Vector Linux Command And Reference Sheet
Linux command Description

pgm

start pgm where pgm is a program found in the $PATH
./pgm start pgm (allocated in current dir.)
cd x or cd /x go to directory x
cd .. or cd ../ or cd /.. go back one directory
ls or dir list a directory
cat display a textfile on the terminal
mv x y move or rename file x to file y
cp x y copy file x to file y
rm x delete a file
mkdir x make a directory
rmdir x remove a directory
rm -r x remove directory x and all its underlying files
df or df x Show free space on device x
top view memory status (q to quit)
man x get a manual page about command x
less x or more x view text file x
echo print something on the screen mainly used in scripts
mc similar to Norton Commander in DOS
mount to make a device usable to the system (CD-ROM,other HD)
umount umount to remove the device from being usable to the system
halt to shutdown. It will also power off if APM or ACPI is being used
reboot to reboot the system
chmod <permissions> <file> change file permissions
chown <owner:group> <file> change file ownership
ls -l x perform a detailed directory listing for file or directory x
ln -s x y make a symbolic link to x called y
find x -name y -print find file y, begin the search from within directory x and print the results to screen
ps to view all running processes
kill x to terminate process x (x is PID from ps)
killall -KILL pgm to kill the program called pgm
killall -HUP pgm to force program pgm to restart - used in case configuration is changed
[alt] + F1 - F7 switch to terminal 1 - 7
lilo to write boot information changes to disk
startx to start the XFree86 GUI

 

Directories Function
/ the root of the directory tree this is the base
/dev the device pointer directory all devices have an entry here
/bin main CLI executables
/sbin main CLI system executables
/boot location of the kernel and boot information required to boot the system
/etc system configuration files
/root root user home directory
/home normal user base directory
/lib system libraries and kernel modules
/usr main user binary,documentation, library location
/opt extra binary/documentation,library location - eg. KDE,Gnome
/var system log files,spoolers,etc
/tmp temporary folder for running applications that need temp files
/proc proc filesystem for kernel interaction - this is everything the kernel knows
/mnt filesystem mount point for extra devices and drives

 

Important Configuration Files Function
/etc/lilo.conf boot loader configuration file - you must run "lilo" after any changes
/etc/modules.conf kernel module loader configuration used by the modprobe command
/etc/inittab system runlevel configuration file - tells init what to do for each runlevel
/etc/fstab filesystem mounting configuration file - used by the mount command
/etc/ld.so.conf library configuration file - used by the ldconfig command to find libraries
/etc/inetd.conf tcp wrapper configuration - used to start ftp and other network daemons
/etc/hosts local host resolution file
/etc/HOSTNAME system hostname file
/etc/profile system defaults for bash login default paths,colours,etc
/etc/rc.d/rc.0 system halt script - run when you issue halt
/etc/rc.d/rc.K system reboot script - run when you issue reboot or [ctrl] + [alt] + [del]
/etc/rc.d/rc.S main system boot script - run when you boot up
/etc/rc.d/rc.M main local startup script - activates other services you have chosen
/etc/rc.d/rc.X GUI startup script used when runlevel 5 is selected in /etc/inittab
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysvinit SysV Init script starter
/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 network startup script
/etc/rc.d/rc.netdevice network card module loader - newer versions will just be added to modules.conf
/etc/rc.d/rc.modules system module loader - run at startup
/etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug hotplug starter script - for USB and PCI hotplug devices
/etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia pcmcia service script - for use with laptops
/etc/rc.d/rc.local local startup script for user space programs
/etc/XF86Config XFree86 3.3.6 configuration file
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 XFre86 4.2.1 configuration file

 

Vector Linux Specific Configuration Tools Description
vasm main administrative and services men
vecpkg

Software Plaza tool