
2674 renice {{-n INCREMENT} ⎪ PRIORITY} [[ -p ⎪ -g ⎪ -u ] ID ...]
2675 Changes priority of running processes.
2677 Options:
2679 -n adjusts current nice value (smaller is faster)
2681 -p process id(s) (default)
2682 -g process group id(s)
2683 -u process user name(s) and/or id(s)
2684 reset
2686 reset
2687 Resets the screen.
2689 rm rm [OPTION]... FILE...
2691 Remove (unlink) the FILE(s). You may use '--' to indicate that all
2693 following arguments are non-options.
2694 Options:
2696 -i always prompt before removing each destination
2698 -f remove existing destinations, never prompt
2699 -r or -R remove the contents of directories recursively
2700 Example:
2702 $ rm -rf /tmp/foo
2704 rmdir
2706 rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
2707 Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.
2709 Example:
2711 # rmdir /tmp/foo
2713 rmmod
2715 rmmod [OPTION]... [MODULE]...
2716 Unloads the specified kernel modules from the kernel.
2718 Options:
2720 -a Remove all unused modules (recursively)
2722 Example:
2724 $ rmmod tulip
2726 route
2728 route [{add⎪del⎪delete}]
2729 Edit the kernel's routing tables.
2731 Options:
2733 -n Dont resolve names
2735 -e Display other/more information
2736 -A inet" USAGE_ROUTE_IPV6("{6}") " Select address family
2737 rpm rpm -i -q[ildc]p package.rpm
2739 Manipulates RPM packages
2741 Options:
2743 -i Install package
2745 -q Query package
2746 -p Query uninstalled package
2747 -i Show information
2748 -l List contents
2749 -d List documents
2750 -c List config files
2751 rpm2cpio
2753 rpm2cpio package.rpm
2754 Outputs a cpio archive of the rpm file.
2756 run-parts
2758 run-parts [-t] [-a ARG] [-u MASK] DIRECTORY
2759 Run a bunch of scripts in a directory.
2761 Options:
2763 -t Prints what would be run, but does not actually run anything
2765 -a ARG Pass ARG as an argument for every program invoked
2766 -u MASK Set the umask to MASK before executing every program
2767 runlevel
2769 runlevel [utmp]
2770 Example:
2772 $ runlevel /var/run/utmp
2774 N 2
2775 rx rx FILE
2777 Receive a file using the xmodem protocol.
2779 Example:
2781 $ rx /tmp/foo
2783 sed sed [-efinr] pattern [files...]
2785 Options:
2787 -e script add the script to the commands to be executed
2789 -f scriptfile add script-file contents to the
2790 commands to be executed
2791 -i edit files in-place
2792 -n suppress automatic printing of pattern space
2793 -r use extended regular expression syntax
2794 If no -e or -f is given, the first non-option argument is taken as
2796 the sed script to interpret. All remaining arguments are names of
2797 input files; if no input files are specified, then the standard
2798 input is read. Source files will not be modified unless -i option
2799 is given.
2800 Example:
2802 $ echo "foo" ⎪ sed -e 's/f[a-zA-Z]o/bar/g'
2804 bar
2805 seq seq [first [increment]] last
2807 Print numbers from FIRST to LAST, in steps of INCREMENT. FIRST,
2809 INCREMENT default to 1 Arguments:
2810 LAST
2812 FIRST LAST
2813 FIRST INCREMENT LAST
2814 setarch
2816 setarch <personality> <program> [args ...]
2817 Personality may be:
2819 linux32 Set 32bit uname emulation
2821 linux64 Set 64bit uname emulation
2822 setconsole
2824 setconsole [-r⎪--reset] [DEVICE]
2825 Redirects system console output to DEVICE (default: /dev/tty).
2827 Options:
2829 -r Reset output to /dev/console.
2831 setkeycodes
2833 setkeycodes SCANCODE KEYCODE ...
2834 Set entries into the kernel's scancode-to-keycode map, allowing
2836 unusual keyboards to generate usable keycodes.
2837 SCANCODE may be either xx or e0xx (hexadecimal), and KEYCODE is
2839 given in decimal
2840 Example:
2842 $ setkeycodes e030 127
2844 setlogcons
2846 setlogcons N
2847 Redirects the kernel output to console N (0 for current).
2849 setsid
2851 setsid program [arg ...]
2852 Runs any program in a new session by calling setsid() before
2854 exec'ing the rest of its arguments. See setsid(2) for details.
2855 sha1sum
2857 sha1sum [OPTION] [FILEs...] USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK("
2858 or: sha1sum [OPTION] -c [FILE]")
2859 Print" USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK(" or check") " SHA1 checksums.
2861 Options: With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard
2863 input. USAGE_MD5_SHA1_SUM_CHECK("
2864 -c check SHA1 sums against given list
2866 The following two options are useful only when verifying checksums:
2868 -s don't output anything, status code shows success
2870 -w warn about improperly formated SHA1 checksum lines")
2871 sleep
2873 sleep USAGE_FANCY_SLEEP("[") "N" USAGE_FANCY_SLEEP("]...")
2874 USAGE_NOT_FANCY_SLEEP("Pause for N seconds.") USAGE_FANCY_SLEEP( Pause for a time equal to the total of the args given, where each arg can
2876 have an optional suffix of (s)econds, (m)inutes, (h)ours, or (d)ays.")
2877 Example:
2879 $ sleep 2
2881 [2 second delay results]
2882 USAGE_FANCY_SLEEP("$ sleep 1d 3h 22m 8s
2883 [98528 second delay results]
2884 ")
2885 sort
2887 sort [-nru" USAGE_SORT_BIG("gMcszbdfimSTokt] [-o outfile] [-k
2888 start[.offset][opts][,end[.offset][opts]] [-t char") "] [FILE]...
2889 Sorts lines of text in the specified files
2891 Options:
2893 USAGE_SORT_BIG( -b ignore leading blanks
2895 -c check whether input is sorted
2896 -d dictionary order (blank or alphanumeric only)
2897 -f ignore case
2898 -g general numerical sort
2899 -i ignore unprintable characters
2900 -k specify sort key
2901 -M sort month
2902 ) -n sort numbers
2903 USAGE_SORT_BIG( -o output to file
2904 -k sort by key
2905 -t use key separator other than whitespace
2906 ) -r reverse sort order
2907 USAGE_SORT_BIG(" -s stable (don't sort ties alphabetically)
2908 ") B<-u> suppress duplicate lines USAGE_SORT_BIG("
2909 -z input terminated by nulls, not newlines
2911 ") USAGE_SORT_BIG(" B<-mST> ignored for GNU compatibility")
2912 Example:
2914 $ echo -e "e\nf\nb\nd\nc\na" ⎪ sort
2916 a
2917 b
2918 c
2919 d
2920 e
2921 f
2922 USAGE_SORT_BIG( $ echo -e "c 3\nb 2\nd 2" ⎪ $SORT -k 2,2n -k 1,1r
2923 d 2
2924 b 2
2925 c 3
2926 )
2927 start-stop-daemon
2929 start-stop-daemon [OPTIONS] [--start⎪--stop] ... [-- arguments...]
2930 Program to start and stop services.
2932 Options:
2934 -S⎪--start start
2936 -K⎪--stop stop
2937 -a⎪--startas <pathname> starts process specified by pathname
2938 -b⎪--background force process into background
2939 -u⎪--user <username>⎪<uid> stop this user's processes
2940 -x⎪--exec <executable> program to either start or check
2941 -m⎪--make-pidfile <filename> create the -p file and enter pid in it
2942 -n⎪--name <process-name> stop processes with this name
2943 -p⎪--pidfile <pid-file> save or load pid using a pid-file
2944 -q⎪--quiet be quiet
2945 -o⎪--oknodo exit status 0 if nothing done
2946 -v⎪--verbose be verbose
2947 -s⎪--signal <signal> signal to send (default TERM)
2948 stat
2950 stat [OPTION] FILE...
2951 display file (default) or filesystem status.
2953 Options:
2955 USAGE_STAT_FORMAT(" -c fmt use the specified format
2957 ") B<-f> display filesystem status
2958 -L,-l dereference links
2960 -t display info in terse form
2961 USAGE_STAT_FORMAT(
2962 Valid format sequences for files:
2963 %a Access rights in octal
2965 %A Access rights in human readable form
2966 %b Number of blocks allocated (see %B)
2967 %B The size in bytes of each block reported by %b
2968 %d Device number in decimal
2969 %D Device number in hex
2970 %f Raw mode in hex
2971 %F File type
2972 %g Group ID of owner
2973 %G Group name of owner
2974 %h Number of hard links
2975 %i Inode number
2976 %n File name
2977 %N Quoted file name with dereference if symbolic link
2978 %o I/O block size
2979 %s Total size, in bytes
2980 %t Major device type in hex
2981 %T Minor device type in hex
2982 %u User ID of owner
2983 %U User name of owner
2984 %x Time of last access
2985 %X Time of last access as seconds since Epoch
2986 %y Time of last modification
2987 %Y Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
2988 %z Time of last change
2989 %Z Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
2990 Valid format sequences for file systems:
2992 %a Free blocks available to non-superuser
2994 %b Total data blocks in file system
2995 %c Total file nodes in file system
2996 %d Free file nodes in file system
2997 %f Free blocks in file system
2998 %i File System ID in hex
2999 %l Maximum length of filenames
3000 %n File name
3001 %s Block size (for faster transfers)
3002 %S Fundamental block size (for block counts)
3003 %t Type in hex
3004 %T Type in human readable form
3005 )
3006 strings
3008 strings [-afo] [-n length] [file ... ]
3009 Display printable strings in a binary file.
3011 Options:
3013 -a Scan the whole files (this is the default).
3015 -f Precede each string with the name of the file where it was found.
3016 -n N Specifies that at least N characters forms a sequence (default 4)
3017 -o Each string is preceded by its decimal offset in the file
3018 stty
3020 stty [-a⎪g] [-F DEVICE] [SETTING]...
3021 Without arguments, prints baud rate, line discipline, and devia‐
3023 tions from stty sane.
3024 Options:
3026 -F DEVICE open device instead of stdin
3028 -a print all current settings in human-readable form
3029 -g print in stty-readable form
3030 [SETTING] see manpage
3031 su su [OPTION]... [-] [username]
3033 Change user id or become root. Options:
3035 -p, -m Preserve environment
3037 -c Command to pass to 'sh -c'
3038 -s Shell to use instead of default shell
3039 sulogin
3041 sulogin [OPTION]... [tty-device]
3042 Single user login Options:
3044 -f Do not authenticate (user already authenticated)
3046 -h Name of the remote host for this login
3047 -p Preserve environment
3048 sum sum [rs] [files...]
3050 checksum and count the blocks in a file
3052 Options:
3054 -r use BSD sum algorithm (1K blocks)
3056 -s use System V sum algorithm (512byte blocks)
3057 swapoff
3059 swapoff [-a] [DEVICE]
3060 Stop swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.
3062 Options:
3064 -a Stop swapping on all swap devices
3066 swapon
3068 swapon [-a] [DEVICE]
3069 Start swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.
3071 Options:
3073 -a Start swapping on all swap devices
3075 switch_root
3077 switch_root [-c /dev/console] NEW_ROOT NEW_INIT [ARGUMENTS_TO_INIT]
3078 Use from PID 1 under initramfs to free initramfs, chroot to
3080 NEW_ROOT, and exec NEW_INIT.
3081 Options:
3083 -c Redirect console to device on new root
3085 sync
3087 sync
3088 Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.
3090 sysctl
3092 sysctl [OPTIONS]... [VALUE]...
3093 configure kernel parameters at runtime
3095 Options:
3097 -n Use this option to disable printing of the key name when printing values
3099 -w Use this option when you want to change a sysctl setting
3100 -p Load in sysctl settings from the file specified or /etc/sysctl.conf if none given
3101 -a Display all values currently available
3102 -A Display all values currently available in table form
3103 Example:
3105 sysctl [-n] variable ...
3107 sysctl [-n] -w variable=value ...
3108 sysctl [-n] -a
3109 sysctl [-n] -p <file> (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
3110 sysctl [-n] -A
3111 syslogd
3113 syslogd [OPTION]...
3114 Linux system and kernel logging utility. Note that this version of
3116 syslogd ignores /etc/syslog.conf.
3117 Options:
3119 -m MIN Minutes between MARK lines (default=20, 0=off)
3121 -n Run as a foreground process
3122 -O FILE Use an alternate log file (default=/var/log/messages)
3123 -S Make logging output smaller. USAGE_ROTATE_LOGFILE(
3124 -s SIZE Max size (KB) before rotate (default=200KB, 0=off)
3125 -b NUM Number of rotated logs to keep (default=1, max=99, 0=purge)") USAGE_REMOTE_LOG(
3126 -R HOST[:PORT] Log to IP or hostname on PORT (default PORT=514/UDP)
3127 -L Log locally and via network logging (default is network only)") USAGE_IPC_LOG(
3128 -C [size(KiB)] Log to a circular buffer (read the buffer using logread)")
3129 Example:
3131 $ syslogd -R masterlog:514
3133 $ syslogd -R 192.168.1.1:601
3134 tail
3136 tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
3137 Print last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
3139 than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
3140 With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
3141 Options:
3143 USAGE_UNSIMPLE_TAIL(" -c N[kbm] output the last N bytes
3145 ") B<-n> N[kbm] print last N lines instead of last 10
3146 -f output data as the file grows USAGE_UNSIMPLE_TAIL( "
3148 -q never output headers giving file names
3149 -s SEC wait SEC seconds between reads with -f
3150 -v always output headers giving file names
3151 If the first character of N (bytes or lines) is a '+', output
3153 begins with the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise,
3154 print the last N items in the file. N bytes may be suffixed by k
3155 (x1024), b (x512), or m (1024^2)." )
3156 Example:
3158 $ tail -n 1 /etc/resolv.conf
3160 nameserver 10.0.0.1
3161 tar tar -[" USAGE_TAR_CREATE("c") USAGE_TAR_GZIP("z")
3163 USAGE_TAR_BZIP2("j") USAGE_TAR_LZMA("a") USAGE_TAR_COMPRESS("Z")
3164 "xtvO] USAGE_TAR_EXCLUDE("[-X FILE]") [-f TARFILE] [-C DIR]
3165 [FILE(s)] ...
3166 Create, extract, or list files from a tar file.
3168 Options:
3170 USAGE_TAR_CREATE(" c create
3172 ") x extract
3173 t list
3175 Archive format selection:
3177 USAGE_TAR_GZIP(" z Filter the archive through gzip
3179 ") USAGE_TAR_BZIP2(" j Filter the archive through bzip2
3180 ") USAGE_TAR_LZMA(" a Filter the archive through lzma
3181 ") USAGE_TAR_COMPRESS(" Z Filter the archive through compress
3182 ")
3183 File selection:
3184 f name of TARFILE or "-" for stdin
3186 O extract to stdout
3187 USAGE_TAR_EXCLUDE( exclude file to exclude
3188 X file with names to exclude
3189 ) C change to directory DIR before operation
3190 v verbosely list files processed
3191 Example:
3193 $ zcat /tmp/tarball.tar.gz ⎪ tar -xf -
3195 $ tar -cf /tmp/tarball.tar /usr/local
3196 tee tee [OPTION]... [FILE]...
3198 Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output.
3200 Options:
3202 -a append to the given FILEs, do not overwrite
3204 -i ignore interrupt signals (SIGINT)
3205 Example:
3207 $ echo "Hello" ⎪ tee /tmp/foo
3209 $ cat /tmp/foo
3210 Hello
3211 telnet
3213 telnet HOST [PORT]
3214 Telnet is used to establish interactive communication with another
3216 computer over a network using the TELNET protocol.
3217 telnetd
3219 telnetd [OPTION]
3220 Telnetd listens for incoming TELNET connections on PORT. Options:
3222 -p PORT listen for connections on PORT (default 23)
3224 -l LOGIN exec LOGIN on connect (default /bin/sh)
3225 -f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
3226 test
3228 test EXPRESSION
3229 or [ EXPRESSION ]
3230 Checks file types and compares values returning an exit code deter‐
3232 mined by the value of EXPRESSION.
3233 Example:
3235 $ test 1 -eq 2
3237 $ echo $?
3238 1
3239 $ test 1 -eq 1
3240 $ echo $?
3241 0
3242 $ [ -d /etc ]
3243 $ echo $?
3244 0
3245 $ [ -d /junk ]
3246 $ echo $?
3247 1
3248 tftp
3250 tftp [OPTION]... HOST [PORT]
3251 Transfers a file from/to a tftp server using "octet" mode.
3253 Options:
3255 -l FILE Local FILE
3257 -r FILE Remote FILE USAGE_TFTP_GET(
3258 -g Get file ) USAGE_TFTP_PUT(
3259 -p Put file ) USAGE_TFTP_BS(
3260 -b SIZE Transfer blocks of SIZE octets )
3261 time
3263 time [OPTION]... COMMAND [ARGS...]
3264 Runs the program COMMAND with arguments ARGS. When COMMAND fin‐
3266 ishes, COMMAND's resource usage information is displayed
3267 Options:
3269 -v Displays verbose resource usage information
3271 top top [-d <seconds>]
3273 top provides an view of processor activity in real time. This
3275 utility reads the status for all processes in /proc each <seconds>
3276 and shows the status for however many processes will fit on the
3277 screen. This utility will not show processes that are started
3278 after program startup, but it will show the EXIT status for and
3279 PIDs that exit while it is running.
3280 touch
3282 touch [-c] FILE [FILE ...]
3283 Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s].
3285 Options:
3287 -c Do not create any files
3289 Example:
3291 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
3293 /bin/ls: /tmp/foo: No such file or directory
3294 $ touch /tmp/foo
3295 $ ls -l /tmp/foo
3296 -rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 15 01:11 /tmp/foo
3297 tr tr [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]
3299 Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from standard input,
3301 writing to standard output.
3302 Options:
3304 -c take complement of STRING1
3306 -d delete input characters coded STRING1
3307 -s squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character
3308 Example:
3310 $ echo "gdkkn vnqkc" ⎪ tr [a-y] [b-z]
3312 hello world
3313 traceroute
3315 traceroute [-FIldnrv] [-f 1st_ttl] [-m max_ttl] [-p port#] [-q
3316 nqueries] [-s src_addr] [-t tos] [-w wait] [-g gateway] [-i
3317 iface] [-z pausemsecs] host [data size]
3318 trace the route ip packets follow going to "host" Options:
3320 -F Set the don't fragment bit
3322 -I Use ICMP ECHO instead of UDP datagrams
3323 -l Display the ttl value of the returned packet
3324 -d Set SO_DEBUG options to socket
3325 -n Print hop addresses numerically rather than symbolically
3326 -r Bypass the normal routing tables and send directly to a host
3327 -v Verbose output
3328 -m max_ttl Set the max time-to-live (max number of hops)
3329 -p port# Set the base UDP port number used in probes
3330 (default is 33434)
3331 -q nqueries Set the number of probes per ``ttl'' to nqueries
3332 (default is 3)
3333 -s src_addr Use the following IP address as the source address
3334 -t tos Set the type-of-service in probe packets to the following value
3335 (default 0)
3336 -w wait Set the time (in seconds) to wait for a response to a probe
3337 (default 3 sec)
3338 -g Specify a loose source route gateway (8 maximum)
3339 true
3341 true
3342 Return an exit code of TRUE (0).
3344 Example:
3346 $ true
3348 $ echo $?
3349 0
3350 tty tty
3352 Print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.
3354 Options:
3356 -s print nothing, only return an exit status
3358 Example:
3360 $ tty
3362 /dev/tty2
3363 tune2fs
3365 tune2fs [-c max-mounts-count] [-e errors-behavior] [-g group]
3366 [-i interval[d⎪m⎪w]] [-j] [-J journal-options] [-l] [-s
3367 sparse-flag] [-m reserved-blocks-percent] [-o
3368 [^]mount-options[,...]] [-r reserved-blocks-count] [-u user] [-C
3369 mount-count] [-L volume-label] [-M last-mounted-dir] [-O [^]fea‐
3370 ture[,...]] [-T last-check-time] [-U UUID] device
3371 Adjust filesystem options on ext[23] filesystems.
3373 udhcpc
3375 udhcpc [-Cfbnqtv] [-c CID] [-V VCLS] [-H HOSTNAME] [-i INTER‐
3376 FACE] [-p pidfile] [-r IP] [-s script]
3377 -c, --clientid=CLIENTID Set client identifier
3379 -C, --clientid-none Suppress default client identifier
3380 -V, --vendorclass=CLASSID Set vendor class identifier
3381 -H, --hostname=HOSTNAME Client hostname
3382 -h, Alias for -H
3383 -f, --foreground Do not fork after getting lease
3384 -b, --background Fork to background if lease cannot be immediately negotiated
3385 -i, --interface=INTERFACE Interface to use (default: eth0)
3386 -n, --now Exit with failure if lease cannot be immediately negotiated
3387 -p, --pidfile=file Store process ID of daemon in file
3388 -q, --quit Quit after obtaining lease
3389 -r, --request=IP IP address to request (default: none)
3390 -s, --script=file Run file at dhcp events (default: /usr/share/udhcpc/default.script)
3391 -t, --retries=NUM Send up to NUM request packets
3392 -v, --version Display version
3393 udhcpd
3395 udhcpd [configfile]
3396 umount
3398 umount [flags] FILESYSTEM⎪DIRECTORY
3399 Unmount file systems
3401 Flags:
3403 -a Unmount all file systems USAGE_MTAB(" in /etc/mtab
3405 -n Don't erase /etc/mtab entries")
3406 -r Try to remount devices as read-only if mount is busy
3407 -l Lazy umount (detach filesystem)
3408 -f Force umount (i.e., unreachable NFS server) USAGE_MOUNT_LOOP("
3409 -D Do not free loop device (if a loop device has been used)")
3410 Example:
3412 $ umount /dev/hdc1
3414 uname
3416 uname [OPTION]...
3417 Print certain system information. With no OPTION, same as -s.
3419 Options:
3421 -a print all information
3423 -m the machine (hardware) type
3424 -n print the machine's network node hostname
3425 -r print the operating system release
3426 -s print the operating system name
3427 -p print the host processor type
3428 -v print the operating system version
3429 Example:
3431 $ uname -a
3433 Linux debian 2.4.23 #2 Tue Dec 23 17:09:10 MST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux
3434 uncompress
3436 uncompress [-c] [-f] [ name ... ]
3437 Uncompress .Z file[s] Options:
3439 -c extract to stdout
3441 -f force overwrite an existing file
3442 uniq
3444 uniq [-fscdu]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
3445 Discard all but one of successive identical lines from INPUT (or
3447 standard input), writing to OUTPUT (or standard output).
3448 Options:
3450 -c prefix lines by the number of occurrences
3452 -d only print duplicate lines
3453 -u only print unique lines
3454 -f N skip the first N fields
3455 -s N skip the first N chars (after any skipped fields)
3456 Example:
3458 $ echo -e "a\na\nb\nc\nc\na" ⎪ sort ⎪ uniq
3460 a
3461 b
3462 c
3463 unix2dos
3465 unix2dos [option] [FILE]
3466 Converts FILE from unix format to dos format. When no option is
3468 given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When
3469 no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output.
3470 Options:
3471 -u output will be in UNIX format
3473 -d output will be in DOS format
3474 unlzma
3476 unlzma [OPTION]... [FILE]
3477 Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-' or omitted).
3479 Options:
3481 -c Write output to standard output
3483 -f Force
3484 unzip
3486 unzip [-opts[modifiers]] file[.zip] [list] [-x xlist] [-d
3487 exdir]
3488 Extracts files from ZIP archives.
3490 Options:
3492 -l list archive contents (short form)
3494 -n never overwrite existing files (default)
3495 -o overwrite files without prompting
3496 -p send output to stdout
3497 -q be quiet
3498 -x exclude these files
3499 -d extract files into this directory
3500 uptime
3502 uptime
3503 Display the time since the last boot.
3505 Example:
3507 $ uptime
3509 1:55pm up 2:30, load average: 0.09, 0.04, 0.00
3510 usleep
3512 usleep N
3513 Pause for N microseconds.
3515 Example:
3517 $ usleep 1000000
3519 [pauses for 1 second]
3520 uudecode
3522 uudecode [FILE]...
3523 Uudecode a file that is uuencoded.
3525 Options:
3527 -o FILE direct output to FILE
3529 Example:
3531 $ uudecode -o busybox busybox.uu
3533 $ ls -l busybox
3534 -rwxr-xr-x 1 ams ams 245264 Jun 7 21:35 busybox
3535 uuencode
3537 uuencode [OPTION] [INFILE] REMOTEFILE
3538 Uuencode a file.
3540 Options:
3542 -m use base64 encoding per RFC1521
3544 Example:
3546 $ uuencode busybox busybox
3548 begin 755 busybox
3549 <encoded file snipped>
3550 $ uudecode busybox busybox > busybox.uu
3551 $
3552 vconfig
3554 vconfig COMMAND [OPTIONS] ...
3555 vconfig lets you create and remove virtual ethernet devices.
3557 Options:
3559 add [interface-name] [vlan_id]
3561 rem [vlan-name]
3562 set_flag [interface-name] [flag-num] [0 ⎪ 1]
3563 set_egress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
3564 set_ingress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
3565 set_name_type [name-type]
3566 vi vi [OPTION] [FILE]...
3568 edit FILE.
3570 Options:
3572 -R Read-only- do not write to the file
3574 vlock
3576 vlock [OPTIONS]
3577 Lock a virtual terminal. A password is required to unlock Options:
3579 -a Lock all VTs
3581 watch
3583 watch [-n <seconds>] COMMAND...
3584 Executes a program periodically. Options:
3586 -n Loop period in seconds - default is 2
3588 Example:
3590 $ watch date
3592 Mon Dec 17 10:31:40 GMT 2000
3593 Mon Dec 17 10:31:42 GMT 2000
3594 Mon Dec 17 10:31:44 GMT 2000
3595 watchdog
3597 watchdog [-t <seconds>] [-F] DEV
3598 Periodically write to watchdog device DEV. Options:
3600 -t Timer period in seconds - default is 30
3602 -F Stay in the foreground and don't fork
3603 wc wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...
3605 Print line, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line
3607 if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, read standard
3608 input.
3609 Options:
3611 -c print the byte counts
3613 -l print the newline counts
3614 -L print the length of the longest line
3615 -w print the word counts
3616 Example:
3618 $ wc /etc/passwd
3620 31 46 1365 /etc/passwd
3621 wget
3623 wget [-c⎪--continue] [-q⎪--quiet] [-O⎪--output-document file]
3624 [--header 'header: value'] [-Y⎪--proxy on/off] [-P DIR]
3625 url
3626 wget retrieves files via HTTP or FTP
3628 Options:
3630 -c continue retrieval of aborted transfers
3632 -q quiet mode - do not print
3633 -P Set directory prefix to DIR
3634 -O save to filename ('-' for stdout)
3635 -Y use proxy ('on' or 'off')
3636 which
3638 which [COMMAND ...]
3639 Locates a COMMAND.
3641 Example:
3643 $ which login
3645 /bin/login
3646 who who
3648 Prints the current user names and related information
3650 whoami
3652 whoami
3653 Prints the user name associated with the current effective user id.
3655 xargs
3657 xargs [COMMAND] [OPTIONS] [ARGS...]
3658 Executes COMMAND on every item given by standard input.
3660 Options:
3662 USAGE_XARGS_CONFIRMATION(" -p Prompt the user about whether to run each command
3664 ") B<-r> Do not run command for empty read lines
3665 USAGE_XARGS_TERMOPT(" -x Exit if the size is exceeded
3667 ") USAGE_XARGS_ZERO_TERM(" B<-0> Input filenames are terminated by a null character
3668 ") B<-t> Print the command line on stderr before executing it
3669 Example:
3671 $ ls ⎪ xargs gzip
3673 $ find . -name '*.c' -print ⎪ xargs rm
3674 yes yes [OPTION]... [STRING]...
3676 Repeatedly outputs a line with all specified STRING(s), or 'y'.
3678 zcat
3680 zcat FILE
3681 Uncompress to stdout.
3683 zcip
3685 zcip [OPTIONS] ifname script
3686 zcip manages a ZeroConf IPv4 link-local address. Options:
3688 -f foreground mode
3690 -q quit after address (no daemon)
3691 -r 169.254.x.x request this address first
3692 -v verbose
3693
3695 GNU Libc (glibc) uses the Name Service Switch (NSS) to configure the
3696 behavior of the C library for the local environment, and to configure
3697 how it reads system data, such as passwords and group information.
3698 This is implemented using an /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file, and
3699 using one or more of the /lib/libnss_* libraries. BusyBox tries to
3700 avoid using any libc calls that make use of NSS. Some applets however,
3701 such as login and su, will use libc functions that require NSS.
3702 If you enable CONFIG_USE_BB_PWD_GRP, BusyBox will use internal func‐
3704 tions to directly access the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and /etc/shadow
3705 files without using NSS. This may allow you to run your system without
3706 the need for installing any of the NSS configuration files and
3707 libraries.
3708 When used with glibc, the BusyBox 'networking' applets will similarly
3710 require that you install at least some of the glibc NSS stuff (in par‐
3711 ticular, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /lib/libnss_dns*, /lib/libnss_files*, and
3712 /lib/libresolv*).
3713 Shameless Plug: As an alternative, one could use a C library such as
3715 uClibc. In addition to making your system significantly smaller,
3716 uClibc does not require the use of any NSS support files or libraries.
3717
3719 Rob Landley <rob@landley.net>
3720
3722 The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know
3723 it or not. If you have written code included in BusyBox, you should
3724 probably be listed here so you can obtain your bit of eternal glory.
3725 If you should be listed here, or the description of what you have done
3726 needs more detail, or is incorect, please send in an update.
3727 Emanuele Aina <emanuele.aina@tiscali.it> run-parts
3729 Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>
3731 Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
3733 core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
3734 Lots of tedious effort writing these boring docs that
3735 nobody is going to actually read.
3736 Laurence Anderson <l.d.anderson@warwick.ac.uk>
3738 rpm2cpio, unzip, get_header_cpio, read_gz interface, rpm
3740 Jeff Angielski <jeff@theptrgroup.com>
3742 ftpput, ftpget
3744 Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>
3746 expr, hostid, logname, whoami
3748 John Beppu <beppu@codepoet.org>
3750 du, nslookup, sort
3752 Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>
3754 tiny-ls(ls)
3756 Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>
3758 fbset, ping, hostname
3760 Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>
3762 more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
3764 various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance
3765 Jordan Crouse <jordan@cosmicpenguin.net>
3767 ipcalc
3769 Magnus Damm <damm@opensource.se>
3771 tftp client insmod powerpc support
3773 Larry Doolittle <ldoolitt@recycle.lbl.gov>
3775 pristine source directory compilation, lots of patches and fixes.
3777 Glenn Engel <glenne@engel.org>
3779 httpd
3781 Gennady Feldman <gfeldman@gena01.com>
3783 Sysklogd (single threaded syslogd, IPC Circular buffer support,
3785 logread), various fixes.
3786 Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>
3788 cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.
3790 Daniel Jacobowitz <dan@debian.org>
3792 mktemp.c
3794 Matt Kraai <kraai@alumni.cmu.edu>
3796 documentation, bugfixes, test suite
3798 Stephan Linz <linz@li-pro.net>
3800 ipcalc, Red Hat equivalence
3802 John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>
3804 tr
3806 Glenn McGrath <bug1@iinet.net.au>
3808 Common unarchving code and unarchiving applets, ifupdown, ftpgetput,
3810 nameif, sed, patch, fold, install, uudecode.
3811 Various bugfixes, review and apply numerous patches.
3812 Manuel Novoa III <mjn3@codepoet.org>
3814 cat, head, mkfifo, mknod, rmdir, sleep, tee, tty, uniq, usleep, wc, yes,
3816 mesg, vconfig, make_directory, parse_mode, dirname, mode_string,
3817 get_last_path_component, simplify_path, and a number trivial libbb routines
3818 also bug fixes, partial rewrites, and size optimizations in
3820 ash, basename, cal, cmp, cp, df, du, echo, env, ln, logname, md5sum, mkdir,
3821 mv, realpath, rm, sort, tail, touch, uname, watch, arith, human_readable,
3822 interface, dutmp, ifconfig, route
3823 Vladimir Oleynik <dzo@simtreas.ru>
3825 cmdedit; xargs(current), httpd(current);
3827 ports: ash, crond, fdisk, inetd, stty, traceroute, top;
3828 locale, various fixes
3829 and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.
3830 Bruce Perens <bruce@pixar.com>
3832 Original author of BusyBox in 1995, 1996. Some of his code can
3834 still be found hiding here and there...
3835 Tim Riker <Tim@Rikers.org>
3837 bug fixes, member of fan club
3839 Kent Robotti <robotti@metconnect.com>
3841 reset, tons and tons of bug reports and patches.
3843 Chip Rosenthal <chip@unicom.com>, <crosenth@covad.com>
3845 wget - Contributed by permission of Covad Communications
3847 Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>
3849 Lots of bugs fixes and patches.
3851 Gyepi Sam <gyepi@praxis-sw.com>
3853 Remote logging feature for syslogd
3855 Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>
3857 mkswap, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix
3859 Mark Whitley <markw@codepoet.org>
3861 grep, sed, cut, xargs(previous),
3863 style-guide, new-applet-HOWTO, bug fixes, etc.
3864 Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>
3866 gzip, mini-netcat(nc)
3868 Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>
3870 tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance
3872 Tito Ragusa <farmatito@tiscali.it>
3874 devfsd and size optimizations in strings, openvt and deallocvt.
3876version 1.2.2 2007-12-21 BUSYBOX(1)