| help subject | Display help on specified subject. Leaving subject empty will retrieve a short list of basic subjects and added help options. |
| ls | List files and directories in the current directory. |
| ls /directory | List files and directories in the specified directory. |
| ls -l | Same as above but includes information about file size, date created, whether an item is a directory or a file, who owns and has permission to see or change each item. |
| cat filename | Display the contents of a text file. |
| cat file1 file2 > file3 | Append the contents of file2 to those of file1 to make a new file, called file3 |
| more filename | Display the contents of a text file, pausing for each screen. |
| cp file1 file2 | Make a copy, called file2, of file1. Can be used to make a backup copy or to place a second version of a file in a new directory. |
| mv file1 file2 | Move file1 to the location file2. This can be used to relocate a file from one directory to another. It can also be used to rename a file. |
| rm filename | Delete (remove) named file. |
| cd directory | Move to another directory. |
| cd .. | Move to the directory one level up. |
| mkdir dirname | Create a new directory, named dirname, within the current directory. |
| rmdir dirname | Delete the specified directory. The directory needs to be empty first. |
| passwd | Begin sequence to change password. |
| grep text filename | Search for specified text in specified file. |