BUSYBOX(1) BusyBox BUSYBOX(1)
NAME
BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux
SYNTAX
BusyBox [arguments...] # or
[arguments...] # if symlinked
DESCRIPTION
BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a
single small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most
of the utilities you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc.
The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than their full-
featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide
the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU counter
parts.
BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources
in mind. It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or
exclude commands (or features) at compile time. This makes it easy to
customize your embedded systems. To create a working system, just add
/dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. BusyBox provides a fairly complete
POSIX environment for any small or embedded system.
BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the
components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run make config or
make menuconfig to select the functionality that you wish to enable.
Then run make to compile BusyBox using your configuration.
After the compile has finished, you should use make install to
install BusyBox. This will install the bin/busybox binary, in the
target directory specified by PREFIX. PREFIX can be set when configur
ing BusyBox, or you can specify an alternative location at install time
(i.e., with a command line like make PREFIX=/tmp/foo install). If you
enabled any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or
hardlinks), these will also be installed in the location pointed to by
PREFIX.
USAGE
BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable
program that performs the same job as more than one utility program.
That means there is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single
binary acts like a large number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to
be smaller since all the built-in utility programs (we call them
applets) can share code for many common operations.
You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the
command line. For example, entering
/bin/busybox ls
will also cause BusyBox to behave as ls.
Of course, adding /bin/busybox into every command would be painful.
So most people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.
For example, entering
ln -s /bin/busybox ls
./ls
will cause BusyBox to behave as ls (if the ls command has been
compiled into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to
make all these links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this
for you when you run the make install command.
If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a
list of the applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.
COMMON OPTIONS
Most BusyBox commands support the --help argument to provide a terse
runtime description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VER
BOSE_USAGE option has been enabled, more detailed usage information
will also be available.
COMMANDS
Currently defined functions include:
[, [[, addgroup, adduser, adjtimex, ar, arping, ash, awk,
basename, bbconfig, bunzip2, busybox, bzcat, cal, cat, chattr,
chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, chvt, clear, cmp, comm, cp, cpio,
crond, crontab, cut, date, dc, dd, deallocvt, delgroup, deluser,
devfsd, df, dirname, dmesg, dnsd, dos2unix, dpkg, dpkg_deb, du,
dumpkmap, dumpleases, e2fsck, echo, eject, env, ether_wake, expr,
fakeidentd, false, fbset, fdflush, fdformat, fdisk, find, fold,
free, freeramdisk, fsck, fsck_minix, ftpget, ftpput, fuser,
getopt, getty, grep, gunzip, gzip, halt, hdparm, head, hexdump,
hostid, hostname, httpd, hwclock, id, ifconfig, ifdown, ifup,
inetd, init, insmod, install, ip, ipaddr, ipcalc, ipcrm, ipcs,
iplink, iproute, iptunnel, kill, killall, klogd, lash, last,
length, less, ln, loadfont, loadkmap, logger, login, logname,
logread, losetup, ls, lsattr, lsmod, lzmacat, makedevs, md5sum,
mdev, mesg, mkdir, mke2fs, mkfifo, mkfs_minix, mknod, mkswap,
mktemp, modprobe, more, mount, mountpoint, mt, mv, nameif, nc,
netstat, nice, nohup, nslookup, od, openvt, passwd, patch, pidof,
ping, ping6, pivot_root, poweroff, printenv, printf, ps, pwd,
rdate, readlink, readprofile, realpath, reboot, renice, reset,
rm, rmdir, rmmod, route, rpm, rpm2cpio, run_parts, runlevel, rx,
sed, seq, setarch, setconsole, setkeycodes, setsid, sha1sum,
sleep, sort, start_stop_daemon, stat, strings, stty, su, sulogin,
sum, swapoff, swapon, switch_root, sync, sysctl, syslogd, tail,
tar, tee, telnet, telnetd, test, tftp, time, top, touch, tr,
traceroute, true, tty, tune2fs, udhcpc, udhcpd, umount, uname,
uncompress, uniq, unix2dos, unlzma, unzip, uptime, usleep,
uudecode, uuencode, vconfig, vi, vlock, watch, watchdog, wc,
wget, which, who, whoami, xargs, yes, zcat, zcip
COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS
addgroup
addgroup [-g GID] group_name [user_name]
Adds a group to the system
Options:
-g GID specify gid
adduser
adduser [OPTIONS] user_name
Adds a user to the system
Options:
-h DIR Assign home directory DIR
-g GECOS Assign gecos field GECOS
-s SHELL Assign login shell SHELL
-G Add the user to existing group GROUP
-S create a system user (ignored)
-D Do not assign a password (logins still possible via ssh)
-H Do not create the home directory
adjtimex
adjtimex [-q] [-o offset] [-f frequency] [-p timeconstant] [-t
tick]
Reads and optionally sets system timebase parameters. See adj
timex(2).
Options:
-q quiet mode - do not print
-o offset time offset, microseconds
-f frequency frequency adjust, integer kernel units (65536 is 1ppm)
(positive values make the system clock run fast)
-t tick microseconds per tick, usually 10000
-p timeconstant
ar ar [-o] [-v] [-p] [-t] [-x] ARCHIVE FILES
Extract or list FILES from an ar archive.
Options:
-o preserve original dates
-p extract to stdout
-t list
-x extract
-v verbosely list files processed
arping
arping [-fqbDUA] [-c count] [-w timeout] [-I device] [-s
sender] target
Ping hosts by ARP requests/replies.
Options:
-f Quit on first ARP reply
-q Be quiet
-b Keep broadcasting, dont go unicast
-D Duplicated address detection mode
-U Unsolicited ARP mode, update your neighbours
-A ARP answer mode, update your neighbours
-c count Stop after sending count ARP request packets
-w timeout Time to wait for ARP reply, in seconds
-I device Outgoing interface name, default is eth0
-s sender Set specific sender IP address
target Target IP address of ARP request
ash ash [FILE]... or: ash -c command [args]...
The ash shell (command interpreter)
awk awk [OPTION]... [program-text] [FILE ...]
Options:
-v var=val assign value val to variable var
-F sep use sep as field separator
-f progname read program source from file progname
basename
basename FILE [SUFFIX]
Strips directory path and suffixes from FILE. If specified, also
removes any trailing SUFFIX.
Example:
$ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
foo
$ basename /usr/local/bin/
bin
$ basename /foo/bar.txt .txt
bar
bbconfig
bbconfig
Print the config file which built busybox
bunzip2
bunzip2 [OPTION]... [FILE]
Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is - or omitted).
Options:
-c Write output to standard output
-f Force
busybox
busybox
Hello world!
bzcat
bzcat FILE
Uncompress to stdout.
cal cal [-jy] [[month] year]
Display a calendar.
Options:
-j Use julian dates
-y Display the entire year
cat cat [-u] [FILE]...
Concatenates FILE(s) and prints them to stdout.
Options:
-u ignored since unbuffered i/o is always used
Example:
$ cat /proc/uptime
110716.72 17.67
chattr
chattr [-R] [-+=AacDdijsStTu] [-v version] files...
change file attributes on an ext2 fs
Modifiers:
- remove attributes
+ add attributes
= set attributes
Attributes:
A dont track atime
a append mode only
c enable compress
D write dir contents synchronously
d do not backup with dump
i cannot be modified (immutable)
j write all data to journal first
s zero disk storage when deleted
S write file contents synchronously
t disable tail-merging of partial blocks with other files
u allow file to be undeleted
Options:
-R recursively list subdirectories
-v set the files version/generation number
chgrp
chgrp [OPTION]... GROUP FILE...
Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP.
Options:
-R Changes files and directories recursively
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chgrp root /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chmod
chmod [-R] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...
Each MODE is one or more of the letters ugoa, one of the symbols
+-= and one or more of the letters rwxst.
Options:
-R Changes files and directories recursively
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chmod u+x /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rwxrw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo*
$ chmod 444 /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chown
chown [ -Rh ]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.
Options:
-R Changes files and directories recursively
-h Do not dereference symbolic links
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chown root /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
$ chown root.root /tmp/foo
ls -l /tmp/foo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
chroot
chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND...]
Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT.
Example:
$ ls -l /bin/ls
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Apr 13 00:46 /bin/ls -> /BusyBox
# mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt -t minix
# chroot /mnt
# ls -l /bin/ls
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40816 Feb 5 07:45 /bin/ls*
chvt
chvt N
Changes the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
clear
clear
Clear screen.
cmp cmp [-l] [-s] FILE1 [FILE2]
Compares FILE1 vs stdin if FILE2 is not specified.
Options:
-l Write the byte numbers (decimal) and values (octal)
for all differing bytes
-s quiet mode - do not print
comm
comm [-123] FILE1 FILE2
Compares FILE1 to FILE2, or to stdin if = is specified.
Options:
-1 Suppress lines unique to FILE1
-2 Suppress lines unique to FILE2
-3 Suppress lines common to both files
cp cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
Copies SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
-a Same as -dpR
-d,-P Preserves links
-H,-L Dereference all symlinks (implied by default)
-p Preserves file attributes if possible
-f force (implied; ignored) - always set
-i interactive, prompt before overwrite
-R,-r Copies directories recursively
cpio
cpio -[dimtuv][F cpiofile]
Extract or list files from a cpio archive Main operation mode:
d make leading directories
i extract
m preserve mtime
t list
v verbose
u unconditional overwrite
F input from file
crond
crond -d[#] -c -f -b
-d [#] -l [#] -S -L logfile -f -b -c dir
-d num debug level
-l num log level (8 - default)
-S log to syslogd (default)
-L file log to file
-f run in fordeground
-b run in background (default)
-c dir working dir
crontab
crontab [-c dir] {file|-}|[-u|-l|-e|-d user]
file replace crontab from file
- replace crontab from stdin
-u user specify user
-l [user] list crontab for user
-e [user] edit crontab for user
-d [user] delete crontab for user
-c dir specify crontab directory
cut cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Prints selected fields from each input FILE to standard output.
Options:
-b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
-c LIST Output only characters from LIST
-d CHAR Use CHAR instead of tab as the field delimiter
-s Output only the lines containing delimiter
-f N Print only these fields
-n Ignored
Example:
$ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 1 -d
Hello
$ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 2 -d
world
date
date [OPTION]... [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]] [+FORMAT]
Displays the current time in the given FORMAT, or sets the system
date.
Options:
-R Outputs RFC-822 compliant date string
-d STRING Displays time described by STRING, not now
-I[TIMESPEC] Outputs an ISO-8601 compliant date/time string
TIMESPEC=date (or missing) for date only,
hours, minutes, or seconds for date and,
time to the indicated precision
-D hint Use hint as date format, via strptime()
-s Sets time described by STRING
-r FILE Displays the last modification time of FILE
-u Prints or sets Coordinated Universal Time
Example:
$ date
Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000
dc dc expression ...
This is a Tiny RPN calculator that understands the following opera
tions: +, add, -, sub, *, mul, /, div, %, mod, **, exp, and, or,
not, eor. For example: dc 2 2 add -> 4, and dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + /
-> 16.
Options: p - Prints the value on the top of the stack, without
altering the stack f - Prints the entire contents of the stack
without altering anything o - Pops the value off the top of the
stack and uses it to set the output radix
Only 10 and 16 are supported
Example:
$ dc 2 2 + p
4
$ dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + / p
16
$ dc 0 1 and p
0
$ dc 0 1 or p
1
$ echo 72 9 div 8 mul p | dc
64
dd dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [bs=N] [count=N] [skip=N]
[seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync]
Copy a file, converting and formatting according to options
if=FILE read from FILE instead of stdin
of=FILE write to FILE instead of stdout
bs=N read and write N bytes at a time
count=N copy only N input blocks
skip=N skip N input blocks
seek=N skip N output blocks
conv=notrunc dont truncate output file
conv=noerror continue after read errors
conv=sync pad blocks with zeros
Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k
(x1024), MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G
(x1073741824)
Example:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
4+0 records in
4+0 records out
deallocvt
deallocvt [N]
Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
delgroup
delgroup GROUP
Deletes group GROUP from the system
deluser
deluser USER
Deletes user USER from the system
devfsd
devfsd mntpnt [-v][-fg][-np]
Optional daemon for managing devfs permissions and old device name
symlinks.
Options:
mntpnt The mount point where devfs is mounted.
-v Print the protocol version numbers for devfsd
and the kernel-side protocol version and exits.
-fg Run the daemon in the foreground.
-np Exit after parsing the configuration file
and processing synthetic REGISTER events.
Do not poll for events.
df df [-hmk] [FILESYSTEM ...]
Print the filesystem space used and space available.
Options:
-h print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
-m print sizes in megabytes
-k print sizes in kilobytes(default)
Example:
$ df
Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
/dev/sda1 64216 36364 27852 57% /boot
$ df /dev/sda3
Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
dirname
dirname FILENAME
Strips non-directory suffix from FILENAME
Example:
$ dirname /tmp/foo
/tmp
$ dirname /tmp/foo/
/tmp
dmesg
dmesg [-c] [-n LEVEL] [-s SIZE]
Prints or controls the kernel ring buffer
Options:
-c Clears the ring buffers contents after printing
-n LEVEL Sets console logging level
-s SIZE Use a buffer of size SIZE
dnsd
dnsd [-c config] [-t seconds] [-p port] [-i iface-ip] [-d]
Small and static DNS server daemon
Options:
-c config filename
-t TTL in seconds
-p listening port
-i listening iface ip (default all)
-d daemonize
dos2unix
dos2unix [option] [FILE]
Converts FILE from dos format to unix format. When no option is
given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When
no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output.
Options:
-u output will be in UNIX format
-d output will be in DOS format
dpkg
dpkg [-ilCPru] [-F option] package_name
dpkg is a utility to install, remove and manage Debian packages.
Options:
-i Install the package
-l List of installed packages
-C Configure an unpackaged package
-F depends Ignore depency problems
-P Purge all files of a package
-r Remove all but the configuration files for a package
-u Unpack a package, but dont configure it
dpkg-deb
dpkg-deb [-cefxX] FILE [argument]
Perform actions on Debian packages (.debs)
Options:
-c List contents of filesystem tree
-e Extract control files to [argument] directory
-f Display control field name starting with [argument]
-x Extract packages filesystem tree to directory
-X Verbose extract
Example:
$ dpkg-deb -X ./busybox_0.48-1_i386.deb /tmp
du du [-aHLdclsxhmk] [FILE]...
Summarizes disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk
space is printed in units of 1024 bytes.
Options:
-a show sizes of files in addition to directories
-H follow symbolic links that are FILE command line args
-L follow all symbolic links encountered
-d N limit output to directories (and files with -a) of depth < N
-c output a grand total
-l count sizes many times if hard linked
-s display only a total for each argument
-x skip directories on different filesystems
-h print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
-m print sizes in megabytes
-k print sizes in kilobytes(default)
Example:
$ du
16 ./CVS
12 ./kernel-patches/CVS
80 ./kernel-patches
12 ./tests/CVS
36 ./tests
12 ./scripts/CVS
16 ./scripts
12 ./docs/CVS
104 ./docs
2417 .
dumpkmap
dumpkmap > keymap
Prints out a binary keyboard translation table to standard output.
Example:
$ dumpkmap > keymap
dumpleases
dumpleases [-r|-a] [-f LEASEFILE]
Displays the DHCP leases granted by udhcpd.
Options:
-f, --file=FILENAME Leases file to load
-r, --remaining Interpret lease times as time remaing
-a, --absolute Interpret lease times as expire time
e2fsck
e2fsck [-panyrcdfvstDFSV] [-b superblock] [-B blocksize] [-I
inode_buffer_blocks] [-P process_inode_size] [-l|-L
bad_blocks_file] [-C fd] [-j external_journal] [-E
extended-options] device
Check a Linux ext2/ext3 file system.
Options:
-p Automatic repair (no questions)
-n Make no changes to the filesystem
-y Assume yes to all questions
-c Check for bad blocks and add them to the badblock list
-f Force checking even if filesystem is marked clean
-v Be verbose
-b superblock Use alternative superblock
-B blocksize Force blocksize when looking for superblock
-j journal Set location of the external journal
-l file Add to badblocks list
-L file Set badblocks list
echo
echo [-neE] [ARG ...]
Prints the specified ARGs to stdout
Options:
-n suppress trailing newline
-e interpret backslash-escaped characters (i.e., \t=tab)
-E disable interpretation of backslash-escaped characters
Example:
$ echo "Erik is cool"
Erik is cool
$ echo -e "Erik\nis\ncool"
Erik
is
cool
$ echo "Erik\nis\ncool"
Erik\nis\ncool
eject
eject [-t] [DEVICE]
Eject specified DEVICE (or default /dev/cdrom).
Options:
-t close tray
env env [-iu] [-] [name=value]... [command]
Prints the current environment or runs a program after setting up
the specified environment.
Options:
-, -i start with an empty environment
-u remove variable from the environment
ether_wake
ether_wake [-b] [-i iface] [-p aa:bb:cc:dd[:ee:ff]] MAC
Send a magic packet to wake up sleeping machines. MAC must be a
station address (00:11:22:33:44:55) or
a hostname with a known ethers entry.
Options:
-b Send wake-up packet to the broadcast address
-i iface Use interface ifname instead of the default "eth0"
-p pass Append the four or six byte password PW to the packet
expr
expr EXPRESSION
Prints the value of EXPRESSION to standard output.
EXPRESSION may be:
ARG1 | ARG2 ARG1 if it is neither null nor 0, otherwise ARG2
ARG1 & ARG2 ARG1 if neither argument is null or 0, otherwise 0
ARG1 < ARG2 ARG1 is less than ARG2
ARG1 <= ARG2 ARG1 is less than or equal to ARG2
ARG1 = ARG2 ARG1 is equal to ARG2
ARG1 != ARG2 ARG1 is unequal to ARG2
ARG1 >= ARG2 ARG1 is greater than or equal to ARG2
ARG1 > ARG2 ARG1 is greater than ARG2
ARG1 + ARG2 arithmetic sum of ARG1 and ARG2
ARG1 - ARG2 arithmetic difference of ARG1 and ARG2
ARG1 * ARG2 arithmetic product of ARG1 and ARG2
ARG1 / ARG2 arithmetic quotient of ARG1 divided by ARG2
ARG1 % ARG2 arithmetic remainder of ARG1 divided by ARG2
STRING : REGEXP anchored pattern match of REGEXP in STRING
match STRING REGEXP same as STRING : REGEXP
substr STRING POS LENGTH substring of STRING, POS counted from 1
index STRING CHARS index in STRING where any CHARS is found,
or 0
length STRING length of STRING
quote TOKEN interpret TOKEN as a string, even if
it is a keyword like match or an
operator like /
( EXPRESSION ) value of EXPRESSION
Beware that many operators need to be escaped or quoted for shells.
Comparisons are arithmetic if both ARGs are numbers, else lexico
graphical. Pattern matches return the string matched between \(
and \) or null; if \( and \) are not used, they return the number
of characters matched or 0.
fakeidentd
fakeidentd [-b ip] [STRING]
Returns a set string to auth requests
-b Bind to ip address
STRING The ident answer string (default is nobody)
false
false
Return an exit code of FALSE (1).
Example:
$ false
$ echo $?
1
fbset
fbset [options] [mode]
Show and modify frame buffer settings
Example:
$ fbset
mode "1024x768-76"
# D: 78.653 MHz, H: 59.949 kHz, V: 75.694 Hz
geometry 1024 768 1024 768 16
timings 12714 128 32 16 4 128 4
accel false
rgba 5/11,6/5,5/0,0/0
endmode
fdflush
fdflush DEVICE
Forces floppy disk drive to detect disk change
fdformat
fdformat [-n] DEVICE
Low-level formats a floppy disk
Options:
-n Dont verify after format
fdisk
fdisk [-luv] [-C CYLINDERS] [-H HEADS] [-S SECTORS] [-b SSZ]
DISK
Change partition table Options:
-l List partition table(s)
-u Give Start and End in sector (instead of cylinder) units
-s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks
-b 2048: (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors
-C CYLINDERS Set the number of cylinders
-H HEADS Set the number of heads
-S SECTORS Set the number of sectors
-v Give fdisk version
find
find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION]
Search for files in a directory hierarchy. The default PATH is the
current directory; default EXPRESSION is -print
EXPRESSION may consist of:
-follow Dereference symbolic links
-name PATTERN File name (leading directories removed) matches PATTERN
-print Print (default and assumed)
-type X Filetype matches X (where X is one of: f,d,l,b,c,...)
-perm PERMS Permissions match any of (+NNN); all of (-NNN);
or exactly (NNN)
-mtime DAYS Modified time is greater than (+N); less than (-N);
or exactly (N) days
-mmin MINS Modified time is greater than (+N); less than (-N);
or exactly (N) minutes
-newer FILE Modified time is more recent than FILEs
-inum N File has inode number N
-exec CMD Execute CMD with all instances of {} replaced by the
files matching EXPRESSION
Example:
$ find / -name passwd
/etc/passwd
fold
fold [-bs] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]
Wrap input lines in each FILE (standard input by default), writing
to standard output.
Options:
-b count bytes rather than columns
-s break at spaces
-w use WIDTH columns instead of 80
free
free
Displays the amount of free and used system memory
Example:
$ free
total used free shared buffers
Mem: 257628 248724 8904 59644 93124
Swap: 128516 8404 120112
Total: 386144 257128 129016
freeramdisk
freeramdisk DEVICE
Frees all memory used by the specified ramdisk.
Example:
$ freeramdisk /dev/ram2
fsck
fsck [-ANPRTV] [ -C [ fd ] ] [-t fstype] [fs-options]
[filesys ...]
Check and repair filesystems.
Options:
-A Walk /etc/fstab and check all filesystems
-N Dont execute, just show what would be done
-P When using -A, check filesystems in parallel
-R When using -A, skip the root filesystem
-T Dont show title on startup
-V Verbose mode
-C Write status information to specified filedescriptor
-t List of filesystem types to check
fsck.minix
fsck.minix [-larvsmf] /dev/name
Performs a consistency check for MINIX filesystems.
Options:
-l Lists all filenames
-r Perform interactive repairs
-a Perform automatic repairs
-v verbose
-s Outputs super-block information
-m Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings
-f Force file system check
ftpget
ftpget [options] remote-host local-file remote-file
Retrieve a remote file via FTP.
Options:
-c, --continue Continue a previous transfer
-v, --verbose Verbose
-u, --username Username to be used
-p, --password Password to be used
-P, --port Port number to be used
ftpput
ftpput [options] remote-host remote-file local-file
Store a local file on a remote machine via FTP.
Options:
-v, --verbose Verbose
-u, --username Username to be used
-p, --password Password to be used
-P, --port Port number to be used
fuser
fuser [options] file OR port/proto
Options:
-m Show all processes on the same mounted fs
-k Kill all processes that match.
-s Dont print or kill anything.
-4 When using port/proto only search IPv4 space
-6 When using port/proto only search IPv6 space
-SIGNAL When used with -k, this signal will be used to kill
getopt
getopt [OPTIONS]...
Parse command options
-a, --alternative Allow long options starting with single -
-l, --longoptions=longopts Long options to be recognized
-n, --name=progname The name under which errors are reported
-o, --options=optstring Short options to be recognized
-q, --quiet Disable error reporting by getopt(3)
-Q, --quiet-output No normal output
-s, --shell=shell Set shell quoting conventions
-T, --test Test for getopt(1) version
-u, --unquoted Do not quote the output
Example:
$ cat getopt.test
#!/bin/sh
GETOPT=getopt -o ab:c:: --long a-long,b-long:,c-long:: \
-n example.busybox -- "$@"
if [ $? != 0 ] ; then exit 1 ; fi
eval set -- "$GETOPT"
while true ; do
case $1 in
-a|--a-long) echo "Option a" ; shift ;;
-b|--b-long) echo "Option b, argument $2" ; shift 2 ;;
-c|--c-long)
case "$2" in
"") echo "Option c, no argument"; shift 2 ;;
*) echo "Option c, argument $2" ; shift 2 ;;
esac ;;
--) shift ; break ;;
*) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
esac
done
getty
getty [OPTIONS]... baud_rate,... line [termtype]
Opens a tty, prompts for a login name, then invokes /bin/login
Options:
-h Enable hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control
-i Do not display /etc/issue before running login
-L Local line, so do not do carrier detect
-m Get baud rate from modems CONNECT status message
-w Wait for a CR or LF before sending /etc/issue
-n Do not prompt the user for a login name
-f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
-l login_app Invoke login_app instead of /bin/login
-t timeout Terminate after timeout if no username is read
-I initstring Sets the init string to send before anything else
-H login_host Log login_host into the utmp file as the hostname
grep
grep [-ihHnqvsEABC] PATTERN [FILEs...]
Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input.
Options:
-H prefix output lines with filename where match was found
-h suppress the prefixing filename on output
-i ignore case distinctions
-l list names of files that match
-L list names of files that do not match
-n print line number with output lines
-q be quiet. Returns 0 if PATTERN was found, 1 otherwise
-v select non-matching lines
-s suppress file open/read error messages
-c only print count of matching lines
-f read PATTERN from file
-e PATTERN is a regular expression
-F PATTERN is a set of newline-separated strings
-E PATTERN is an extended regular expression
-A print NUM lines of trailing context
-B print NUM lines of leading context
-C print NUM lines of output context
Example:
$ grep root /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
$ grep ^[rR]oo. /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
gunzip
gunzip [OPTION]... FILE
Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is -).
Options:
-c Write output to standard output
-f Force read when source is a terminal
-t Test compressed file integrity
Example:
$ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 557009 Apr 11 10:55 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
$ gunzip /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar.gz
$ ls -la /tmp/BusyBox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/BusyBox-0.43.tar
gzip
gzip [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Compress FILE(s) with maximum compression. When FILE is - or
unspecified, reads standard input. Implies -c.
Options:
-c Write output to standard output instead of FILE.gz
-d Decompress
-f Force write when destination is a terminal
Example:
$ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox.tar
$ gzip /tmp/busybox.tar
$ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 554058 Apr 14 17:49 /tmp/busybox.tar.gz
halt
halt [-d] [-n] [-f]
Halt the system. Options:
-d delay interval for halting
-n no call to sync()
-f force halt (dont go through init)
hdparm
hdparm [options] [device] ..
Options: -a get/set fs readahead
-A set drive read-lookahead flag (0/1)
-b get/set bus state (0 == off, 1 == on, 2 == tristate)
-B set Advanced Power Management setting (1-255)
-c get/set IDE 32-bit IO setting
-C check IDE power mode status
-d get/set using_dma flag
-D enable/disable drive defect-mgmt
-f flush buffer cache for device on exit
-g display drive geometry
-h display terse usage information
-i display drive identification
-I detailed/current information directly from drive
-Istdin similar to -I, but wants /proc/ide/*/hd?/identify as input
-k get/set keep_settings_over_reset flag (0/1)
-K set drive keep_features_over_reset flag (0/1)
-L set drive doorlock (0/1) (removable harddisks only)
-m get/set multiple sector count
-n get/set ignore-write-errors flag (0/1)
-p set PIO mode on IDE interface chipset (0,1,2,3,4,...)
-P set drive prefetch count
-q change next setting quietly
-Q get/set DMA tagged-queuing depth (if supported)
-r get/set readonly flag (DANGEROUS to set)
-R register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
-S set standby (spindown) timeout
-t perform device read timings
-T perform cache read timings
-u get/set unmaskirq flag (0/1)
-U un-register an IDE interface (DANGEROUS)
-v defaults; same as -mcudkrag for IDE drives
-V display program version and exit immediately
-w perform device reset (DANGEROUS)
-W set drive write-caching flag (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
-x tristate device for hotswap (0/1) (DANGEROUS)
-X set IDE xfer mode (DANGEROUS)
-y put IDE drive in standby mode
-Y put IDE drive to sleep
-Z disable Seagate auto-powersaving mode
-z re-read partition table
head
head [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Print first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Options:
-n NUM Print first NUM lines instead of first 10
-c NUM output the first NUM bytes
-q never output headers giving file names
-v always output headers giving file names
Example:
$ head -n 2 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
hexdump
hexdump [-[bcCdefnosvx]] [OPTION] FILE
The hexdump utility is a filter which displays the specified files,
or the standard input, if no files are specified, in a user speci
fied format
-b One-byte octal display
-c One-byte character display
-C Canonical hex+ASCII, 16 bytes per line
-d Two-byte decimal display
-e FORMAT STRING
-f FORMAT FILE
-n LENGTH Interpret only length bytes of input
-o Two-byte octal display
-s OFFSET Skip offset byte
-v display all input data
-x Two-byte hexadecimal display
hostid
hostid
Print out a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine.
hostname
hostname [OPTION] {hostname | -F FILE}
Get or set the hostname or DNS domain name. If a hostname is given
(or FILE with the -F parameter), the host name will be set.
Options:
-s Short
-i Addresses for the hostname
-d DNS domain name
-f Fully qualified domain name
-F FILE Use the contents of FILE to specify the hostname
Example:
$ hostname
sage
httpd
httpd [-c ] [-p ] [-u user] [-r ] [-m
pass] [-h home] [-d/-e ]
Listens for incoming http server requests.
Options:
-c FILE Specifies configuration file. (default httpd.conf)
-p PORT Server port (default 80)
-u USER Set uid to USER after listening privileges port
-r REALM Authentication Realm for Basic Authentication
-m PASS Crypt PASS with md5 algorithm
-h HOME Specifies http HOME directory (default ./)
-e STRING Html encode STRING
-d STRING URL decode STRING
hwclock
hwclock [-r|--show] [-s|--hctosys] [-w|--systohc] [-l|--local
time] [-u|--utc]
Query and set the hardware clock (RTC)
Options:
-r read hardware clock and print result
-s set the system time from the hardware clock
-w set the hardware clock to the current system time
-u the hardware clock is kept in coordinated universal time
-l the hardware clock is kept in local time
id id [OPTIONS]... [USERNAME]
Print information for USERNAME or the current user
Options:
-c prints only the security context
-g prints only the group ID
-u prints only the user ID
-n print a name instead of a number
-r prints the real user ID instead of the effective ID
Example:
$ id
uid=1000(andersen) gid=1000(andersen)
ifconfig
ifconfig [-a] []
configure a network interface
Options: [add [/]] [del [/]]
[[-]broadcast []] [[-]pointopoint []]
[netmask ] [dstaddr ]
[outfill ] [keepalive ]
[hw ether ] [metric ] [mtu ]
[[-]trailers] [[-]arp] [[-]allmulti]
[multicast] [[-]promisc] [txqueuelen ] [[-]dynamic]
[mem_start ] [io_addr ] [irq ]
[up|down] ...
ifdown
ifdown <-ahinv>
ifdown
Options:
-h this help
-a de/configure all interfaces automatically
-i FILE use FILE for interface definitions
-n print out what would happen, but dont do it
(note that this option doesnt disable mappings)
-v print out what would happen before doing it
-m dont run any mappings
-f force de/configuration
ifup
ifup <-ahinv>
ifup
Options:
-h this help
-a de/configure all interfaces automatically
-i FILE use FILE for interface definitions
-n print out what would happen, but dont do it
(note that this option doesnt disable mappings)
-v print out what would happen before doing it
-m dont run any mappings
-f force de/configuration
inetd
inetd [-f] [-q len] [conf]
Listens for network connections and launches programs
Option:
-f Run as a foreground progress
-q Sets the size of the socket listen queue to
the specified value. Default is 128
init
init
Init is the parent of all processes.
This version of init is designed to be run only by the kernel.
BusyBox init doesnt support multiple runlevels. The runlevels
field of the /etc/inittab file is completely ignored by BusyBox
init. If you want runlevels, use sysvinit.
BusyBox init works just fine without an inittab. If no inittab is
found, it has the following default behavior:
::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
::askfirst:/bin/sh
::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
::restart:/sbin/init
if it detects that /dev/console is _not_ a serial console, it will
also run:
tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh
tty3::askfirst:/bin/sh
tty4::askfirst:/bin/sh
If you choose to use an /etc/inittab file, the inittab entry format
is as follows:
:::
:
WARNING: This field has a non-traditional meaning for BusyBox init!
The id field is used by BusyBox init to specify the controlling tty for
the specified process to run on. The contents of this field are
appended to "/dev/" and used as-is. There is no need for this field to
be unique, although if it isnt you may have strange results. If this
field is left blank, the controlling tty is set to the console. Also
note that if BusyBox detects that a serial console is in use, then only
entries whose controlling tty is either the serial console or /dev/null
will be run. BusyBox init does nothing with utmp. We dont need no
stinkin utmp.
:
The runlevels field is completely ignored.
:
Valid actions include: sysinit, respawn, askfirst, wait,
once, restart, ctrlaltdel, and shutdown.
The available actions can be classified into two groups: actions
that are run only once, and actions that are re-run when the specified
process exits.
Run only-once actions:
sysinit is the first item run on boot. init waits until all
sysinit actions are completed before continuing. Following the
completion of all sysinit actions, all wait actions are run.
wait actions, like sysinit actions, cause init to wait until
the specified task completes. once actions are asynchronous,
therefore, init does not wait for them to complete. restart is
the action taken to restart the init process. By default this should
simply run /sbin/init, but can be a script which runs pivot_root or it
can do all sorts of other interesting things. The ctrlaltdel init
actions are run when the system detects that someone on the system
console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination. Typically one
wants to run reboot at this point to cause the system to reboot.
Finally the shutdown action specifies the actions to taken when
init is told to reboot. Unmounting filesystems and disabling swap
is a very good here
Run repeatedly actions:
respawn actions are run after the once actions. When a process
started with a respawn action exits, init automatically restarts
it. Unlike sysvinit, BusyBox init does not stop processes from
respawning out of control. The askfirst actions acts just like
respawn, except that before running the specified process it
displays the line "Please press Enter to activate this console."
and then waits for the user to press enter before starting the
specified process.
Unrecognized actions (like initdefault) will cause init to emit an
error message, and then go along with its business. All actions are
run in the order they appear in /etc/inittab.
:
Specifies the process to be executed and its command line.
Example /etc/inittab file:
# This is run first except when booting in single-user mode.
#
::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
# /bin/sh invocations on selected ttys
#
# Start an "askfirst" shell on the console (whatever that may be)
::askfirst:-/bin/sh
# Start an "askfirst" shell on /dev/tty2-4
tty2::askfirst:-/bin/sh
tty3::askfirst:-/bin/sh
tty4::askfirst:-/bin/sh
# /sbin/getty invocations for selected ttys
#
tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
# Example of how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
#
#::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
#::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
#
# Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
#::respawn:/sbin/getty 57600 ttyS2
# Stuff to do when restarting the init process
::restart:/sbin/init
# Stuff to do before rebooting
::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
insmod
insmod [OPTION]... MODULE [symbol=value]...
Loads the specified kernel modules into the kernel.
Options:
-f Force module to load into the wrong kernel version
-k Make module autoclean-able
-v verbose output
-q quiet output
-L Lock to prevent simultaneous loads of a module
-m Output load map to stdout
-o NAME Set internal module name to NAME
-x do not export externs
install
install [-cgmops] [sources]
Copies files and set attributes
Options:
-c copy the file, default
-d create directories
-g set group ownership
-m set permission modes
-o set ownership
-p preserve date
-s strip symbol tables
ip ip [ OPTIONS ] { address | link | route | tunnel } { COM
MAND | help }
ip [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help } where OBJECT := { link |
addr | route | tunnel } OPTIONS := { -f[amily] { inet | inet6 |
link } | -o[neline] }
ipaddr
ipaddr { {add|del} IFADDR dev STRING | {show|flush} [
dev STRING ] [ to PREFIX ] }
ipaddr {add|del} IFADDR dev STRING ipaddr {show|flush} [ dev STRING
] [ scope SCOPE-ID ]
[ to PREFIX ] [ label PATTERN ]
IFADDR := PREFIX | ADDR peer PREFIX
[ broadcast ADDR ] [ anycast ADDR ]
[ label STRING ] [ scope SCOPE-ID ]
SCOPE-ID := [ host | link | global | NUMBER ]
ipcalc
ipcalc [OPTION]... [[/]] [NETMASK]
Calculate IP network settings from a IP address
Options:
-b --broadcast Display calculated broadcast address
-n --network Display calculated network address
-m --netmask Display default netmask for IP X
-p --prefix Display the prefix for IP/NETMASK
-h --hostname Display first resolved host name
-s --silent Dont ever display error messages
ipcrm
ipcrm [-[MQS] key] [-[mqs] id]
The upper-case options MQS are used to remove a shared memory seg
ment by an shmkey value. The lower-case options mqs are used to
remove a segment by shmid value.
-m | -M Remove the memory segment after the last detatch
-q | -Q Remove the message queue
-s | -S Remove the semaphore
ipcs
ipcs [[-smq] -i shmid] | [[-asmq] [-tclup]]
-i specify a specific resource id
Resource specification:
-m shared memory segments
-q message queues
-s sempahore arrays
-a all (default)
Output format:
-t time
-p pid
-s creator
-a limits
-i summary
iplink
iplink
iplink set DEVICE { up | down | arp { on | off } |
dynamic { on | off } |
mtu MTU }
iplink show [ DEVICE ]
iproute
iproute { list | flush | { add | del | change | append |
replace | monitor } ROUTE }
iproute { list | flush } SELECTOR iproute get ADDRESS [ from
ADDRESS iif STRING ]
[ oif STRING ] [ tos TOS ]
iproute { add | del | change | append | replace | monitor } ROUTE
SELECTOR := [ root PREFIX ] [ match PREFIX ] [ proto RTPROTO ]
ROUTE := [ TYPE ] PREFIX [ tos TOS ] [ proto RTPROTO ]
iptunnel
iptunnel { add | change | del | show } [ NAME ] [ mode
{ ipip | gre | sit } ] [ remote ADDR ] [ local ADDR ] [
ttl TTL ]
iptunnel { add | change | del | show } [ NAME ]
[ mode { ipip | gre | sit } ] [ remote ADDR ] [ local ADDR ]
[ [i|o]seq ] [ [i|o]key KEY ] [ [i|o]csum ]
[ ttl TTL ] [ tos TOS ] [ [no]pmtudisc ] [ dev PHYS_DEV ]
kill
kill [-signal] process-id [process-id ...]
Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).
Options:
-l List all signal names and numbers
Example:
$ ps | grep apache
252 root root S [apache]
263 www-data www-data S [apache]
264 www-data www-data S [apache]
265 www-data www-data S [apache]
266 www-data www-data S [apache]
267 www-data www-data S [apache]
$ kill 252
killall
killall [-q] [-signal] process-name [process-name ...]
Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).
Options:
-l List all signal names and numbers
-q Do not complain if no processes were killed
Example:
$ killall apache
klogd
klogd [-c n] [-n]
Kernel logger. Options:
-c n Sets the default log level of console messages to n
-n Run as a foreground process
lash
lash [FILE]... or: sh -c command [args]...
The BusyBox LAme SHell (command interpreter)
This command does not yet have proper documentation.
Use lash just as you would use any other shell. It properly han
dles pipes, redirects, job control, can be used as the shell for
scripts, and has a sufficient set of builtins to do what is needed.
It does not (yet) support Bourne Shell syntax. If you need things
like "if-then-else", "while", and such use ash or bash. If you
just need a very simple and extremely small shell, this will do the
job.
last
last
Shows listing of the last users that logged into the system
length
length STRING
Prints out the length of the specified STRING.
Example:
$ length Hello
5
less
less [-EMNmh~?] FILE1 FILE2...
View a file or list of files. The position within files can be
changed, and files can be manipulated in various ways with the fol
lowing options:
-E Quit once the end of a file is reached
-M Display a status line containing the current line numbers
and the percentage through the file
-N Prefix line numbers to each line
-m Display a status line containing the percentage through the
file
-~ Suppress ~s displayed when input past the end of the file is
reached.
-h, -? Display this help message
ln ln [OPTION] TARGET... LINK_NAME|DIRECTORY
Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET
You may use -- to indicate that all following arguments are
non-options.
Options:
-s make symbolic links instead of hard links
-f remove existing destination files
-n no dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
-b make a backup of the target (if exists) before link operation
-S suffix use suffix instead of ~ when making backup files
Example:
$ ln -s BusyBox /tmp/ls
$ ls -l /tmp/ls
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Apr 12 18:39 ls -> BusyBox*
loadfont
loadfont < font
Loads a console font from standard input.
Example:
$ loadfont < /etc/i18n/fontname
loadkmap
loadkmap < keymap
Loads a binary keyboard translation table from standard input.
Example:
$ loadkmap < /etc/i18n/lang-keymap
logger
logger [OPTION]... [MESSAGE]
Write MESSAGE to the system log. If MESSAGE is omitted, log stdin.
Options:
-s Log to stderr as well as the system log
-t TAG Log using the specified tag (defaults to user name)
-p PRIORITY Enter the message with the specified priority
This may be numerical or a facility.level pair
Example:
$ logger "hello"
login
login [OPTION]... [username] [ENV=VAR ...]
Begin a new session on the system
Options:
-f Do not authenticate (user already authenticated)
-h Name of the remote host for this login
-p Preserve environment
logname
logname
Print the name of the current user.
Example:
$ logname
root
logread
logread [OPTION]...
Shows the messages from syslogd (using circular buffer).
Options:
-f output data as the log grows
losetup
losetup [-od] LOOPDEVICE [FILE]
Associate LOOPDEVICE with FILE, or display current association.
Options:
-d Disassociate LOOPDEVICE
-o OFFSET Start OFFSET bytes into FILE
One argument (losetup /dev/loop1) will display the current associa
tion (if any), or disassociate it (with -d). The display shows the
offset and filename of the file the loop device is currently bound
to.
Two arguments (losetup /dev/loop1 file.img) create a new associa
tion, with an optional offset (-o 12345). Encryption is not yet
supported.
ls ls [-1AacCdeFilnpLRrSsTtuvwxXhkK] [filenames...]
List directory contents
Options:
-1 list files in a single column
-A do not list implied . and ..
-a do not hide entries starting with .
-C list entries by columns
-c with -l: show ctime
--color[={always,never,auto}] to control coloring
-d list directory entries instead of contents
-e list both full date and full time
-F append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries
-i list the i-node for each file
-l use a long listing format
-n list numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
-p append indicator (one of /=@|) to entries
-L list entries pointed to by symbolic links
-R list subdirectories recursively
-r sort the listing in reverse order
-S sort the listing by file size
-s list the size of each file, in blocks
-T NUM assume Tabstop every NUM columns
-t with -l: show modification time
-u with -l: show access time
-v sort the listing by version
-w NUM assume the terminal is NUM columns wide
-x list entries by lines instead of by columns
-X sort the listing by extension
-h print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
-k print security context
-K print security context in long format
lsattr
lsattr [-Radlv] [files...]
list file attributes on an ext2 fs
Options:
-R recursively list subdirectories
-a do not hide entries starting with .
-d list directory entries instead of contents
-l print long flag names
-v list the files version/generation number
lsmod
lsmod
List the currently loaded kernel modules.
lzmacat
lzmacat FILE
Uncompress to stdout.
makedevs
makedevs [-d device_table] rootdir
Creates a range of special files as specified in a device table.
Device table entries take the form of:
Where name is the file name,
type can be one of:
f A regular file
d Directory
c Character special device file
b Block special device file
p Fifo (named pipe)
uid is the user id for the target file, gid is the group id for the
target file. The rest of the entries (major, minor, etc) apply to
to device special files. A - may be used for blank entries.
Example:
For example:
/dev d 755 0 0 - - - - -
/dev/console c 666 0 0 5 1 - - -
/dev/null c 666 0 0 1 3 0 0 -
/dev/zero c 666 0 0 1 5 0 0 -
/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 0 0 0 -
/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 1 1 1 15
Will Produce:
/dev
/dev/console
/dev/null
/dev/zero
/dev/hda
/dev/hda[0-15]
md5sum
md5sum [OPTION] [FILEs...]
or: md5sum [OPTION] -c [FILE]
Print or check MD5 checksums.
Options: With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
-c check MD5 sums against given list
The following two options are useful only when verifying checksums:
-s dont output anything, status code shows success
-w warn about improperly formated MD5 checksum lines
Example:
$ md5sum < busybox
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003
$ md5sum busybox
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
$ md5sum -c -
6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003 busybox
busybox: OK
^D
mdev
mdev [-s]
-s Scan /sys and populate /dev during system boot
Called with no options (via hotplug) it uses environment variables
to determine which device to add/remove.
The mdev config file contains lines that look like:
hd[a-z][0-9]* 0:3 660
Thats device name (with regex match), uid:gid, and permissions.
Optionally, that can be followed (on the same line) by an asterisk
and a command line to run after creating the corresponding
device(s), ala:
hdc root:cdrom 660 *ln -s hdc cdrom
Config file parsing stops on the first matching line. If no config
entry is matched, devices are created with default 0:0 660. (Make
the last line match .* to override this.)
mesg
mesg [y|n]
mesg controls write access to your terminal
y Allow write access to your terminal
n Disallow write access to your terminal
mkdir
mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY...
Create the DIRECTORY(ies) if they do not already exist
Options:
-m set permission mode (as in chmod), not rwxrwxrwx - umask
-p no error if existing, make parent directories as needed
Example:
$ mkdir /tmp/foo
$ mkdir /tmp/foo
/tmp/foo: File exists
$ mkdir /tmp/foo/bar/baz
/tmp/foo/bar/baz: No such file or directory
$ mkdir -p /tmp/foo/bar/baz
mke2fs
mke2fs [-c|-l filename] [-b block-size] [-f fragment-size] [-g
blocks-per-group] [-i bytes-per-inode] [-j] [-J journal-options]
[-N number-of-inodes] [-n] [-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o cre
ator-os] [-O feature[,...]] [-q] [r fs-revision-level] [-E
extended-options] [-v] [-F] [-L volume-label] [-M
last-mounted-directory] [-S] [-T filesystem-type] device
[blocks-count]
-b size block size in bytes
-c check for bad blocks before creating
-E opts set extended options
-f size fragment size in bytes
-F force (ignore sanity checks)
-g num number of blocks in a block group
-i ratio the bytes/inode ratio
-j create a journal (ext3)
-J opts set journal options (size/device)
-l file read bad blocks list from file
-L lbl set the volume label
-m percent percent of fs blocks to reserve for admin
-M dir set last mounted directory
-n do not actually create anything
-N num number of inodes to create
-o os set the creator os field
-O features dir_index/filetype/has_journal/journal_dev/sparse_super
-q quiet execution
-r rev set filesystem revision
-S write superblock and group descriptors only
-T fs-type set usage type (news/largefile/largefile4)
-v verbose execution
mkfifo
mkfifo [OPTIONS] name
Creates a named pipe (identical to mknod name p)
Options:
-m create the pipe using the specified mode (default a=rw)
mkfs.minix
mkfs.minix [-c | -l filename] [-nXX] [-iXX] /dev/name [blocks]
Make a MINIX filesystem.
Options:
-c Check the device for bad blocks
-n [14|30] Specify the maximum length of filenames
-i INODES Specify the number of inodes for the filesystem
-l FILENAME Read the bad blocks list from FILENAME
-v Make a Minix version 2 filesystem
mknod
mknod [OPTIONS] NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR
Create a special file (block, character, or pipe).
Options:
-m create the special file using the specified mode (default a=rw)
TYPEs include:
b: Make a block (buffered) device
c or u: Make a character (un-buffered) device
p: Make a named pipe. MAJOR and MINOR are ignored for named pipes
Example:
$ mknod /dev/fd0 b 2 0
$ mknod -m 644 /tmp/pipe p
mkswap
mkswap [-c] [-v0|-v1] device [block-count]
Prepare a disk partition to be used as a swap partition.
Options:
-c Check for read-ability
-v0 Make version 0 swap [max 128 Megs]
-v1 Make version 1 swap [big!] (default for kernels >
2.1.117)
block-count Number of block to use (default is entire partition)
mktemp
mktemp [-dq] TEMPLATE
Creates a temporary file with its name based on TEMPLATE. TEMPLATE
is any name with six Xs (i.e., /tmp/temp.XXXXXX).
Options:
-d Make a directory instead of a file
-q Fail silently if an error occurs
Example:
$ mktemp /tmp/temp.XXXXXX
/tmp/temp.mWiLjM
$ ls -la /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
-rw------- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
modprobe
modprobe [-knqrsv] MODULE [symbol=value ...]
Options:
-k Make module autoclean-able
-n Just show what would be done
-q Quiet output
-r Remove module (stacks) or do autoclean
-s Report via syslog instead of stderr
-v Verbose output
modprobe can (un)load a stack of modules, passing each module
options (when loading). modprobe uses a configuration file to
determine what option(s) to pass each module it loads.
The configuration file is searched (in order) amongst:
/etc/modprobe.conf (2.6 only)
/etc/modules.conf
/etc/conf.modules (deprecated)
They all have the same syntax (see below). If none is present, it
is _not_ an error; each loaded module is then expected to load
without options. Once a file is found, the others are tested for.
/etc/modules.conf entry format:
alias
Makes it possible to modprobe alias_name, when there is no such module.
It makes sense if your mod_name is long, or you want a more reprenstative
name for that module (eg. scsi in place of aha7xxx).
This makes it also possible to use a different set of options (below) for
the module and the alias.
A module can be aliased more than once.
options
When loading module mod_name (or the module aliased by alias_name), pass
the "symbol=value" pairs as option to that module.
Sample /etc/modules.conf file:
options tulip irq=3
alias tulip tulip2
options tulip2 irq=4 io=0x308
Other functionality offered by classic modprobe is not available
in this implementation.
If module options are present both in the config file, and on the
command line, then the options from the command line will be passed
to the module _after_ the options from the config file. That way,
you can have defaults in the config file, and override them for a
specific usage from the command line.
Example:
(with the above /etc/modules.conf):
$ modprobe tulip
will load the module tulip with default option irq=3
$ modprobe tulip irq=5
will load the module tulip with option irq=5, thus overriding the default
$ modprobe tulip2
will load the module tulip with default options irq=4 io=0x308,
which are the default for alias tulip2
$ modprobe tulip2 irq=8
will load the module tulip with default options irq=4 io=0x308 irq=8,
which are the default for alias tulip2 overriden by the option irq=8
from the command line
$ modprobe tulip2 irq=2 io=0x210
will load the module tulip with default options irq=4 io=0x308 irq=4 io=0x210,
which are the default for alias tulip2 overriden by the options irq=2 io=0x210
from the command line
more
more [FILE ...]
More is a filter for viewing FILE one screenful at a time.
Example:
$ dmesg | more
mount
mount [flags] DEVICE NODE [-o options,more-options]
Mount a filesystem. Filesystem autodetection requires /proc be
mounted.
Flags:
-a: Mount all filesystems in fstab
-f: "Fake" Add entry to mount table but dont mount it
-n: Dont write a mount table entry
-o option: One of many filesystem options, listed below
-r: Mount the filesystem read-only
-t fs-type: Specify the filesystem type
-w: Mount for reading and writing (default)
Options for use with the "-o" flag:
async/sync: Writes are asynchronous / synchronous
atime/noatime: Enable / disable updates to inode access times
dev/nodev: Allow use of special device files / disallow them
exec/noexec: Allow use of executable files / disallow them
loop: Ignored (loop devices are autodetected)
suid/nosuid: Allow set-user-id-root programs / disallow them
remount: Re-mount a mounted filesystem, changing its flags
ro/rw: Mount for read-only / read-write
bind: Bind a directory to an additional location
move: Relocate an existing mount point.
There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem
Youll have to see the written documentation for those filesystems
Example:
$ mount
/dev/hda3 on / type minix (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
$ mount /dev/fd0 /mnt -t msdos -o ro
$ mount /tmp/diskimage /opt -t ext2 -o loop
$ mount cd_image.iso mydir
mountpoint
mountpoint [-q] <[-d] DIR | -x DEVICE>
mountpoint checks if the directory is a mountpoint
Options:
-q: Be more quiet
-d: Print major/minor device number of the filesystem
-x: Print major/minor device number of the blockdevice
Example:
$ mountpoint /proc
/proc is not a mountpoint
$ mountpoint /sys
/sys is a mountpoint
mt mt [-f device] opcode value
Control magnetic tape drive operation
Available Opcodes:
bsf bsfm bsr bss datacompression drvbuffer eof eom erase fsf fsfm
fsr fss load lock mkpart nop offline ras1 ras2 ras3 reset retension
rewind rewoffline seek setblk setdensity setpart tell unload unlock
weof wset
mv mv [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST or: mv [OPTION]... SOURCE...
DIRECTORY
Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Options:
-f dont prompt before overwriting
-i interactive, prompt before overwrite
Example:
$ mv /tmp/foo /bin/bar
nameif
nameif [-s] [-c FILE] [{IFNAME MACADDR}]
Nameif renaming network interface while it in the down state.
Options:
-c FILE Use configuration file (default is /etc/mactab)
-s Use syslog (LOCAL0 facility)
IFNAME MACADDR new_interface_name interface_mac_address
Example:
$ nameif -s dmz0 00:A0:C9:8C:F6:3F
or
$ nameif -c /etc/my_mactab_file
nc nc [OPTIONS] [IP] [port]
Netcat opens a pipe to IP:port
Options:
-l listen mode, for inbound connects
-p PORT local port number
-i SECS delay interval for lines sent
-e PROG program to exec after connect (dangerous!)
-w SECS timeout for connects and final net reads
Example:
$ nc foobar.somedomain.com 25
220 foobar ESMTP Exim 3.12 #1 Sat, 15 Apr 2000 00:03:02 -0600
help
214-Commands supported:
214- HELO EHLO MAIL RCPT DATA AUTH
214 NOOP QUIT RSET HELP
quit
221 foobar closing connection
netstat
netstat [-laenrtuwx]
Netstat displays Linux networking information.
Options:
-l display listening server sockets
-a display all sockets (default: connected)
-e display other/more information
-n dont resolve names
-r display routing table
-t tcp sockets
-u udp sockets
-w raw sockets
-x unix sockets
nice
nice [-n ADJUST] [COMMAND [ARG] ...]
Nice runs a program with modified scheduling priority.
Options:
-n ADJUST Adjust the scheduling priority by ADJUST
nohup
nohup COMMAND [ARGS]
run a command immune to hangups, with output to a non-tty
Example:
$ nohup make &
nslookup
nslookup [HOST] [SERVER]
Queries the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST option
ally using a specified DNS server
Example:
$ nslookup localhost
Server: default
Address: default
Name: debian
Address: 127.0.0.1
od od [-aBbcDdeFfHhIiLlOovXx] [FILE]
Write an unambiguous representation, octal bytes by default, of
FILE to standard output. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read
standard input.
openvt
openvt [ARGS...]
Start a command on a new virtual terminal
Example:
openvt 2 /bin/ash
passwd
passwd [OPTION] [name]
Change a user password. If no name is specified, changes the pass
word for the current user. Options:
-a Define which algorithm shall be used for the password
(Choices: des, md5 PASSWORD_ALG_TYPES(", sha1") )
-d Delete the password for the specified user account
-l Locks (disables) the specified user account
-u Unlocks (re-enables) the specified user account
patch
patch [-p] [-i]
[-p] [-i]
Example:
$ patch -p1 ] [-n] [-f]
Halt and shut off power. Options:
-d delay interval for halting
-n no call to sync()
-f force power off (dont go through init)
printenv
printenv [VARIABLES...]
print all or part of environment
If no environment VARIABLE specified, print them all.
printf
printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT...]
Formats and prints ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, Where FORMAT
controls the output exactly as in C printf.
Example:
$ printf "Val=%d\n" 5
Val=5
ps ps
Report process status
USAGE_PS
-c show SE Linux context
w wide output
Example:
$ ps
PID Uid Gid State Command
1 root root S init
2 root root S [kflushd]
3 root root S [kupdate]
4 root root S [kpiod]
5 root root S [kswapd]
742 andersen andersen S [bash]
743 andersen andersen S -bash
745 root root S [getty]
2990 andersen andersen R ps
pwd pwd
Print the full filename of the current working directory.
Example:
$ pwd
/root
rdate
rdate [-sp] HOST
Get and possibly set the system date and time from a remote HOST.
Options:
-s Set the system date and time (default)
-p Print the date and time
readlink
readlink [-f] FILE
Displays the value of a symbolic link.
Options:
-f canonicalize by following all symlinks
readprofile
readprofile [OPTIONS]...
Options:
-m (default: /boot/System.map)
-p (default: /proc/profile)
-M set the profiling multiplier to
-i print only info about the sampling step
-v print verbose data
-a print all symbols, even if count is 0
-b print individual histogram-bin counts
-s print individual counters within functions
-r reset all the counters (root only)
-n disable byte order auto-detection
realpath
realpath pathname ...
Returns the absolute pathnames of given argument.
reboot
reboot [-d] [-n] [-f]
Reboot the system. Options:
-d delay interval for rebooting
-n no call to sync()
-f force reboot (dont go through init)
renice
renice {{-n INCREMENT} | PRIORITY} [[ -p | -g | -u ] ID ...]
Changes priority of running processes.
Options:
-n adjusts current nice value (smaller is faster)
-p process id(s) (default)
-g process group id(s)
-u process user name(s) and/or id(s)
reset
reset
Resets the screen.
rm rm [OPTION]... FILE...
Remove (unlink) the FILE(s). You may use -- to indicate that all
following arguments are non-options.
Options:
-i always prompt before removing each destination
-f remove existing destinations, never prompt
-r or -R remove the contents of directories recursively
Example:
$ rm -rf /tmp/foo
rmdir
rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.
Example:
# rmdir /tmp/foo
rmmod
rmmod [OPTION]... [MODULE]...
Unloads the specified kernel modules from the kernel.
Options:
-a Remove all unused modules (recursively)
Example:
$ rmmod tulip
route
route [{add|del|delete}]
Edit the kernels routing tables.
Options:
-n Dont resolve names
-e Display other/more information
-A inet{6} Select address family
rpm rpm -i -q[ildc]p package.rpm
Manipulates RPM packages
Options:
-i Install package
-q Query package
-p Query uninstalled package
-i Show information
-l List contents
-d List documents
-c List config files
rpm2cpio
rpm2cpio package.rpm
Outputs a cpio archive of the rpm file.
run-parts
run-parts [-t] [-a ARG] [-u MASK] DIRECTORY
Run a bunch of scripts in a directory.
Options:
-t Prints what would be run, but does not actually run anything
-a ARG Pass ARG as an argument for every program invoked
-u MASK Set the umask to MASK before executing every program
runlevel
runlevel [utmp]
Example:
$ runlevel /var/run/utmp
N 2
rx rx FILE
Receive a file using the xmodem protocol.
Example:
$ rx /tmp/foo
sed sed [-efinr] pattern [files...]
Options:
-e script add the script to the commands to be executed
-f scriptfile add script-file contents to the
commands to be executed
-i edit files in-place
-n suppress automatic printing of pattern space
-r use extended regular expression syntax
If no -e or -f is given, the first non-option argument is taken as
the sed script to interpret. All remaining arguments are names of
input files; if no input files are specified, then the standard
input is read. Source files will not be modified unless -i option
is given.
Example:
$ echo "foo" | sed -e s/f[a-zA-Z]o/bar/g
bar
seq seq [first [increment]] last
Print numbers from FIRST to LAST, in steps of INCREMENT. FIRST,
INCREMENT default to 1 Arguments:
LAST
FIRST LAST
FIRST INCREMENT LAST
setarch
setarch [args ...]
Personality may be:
linux32 Set 32bit uname emulation
linux64 Set 64bit uname emulation
setconsole
setconsole [-r|--reset] [DEVICE]
Redirects system console output to DEVICE (default: /dev/tty).
Options:
-r Reset output to /dev/console.
setkeycodes
setkeycodes SCANCODE KEYCODE ...
Set entries into the kernels scancode-to-keycode map, allowing
unusual keyboards to generate usable keycodes.
SCANCODE may be either xx or e0xx (hexadecimal), and KEYCODE is
given in decimal
Example:
$ setkeycodes e030 127
setsid
setsid program [arg ...]
Runs any program in a new session by calling setsid() before
execing the rest of its arguments. See setsid(2) for details.
sha1sum
sha1sum [OPTION] [FILEs...]
or: sha1sum [OPTION] -c [FILE]
Print or check SHA1 checksums.
Options: With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
-c check SHA1 sums against given list
The following two options are useful only when verifying checksums:
-s dont output anything, status code shows success
-w warn about improperly formated SHA1 checksum lines
sleep
sleep [N]...
Pause for a time equal to the total of the args given, where each arg can
have an optional suffix of (s)econds, (m)inutes, (h)ours, or (d)ays.
Example:
$ sleep 2
[2 second delay results]
$ sleep 1d 3h 22m 8s
[98528 second delay results]
sort
sort [-nrugMcszbdfimSTokt] [-o outfile] [-k start[.off
set][opts][,end[.offset][opts]] [-t char] [FILE]...
Sorts lines of text in the specified files
Options:
-b ignore leading blanks
-c check whether input is sorted
-d dictionary order (blank or alphanumeric only)
-f ignore case
-g general numerical sort
-i ignore unprintable characters
-k specify sort key
-M sort month
-n sort numbers
-o output to file
-k sort by key
-t use key separator other than whitespace
-r reverse sort order
-s stable (dont sort ties alphabetically)
-u suppress duplicate lines
-z input terminated by nulls, not newlines
-mST ignored for GNU compatability
Example:
$ echo -e "e\nf\nb\nd\nc\na" | sort
a
b
c
d
e
f
$ echo -e "c 3\nb 2\nd 2" | $SORT -k 2,2n -k 1,1r
d 2
b 2
c 3
start-stop-daemon
start-stop-daemon [OPTIONS] [--start|--stop] ... [-- arguments...]
Program to start and stop services.
Options:
-S|--start start
-K|--stop stop
-a|--startas starts process specified by pathname
-b|--background force process into background
-u|--user | stop this users processes
-x|--exec program to either start or check
-m|--make-pidfile create the -p file and enter pid in it
-n|--name stop processes with this name
-p|--pidfile save or load pid using a pid-file
-q|--quiet be quiet
-s|--signal signal to send (default TERM)
stat
stat [OPTION] FILE...
display file (default) or filesystem status.
Options:
-c fmt use the specified format
-f display filesystem status
-L,-l dereference links
-t display info in terse form
Valid format sequences for files:
%a Access rights in octal
%A Access rights in human readable form
%b Number of blocks allocated (see %B)
%B The size in bytes of each block reported by %b
%d Device number in decimal
%D Device number in hex
%f Raw mode in hex
%F File type
%g Group ID of owner
%G Group name of owner
%h Number of hard links
%i Inode number
%n File name
%N Quoted file name with dereference if symbolic link
%o I/O block size
%s Total size, in bytes
%t Major device type in hex
%T Minor device type in hex
%u User ID of owner
%U User name of owner
%x Time of last access
%X Time of last access as seconds since Epoch
%y Time of last modification
%Y Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
%z Time of last change
%Z Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
Valid format sequences for file systems:
%a Free blocks available to non-superuser
%b Total data blocks in file system
%c Total file nodes in file system
%d Free file nodes in file system
%f Free blocks in file system
%i File System ID in hex
%l Maximum length of filenames
%n File name
%s Block size (for faster transfers)
%S Fundamental block size (for block counts)
%t Type in hex
%T Type in human readable form
strings
strings [-afo] [-n length] [file ... ]
Display printable strings in a binary file.
Options:
-a Scan the whole files (this is the default).
-f Precede each string with the name of the file where it was found.
-n N Specifies that at least N characters forms a sequence (default 4)
-o Each string is preceded by its decimal offset in the file
stty
stty [-a|g] [-F DEVICE] [SETTING]...
Without arguments, prints baud rate, line discipline, and devia
tions from stty sane.
Options:
-F DEVICE open device instead of stdin
-a print all current settings in human-readable form
-g print in stty-readable form
[SETTING] see manpage
su su [OPTION]... [-] [username]
Change user id or become root. Options:
-p, -m Preserve environment
-c Command to pass to sh -c
-s Shell to use instead of default shell
sulogin
sulogin [OPTION]... [tty-device]
Single user login Options:
-f Do not authenticate (user already authenticated)
-h Name of the remote host for this login
-p Preserve environment
sum sum [rs] [files...]
checksum and count the blocks in a file
Options:
-r use BSD sum algorithm (1K blocks)
-s use System V sum algorithm (512byte blocks)
swapoff
swapoff [-a] [DEVICE]
Stop swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.
Options:
-a Stop swapping on all swap devices
swapon
swapon [-a] [DEVICE]
Start swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.
Options:
-a Start swapping on all swap devices
switch_root
switch_root [-c /dev/console] NEW_ROOT NEW_INIT [ARGUMENTS_TO_INIT]
Use from PID 1 under initramfs to free initramfs, chroot to
NEW_ROOT, and exec NEW_INIT.
Options:
-c Redirect console to device on new root
sync
sync
Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.
sysctl
sysctl [OPTIONS]... [VALUE]...
configure kernel parameters at runtime
Options:
-n Use this option to disable printing of the key name when printing values
-w Use this option when you want to change a sysctl setting
-p Load in sysctl settings from the file specified or /etc/sysctl.conf if none given
-a Display all values currently available
-A Display all values currently available in table form
Example:
sysctl [-n] variable ...
sysctl [-n] -w variable=value ...
sysctl [-n] -a
sysctl [-n] -p (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
sysctl [-n] -A
syslogd
syslogd [OPTION]...
Linux system and kernel logging utility. Note that this version of
syslogd ignores /etc/syslog.conf.
Options:
-m MIN Minutes between MARK lines (default=20, 0=off)
-n Run as a foreground process
-O FILE Use an alternate log file (default=/var/log/messages)
-S Make logging output smaller.
-s SIZE Max size (KB) before rotate (default=200KB, 0=off)
-b NUM Number of rotated logs to keep (default=1, max=99, 0=purge)
-R HOST[:PORT] Log to IP or hostname on PORT (default PORT=514/UDP)
-L Log locally and via network logging (default is network only)
-C [size(KiB)] Log to a circular buffer (read the buffer using logread)
Example:
$ syslogd -R masterlog:514
$ syslogd -R 192.168.1.1:601
tail
tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Print last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Options:
-c N[kbm] output the last N bytes
-n N[kbm] print last N lines instead of last 10
-f output data as the file grows
-q never output headers giving file names
-s SEC wait SEC seconds between reads with -f
-v always output headers giving file names
If the first character of N (bytes or lines) is a +, output
begins with the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise,
print the last N items in the file. N bytes may be suffixed by k
(x1024), b (x512), or m (1024^2).
Example:
$ tail -n 1 /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 10.0.0.1
tar tar -[czjaZxtvO] [-X FILE][-f TARFILE] [-C DIR] [FILE(s)]
...
Create, extract, or list files from a tar file.
Options:
c create
x extract
t list
Archive format selection:
z Filter the archive through gzip
j Filter the archive through bzip2
a Filter the archive through lzma
Z Filter the archive through compress
File selection:
f name of TARFILE or "-" for stdin
O extract to stdout
exclude file to exclude
X file with names to exclude
C change to directory DIR before operation
v verbosely list files processed
Example:
$ zcat /tmp/tarball.tar.gz | tar -xf -
$ tar -cf /tmp/tarball.tar /usr/local
tee tee [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output.
Options:
-a append to the given FILEs, do not overwrite
-i ignore interrupt signals (SIGINT)
Example:
$ echo "Hello" | tee /tmp/foo
$ cat /tmp/foo
Hello
telnet
telnet HOST [PORT]
Telnet is used to establish interactive communication with another
computer over a network using the TELNET protocol.
telnetd
telnetd [OPTION]
Telnetd listens for incoming TELNET connections on PORT. Options:
-p PORT listen for connections on PORT (default 23)
-l LOGIN exec LOGIN on connect (default /bin/sh)
-f issue_file Display issue_file instead of /etc/issue
test
test EXPRESSION
or [ EXPRESSION ]
Checks file types and compares values returning an exit code deter
mined by the value of EXPRESSION.
Example:
$ test 1 -eq 2
$ echo $?
1
$ test 1 -eq 1
$ echo $?
0
$ [ -d /etc ]
$ echo $?
0
$ [ -d /junk ]
$ echo $?
1
tftp
tftp [OPTION]... HOST [PORT]
Transfers a file from/to a tftp server using "octet" mode.
Options:
-l FILE Local FILE
-r FILE Remote FILE
-g Get file
-p Put file
-b SIZE Transfer blocks of SIZE octets
time
time [OPTION]... COMMAND [ARGS...]
Runs the program COMMAND with arguments ARGS. When COMMAND fin
ishes, COMMANDs resource usage information is displayed
Options:
-v Displays verbose resource usage information
top top [-d ]
top provides an view of processor activity in real time. This
utility reads the status for all processes in /proc each
and shows the status for however many processes will fit on the
screen. This utility will not show processes that are started
after program startup, but it will show the EXIT status for and
PIDs that exit while it is running.
touch
touch [-c] FILE [FILE ...]
Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s].
Options:
-c Do not create any files
Example:
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
/bin/ls: /tmp/foo: No such file or directory
$ touch /tmp/foo
$ ls -l /tmp/foo
-rw-rw-r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 15 01:11 /tmp/foo
tr tr [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]
Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from standard input,
writing to standard output.
Options:
-c take complement of STRING1
-d delete input characters coded STRING1
-s squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character
Example:
$ echo "gdkkn vnqkc" | tr [a-y] [b-z]
hello world
traceroute
traceroute [-FIldnrv] [-f 1st_ttl] [-m max_ttl] [-p port#] [-q
nqueries] [-s src_addr] [-t tos] [-w wait] [-g gateway] [-i
iface] [-z pausemsecs] host [data size]
trace the route ip packets follow going to "host" Options:
-F Set the dont fragment bit
-I Use ICMP ECHO instead of UDP datagrams
-l Display the ttl value of the returned packet
-d Set SO_DEBUG options to socket
-n Print hop addresses numerically rather than symbolically
-r Bypass the normal routing tables and send directly to a host
-v Verbose output
-m max_ttl Set the max time-to-live (max number of hops)
-p port# Set the base UDP port number used in probes
(default is 33434)
-q nqueries Set the number of probes per ttl to nqueries
(default is 3)
-s src_addr Use the following IP address as the source address
-t tos Set the type-of-service in probe packets to the following value
(default 0)
-w wait Set the time (in seconds) to wait for a response to a probe
(default 3 sec)
-g Specify a loose source route gateway (8 maximum)
true
true
Return an exit code of TRUE (0).
Example:
$ true
$ echo $?
0
tty tty
Print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.
Options:
-s print nothing, only return an exit status
Example:
$ tty
/dev/tty2
tune2fs
tune2fs [-c max-mounts-count] [-e errors-behavior] [-g group]
[-i interval[d|m|w]] [-j] [-J journal-options] [-l] [-s
sparse-flag] [-m reserved-blocks-percent] [-o
[^]mount-options[,...]] [-r reserved-blocks-count] [-u user] [-C
mount-count] [-L volume-label] [-M last-mounted-dir] [-O [^]fea
ture[,...]] [-T last-check-time] [-U UUID] device
Adjust filesystem options on ext[23] filesystems.
udhcpc
udhcpc [-Cfbnqtv] [-c CID] [-V VCLS] [-H HOSTNAME] [-i INTER
FACE] [-p pidfile] [-r IP] [-s script]
-c, --clientid=CLIENTID Set client identifier
-C, --clientid-none Suppress default client identifier
-V, --vendorclass=CLASSID Set vendor class identifier
-H, --hostname=HOSTNAME Client hostname
-h, Alias for -H
-f, --foreground Do not fork after getting lease
-b, --background Fork to background if lease cannot be immediately negotiated
-i, --interface=INTERFACE Interface to use (default: eth0)
-n, --now Exit with failure if lease cannot be immediately negotiated
-p, --pidfile=file Store process ID of daemon in file
-q, --quit Quit after obtaining lease
-r, --request=IP IP address to request (default: none)
-s, --script=file Run file at dhcp events (default: /usr/share/udhcpc/default.script)
-t, --retries=NUM Send up to NUM request packets
-v, --version Display version
udhcpd
udhcpd [configfile]
umount
umount [flags] FILESYSTEM|DIRECTORY
Unmount file systems
Flags:
-a Unmount all file systems in /etc/mtab
-n Dont erase /etc/mtab entries
-r Try to remount devices as read-only if mount is busy
-l Lazy umount (detach filesystem)
-f Force umount (i.e., unreachable NFS server)
-D Do not free loop device (if a loop device has been used)
Example:
$ umount /dev/hdc1
uname
uname [OPTION]...
Print certain system information. With no OPTION, same as -s.
Options:
-a print all information
-m the machine (hardware) type
-n print the machines network node hostname
-r print the operating system release
-s print the operating system name
-p print the host processor type
-v print the operating system version
Example:
$ uname -a
Linux debian 2.4.23 #2 Tue Dec 23 17:09:10 MST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux
uncompress
uncompress [-c] [-f] [ name ... ]
Uncompress .Z file[s] Options:
-c extract to stdout
-f force overwrite an existing file
uniq
uniq [-fscdu]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
Discard all but one of successive identical lines from INPUT (or
standard input), writing to OUTPUT (or standard output).
Options:
-c prefix lines by the number of occurrences
-d only print duplicate lines
-u only print unique lines
-f N skip the first N fields
-s N skip the first N chars (after any skipped fields)
Example:
$ echo -e "a\na\nb\nc\nc\na" | sort | uniq
a
b
c
unix2dos
unix2dos [option] [FILE]
Converts FILE from unix format to dos format. When no option is
given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When
no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output.
Options:
-u output will be in UNIX format
-d output will be in DOS format
unlzma
unlzma [OPTION]... [FILE]
Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is - or omitted).
Options:
-c Write output to standard output
-f Force
unzip
unzip [-opts[modifiers]] file[.zip] [list] [-x xlist] [-d
exdir]
Extracts files from ZIP archives.
Options:
-l list archive contents (short form)
-n never overwrite existing files (default)
-o overwrite files without prompting
-p send output to stdout
-q be quiet
-x exclude these files
-d extract files into this directory
uptime
uptime
Display the time since the last boot.
Example:
$ uptime
1:55pm up 2:30, load average: 0.09, 0.04, 0.00
usleep
usleep N
Pause for N microseconds.
Example:
$ usleep 1000000
[pauses for 1 second]
uudecode
uudecode [FILE]...
Uudecode a file that is uuencoded.
Options:
-o FILE direct output to FILE
Example:
$ uudecode -o busybox busybox.uu
$ ls -l busybox
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ams ams 245264 Jun 7 21:35 busybox
uuencode
uuencode [OPTION] [INFILE] REMOTEFILE
Uuencode a file.
Options:
-m use base64 encoding per RFC1521
Example:
$ uuencode busybox busybox
begin 755 busybox
$ uudecode busybox busybox > busybox.uu
$
vconfig
vconfig COMMAND [OPTIONS] ...
vconfig lets you create and remove virtual ethernet devices.
Options:
add [interface-name] [vlan_id]
rem [vlan-name]
set_flag [interface-name] [flag-num] [0 | 1]
set_egress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
set_ingress_map [vlan-name] [skb_priority] [vlan_qos]
set_name_type [name-type]
vi vi [OPTION] [FILE]...
edit FILE.
Options:
-R Read-only- do not write to the file
vlock
vlock [OPTIONS]
Lock a virtual terminal. A password is required to unlock Options:
-a Lock all VTs
watch
watch [-n ] COMMAND...
Executes a program periodically. Options:
-n Loop period in seconds - default is 2
Example:
$ watch date
Mon Dec 17 10:31:40 GMT 2000
Mon Dec 17 10:31:42 GMT 2000
Mon Dec 17 10:31:44 GMT 2000
watchdog
watchdog [-t ] DEV
Periodically write to watchdog device DEV. Options:
-t Timer period in seconds - default is 30
wc wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Print line, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line
if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, read standard
input.
Options:
-c print the byte counts
-l print the newline counts
-L print the length of the longest line
-w print the word counts
Example:
$ wc /etc/passwd
31 46 1365 /etc/passwd
wget
wget [-c|--continue] [-q|--quiet] [-O|--output-document file]
[--header header: value] [-Y|--proxy on/off] [-P DIR]
url
wget retrieves files via HTTP or FTP
Options:
-c continue retrieval of aborted transfers
-q quiet mode - do not print
-P Set directory prefix to DIR
-O save to filename (- for stdout)
-Y use proxy (on or off)
which
which [COMMAND ...]
Locates a COMMAND.
Example:
$ which login
/bin/login
who who
Prints the current user names and related information
whoami
whoami
Prints the user name associated with the current effective user id.
xargs
xargs [COMMAND] [OPTIONS] [ARGS...]
Executes COMMAND on every item given by standard input.
Options:
-p Prompt the user about whether to run each command
-r Do not run command for empty readed lines
-x Exit if the size is exceeded
-0 Input filenames are terminated by a null character
-t Print the command line on stderr before executing it
Example:
$ ls | xargs gzip
$ find . -name *.c -print | xargs rm
yes yes [OPTION]... [STRING]...
Repeatedly outputs a line with all specified STRING(s), or y.
zcat
zcat FILE
Uncompress to stdout.
zcip
zcip [OPTIONS] ifname script
zcip manages a ZeroConf IPv4 link-local address. Options:
-f foreground mode
-q quit after address (no daemon)
-r 169.254.x.x request this address first
-v verbose; show version
LIBC NSS
GNU Libc (glibc) uses the Name Service Switch (NSS) to configure the
behavior of the C library for the local environment, and to configure
how it reads system data, such as passwords and group information.
This is implemented using an /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file, and
using one or more of the /lib/libnss_* libraries. BusyBox tries to
avoid using any libc calls that make use of NSS. Some applets however,
such as login and su, will use libc functions that require NSS.
If you enable CONFIG_USE_BB_PWD_GRP, BusyBox will use internal func
tions to directly access the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and /etc/shadow
files without using NSS. This may allow you to run your system without
the need for installing any of the NSS configuration files and
libraries.
When used with glibc, the BusyBox networking applets will similarly
require that you install at least some of the glibc NSS stuff (in par
ticular, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /lib/libnss_dns*, /lib/libnss_files*, and
/lib/libresolv*).
Shameless Plug: As an alternative, one could use a C library such as
uClibc. In addition to making your system significantly smaller,
uClibc does not require the use of any NSS support files or libraries.
MAINTAINER
Rob Landley
AUTHORS
The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know
it or not. If you have written code included in BusyBox, you should
probably be listed here so you can obtain your bit of eternal glory.
If you should be listed here, or the description of what you have done
needs more detail, or is incorect, please send in an update.
Emanuele Aina run-parts
Erik Andersen
Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
Lots of tedious effort writing these boring docs that
nobody is going to actually read.
Laurence Anderson
rpm2cpio, unzip, get_header_cpio, read_gz interface, rpm
Jeff Angielski
ftpput, ftpget
Edward Betts
expr, hostid, logname, whoami
John Beppu
du, nslookup, sort
Brian Candler
tiny-ls(ls)
Randolph Chung
fbset, ping, hostname
Dave Cinege
more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance
Jordan Crouse
ipcalc
Magnus Damm
tftp client insmod powerpc support
Larry Doolittle
pristine source directory compilation, lots of patches and fixes.
Glenn Engel
httpd
Gennady Feldman
Sysklogd (single threaded syslogd, IPC Circular buffer support,
logread), various fixes.
Karl M. Hegbloom
cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.
Daniel Jacobowitz
mktemp.c
Matt Kraai
documentation, bugfixes, test suite
Stephan Linz
ipcalc, Red Hat equivalence
John Lombardo
tr
Glenn McGrath
Common unarchving code and unarchiving applets, ifupdown, ftpgetput,
nameif, sed, patch, fold, install, uudecode.
Various bugfixes, review and apply numerous patches.
Manuel Novoa III
cat, head, mkfifo, mknod, rmdir, sleep, tee, tty, uniq, usleep, wc, yes,
mesg, vconfig, make_directory, parse_mode, dirname, mode_string,
get_last_path_component, simplify_path, and a number trivial libbb routines
also bug fixes, partial rewrites, and size optimizations in
ash, basename, cal, cmp, cp, df, du, echo, env, ln, logname, md5sum, mkdir,
mv, realpath, rm, sort, tail, touch, uname, watch, arith, human_readable,
interface, dutmp, ifconfig, route
Vladimir Oleynik
cmdedit; xargs(current), httpd(current);
ports: ash, crond, fdisk, inetd, stty, traceroute, top;
locale, various fixes
and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.
Bruce Perens
Original author of BusyBox in 1995, 1996. Some of his code can
still be found hiding here and there...
Tim Riker
bug fixes, member of fan club
Kent Robotti
reset, tons and tons of bug reports and patches.
Chip Rosenthal ,
wget - Contributed by permission of Covad Communications
Pavel Roskin
Lots of bugs fixes and patches.
Gyepi Sam
Remote logging feature for syslogd
Linus Torvalds
mkswap, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix
Mark Whitley
grep, sed, cut, xargs(previous),
style-guide, new-applet-HOWTO, bug fixes, etc.
Charles P. Wright
gzip, mini-netcat(nc)
Enrique Zanardi
tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance
Tito Ragusa
devfsd and size optimizations in strings, openvt and deallocvt.
version 1.1.3 2007-01-21 BUSYBOX(1)
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