IOS Dev Intro - Mac Commands

An A-Z Index of the Apple OS X command line

  alias     Create an alias •  alloc     List used and free memory  apropos   Search the whatis database for strings  asr       Apple Software Restore  awk       Find and Replace text within file(s)b  basename  Convert a full pathname to just a filename  bash      Bourne-Again SHell  bg        Send to background •  bind      Display readline key and function bindings •  bless     Set volume bootability and startup disk options  break     Exit from a For, While, Until or Select loop •  builtin   Execute a shell builtin •  bzip2     Compress or decompress filesc  cal       Display a calendar  calendar  Reminder Service  caller    Return the context of a subroutine call •  case      Conditionally perform a command •  cat       Concatenate and print (display) the content of files  cd        Change Directory •  chflags   Change a file or folder's flags  chgrp     Change group ownership  chmod     Change access permissions  chown     Change file owner and group  chroot    Run a command with a different root directory  cksum     Print CRC checksum and byte counts  clear     Clear terminal screen  cmp       Compare two files  comm      Compare two sorted files line by line  command   Run a command (not a function) •  complete  Edit a command completion [word/pattern/list] •  continue  Resume the next iteration of a loop •  cp        Copy one or more files to another location  cron      Daemon to execute scheduled commands  crontab   Schedule a command to run at a later date/time  csplit    Split a file into context-determined pieces  csrutil   Configure System Integrity Protection (SIP)  curl      Transfer data  from or to a server  cut       Divide a file into several partsd  date      Display or change the date & time  dc        Desk Calculator  dd        Convert and copy a file, clone disks  declare   Declare variable & set attributes •  defaults  Set preferences, show hidden files  df        Display free disk space  diff      Display the differences between two files  diff3     Show differences among three files  dig       DNS lookup  dirname   Convert a full pathname to just a path  dirs      Display list of remembered directories •  diskutil  Disk utilities - Format, Verify, Repair  disown    Unbind a job from the current login session •  ditto     Copy files and folders  dot_clean Remove dot-underscore files  drutil    Interact with CD/DVD burners  dscacheutil  Query or flush the Directory Service/DNS cache  dseditgroup  Edit, create, manipulate, or delete groups  dsenableroot Enable root access  dsmemberutil View user and groups rights  dscl      Directory Service command line utility  du        Estimate file space usagee  echo      Display text on screen •  ed        A line-oriented text editor (edlin)  enable    Enable and disable builtin shell commands •  env       List or Set environment variables  eval      Evaluate several commands/arguments •  exec      Execute a command •  exit      Exit the shell •  expand    Convert tabs to spaces  expect    Programmed dialogue with interactive programs            Also see AppleScript  export    Set an environment variable •  expr      Evaluate expressionsf  false     Do nothing, unsuccessfully  fc        Fix command (history)  fdisk     Partition table manipulator for Darwin UFS/HFS/DOS  fg        Send job to foreground •  file      Determine file type  find      Search for files that meet a desired criteria  fmt       Reformat paragraph text  fold      Wrap text to fit a specified width  for       Loop command •  fsck      Filesystem consistency check and repair  fsaclctl  Filesystem enable/disable ACL support  fs_usage  Filesystem usage (process/pathname)  ftp       Internet file transfer program  function  Define Function Macrosg  GetFileInfo Get attributes of HFS+ files  getopt    Parse positional parameters  getopts   Parse positional parameters •  goto      Jump to label and continue execution  grep      Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern  groups    Print group names a user is in  gzip      Compress or decompress filesh  halt      Stop and restart the operating system  hash      Refresh the cached/remembered location of commands •  head      Display the first lines of a file  hdiutil   Manipulate iso disk images  history   Command History •  hostname  Print or set system namei  iconv     Convert the character set of a file  id        Print user and group names/id's  if        Conditionally perform a command •  ifconfig  Configure network interface parameters  ipconfig  View and control IP configuration state  info      Help info  install   Copy files and set attributesj  jobs      List active jobs •  join      Join lines on a common fieldk  kextfind  List kernel extensions  kickstart Configure Apple Remote Desktop  kill      Kill a process by specifying its PID  killall   Kill processes by namel  l         List files in long format (ls -l)  last      Indicate last logins of users and ttys  launchctl Load or unload daemons/agents  ll        List files in long format, showing invisible files (ls -la)  less      Display output one screen at a time  let       Evaluate expression •  lipo      Convert a universal binary  ln        Make links between files (hard links, symbolic links)  local     Set a local (function) variable •  locate    Find files  logname   Print current login name  login     log into the computer  logout    Exit a login shell (bye) •  look      Display lines beginning with a given string  lpr       Print files  lprm      Remove jobs from the print queue  lpstat    Printer status information  ls        List information about file(s)  lsregister Reset the Launch Services database  lsbom     List a bill of materials file  lsof      List open filesm  man       Help manual  mdfind    Spotlight search  mdutil    Manage Spotlight metadata store  mkdir     Create new folder(s)  mkfifo    Make FIFOs (named pipes)  more      Display output one screen at a time  mount     Mount a file system  mv        Move or rename files or directoriesn  nano      Simple text editor  nc/netcat Read and write data across networks  net       Manage network resources  netstat   Show network status  networksetup Network and System Preferences  nice      Set the priority of a command  nohup     Run a command immune to hangups  ntfs.util NTFS file system utilityo  onintr    Control the action of a shell interrupt  open      Open a file/folder/URL/Application  opensnoop Snoop file opens as they occur  osacompile Compile Applescript  osascript Execute AppleScriptp  passwd    Modify a user password  paste     Merge lines of files  pbcopy    Copy data to the clipboard  pbpaste   Paste data from the Clipboard  ping      Test a network connection  pkill     Kill processes by a full or partial name  pkgutil   Query and manipulate installed packages  plutil    Property list utility  pmset     Power Management settings  popd      Restore the previous value of the current directory •  pr        Convert text files for printing  printenv  List environment variables  printf    Format and print data •  ps        Process status  pushd     Save and then change the current directory  pwd       Print Working Directory •q  quota     Display disk usage and limitsr  rcp       Copy files between machines  read      Read one line from standard input •  readonly  Mark a variable or function as read-only •  reboot    Stop and restart the system  return    Exit a function •  rev       Reverse lines of a file  rm        Remove files  rmdir     Remove folder(s)  rpm       Remote Package Manager  rsync     Remote file copy - Sync file trees  say       Convert text to audible speech  screen    Multiplex terminal, run remote shells via ssh  screencapture Capture screen image to file or disk  scutil    Manage system configuration parameters  sdiff     Merge two files interactively  security  Administer Keychains, keys, certificates and the Security framework  sed       Stream Editor  select    Generate a list of items •  set       Set a shell variable = value •  setfile   Set attributes of HFS+ files  shasum    Print or Check SHA Checksums  shift     Shift positional parameters •  shopt     Set shell options •  shutdown  Shutdown or restart OS X  sips      Scriptable image processing system  sleep     Delay for a specified time  softwareupdate System software update tool  sort      Sort text files  source    Execute commands from a file •  split     Split a file into fixed-size pieces  srm       Securely remove files or directories  stat      Display the status of a file  stop      Stop a job or process  su        Substitute user identity  sudo      Execute a command as another user  sum       Print a checksum for a file  suspend   Suspend execution of this shell •  sw_vers   Print Mac OS X operating system version  system_profiler  Report system configuration  systemsetup Computer and display system settingst  tail      Output the last part of files  tar       Tape ARchiver  tcpdump   Dump traffic on a network  tee       Redirect output to multiple files  test      Condition evaluation •  textutil  Manipulate text files in various formats (Doc,html,rtf)  time      Measure Program Resource Use  times     Print shell & shell process times •  tmutil    Time Machine utility  top       Display process information  touch     Change file timestamps  tput      Set terminal-dependent capabilities, color, position  tr        Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters  trap      Execute a command when the shell receives a signal •  traceroute Trace Route to Host  true      Do nothing, successfully  tty       Print filename of terminal on stdin  type      Describe a command •u  ufs.util  Mount/unmount UFS file system  ulimit    limit the use of system-wide resources •  umask     Users file creation mask  umount    Unmount a device  unalias   Remove an alias •  uname     Print system information  unexpand  Convert spaces to tabs  uniq      Uniquify files  units     Convert units from one scale to another  unset     Remove variable or function names •  until     Loop command •  uptime    Show how long system has been running  users     Print login names of users currently logged in  uuencode  Encode a binary file   uudecode  Decode a file created by uuencode  uuidgen   Generate a Unique ID (UUID/GUID)  uucp      Unix to Unix copyv  vi        Text Editorw  wait      Wait for a process to complete •  wc        Print byte, word, and line counts  whatis    Search the whatis database for complete words  whereis   Locate a program  which     Locate a program file in the user's path  while     Loop command •  who       Print all usernames currently logged on  whoami    Print the current user id and name (`id -un')  write     Send a message to another userx  xargs     Execute utility - passing arguments  xattr     Display and manipulate extended attributes youtube-dl Download video  yes       Print a string until interrupted  zip       Package and compress (archive) files.  !!        Run the last command again

Commands marked • are bash built-in commands. bash is the default shell, it runs under Darwin the open source core of OS X.