DOS to Linux Cheat Sheet

Red Hat Linux 6.2: The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide
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# Appendix C. DOS to Linux Cheat Sheet

Many Linux commands you type at a shell prompt are not that different from the commands you would type either in MS-DOS or in Windows (from the MS-DOS prompt). In fact, some commands are identical.

# DOS and Linux Commands

What follows are some common commands used at the MS-DOS prompt in Windows 9`x`, and in Linux, as well as a basic example of how the command is used at the Linux shell prompt. Note that these commands usually have a number of options. To learn more about each command, read its associated man page (for example, type `man ls` at the shell prompt to read about the ls command).

Table C-1. Similar Commands

Command's Purpose | MS-DOS | Linux | Basic Linux Example
--- | --- | --- | ---
Copies files | copy | cp | cp `thisfile.txt` /home/`thisdirectory`
Moves files | move | mv | mv `thisfile.txt` /home/`thisdirectory`
Lists files | dir | ls | ls
Clears screen | cls | clear | clear
Closes prompt window | exit | exit | exit
Displays or sets date | date | date | date
Deletes files | del | rm | rm `thisfile.txt`
"Echoes" output on the screen | echo | echo | echo `this message`
Edits files with simple text editor | edit | pico[a] | pico `thisfile.txt`
Compares the contents of files | fc | diff | diff `file1` `file2`
Finds a string of text in a file | find | grep | grep `this word or phrase` `thisfile.txt`
Formats a floppy | format a: (if floppy's in `A:`) | mke2fs (or mformat[b]) | /sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0 (`/dev/fd0` is the Linux equivalent of `A:`)
Displays command help | `command` /? | man[c] | man `command`
Creates a directory | mkdir | mkdir | mkdir `directory`
Screens through a file | more | less[d] | less `thisfile.txt`
Renames a file | ren | mv | mv `thisfile.txt` `thatfile.txt`[e]
Shows your location in the file system | chdir | pwd | pwd
Changes directories with a specified path (absolute path) | cd `pathname` | cd `pathname` | cd `/directory/directory`
Changes directories with a relative path | cd .. | cd .. | cd ..
Displays the time | time | date | date
Shows amount of RAM and use | mem | free | procinfo
Notes: a. Pico is a simple text editor; other editors you can use in place of `pico` include `emacs` and `vi`. b. This formats a disk for the DOS filesystem. c. Or you can use info for some commands. d. You can also another pager, called more, to scroll through a file a screen at at time. e. The mv command serves double-duty, because it can both move a file and, if you want to rename a file in the same directory, you "move" that file to the same directory with a new name, as in this example.

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