book

Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name: Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition
Author: Arnold Robbins
ISBN: 9781449391140

by Arnold Robbins

October 2005

Intermediate to advanced

908 pages

46h 42m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Read now

Unlock full access

1. Introduction
1.1. Unix in the 21st Century
1.2. Obtaining Compilers
1.2.1. Solaris
1.2.2. GNU/Linux
1.2.3. Mac OS X
1.3. Building Software
1.4. What’s in the Quick Reference
1.5. Beginner’s Guide
1.5.1. Communication
1.5.2. Comparisons
1.5.3. File Management
1.5.4. Miscellaneous
1.5.5. Printing (BSD Commands)
1.5.6. Printing (System V Commands)
1.5.7. Programming
1.5.8. Searching
1.5.9. Shells
1.5.10. Shell Programming
1.5.11. Storage
1.5.12. System Status
1.5.13. Text Processing
1.6. Solaris: Standard Compliant Programs
2. Unix Commands
2.1. Introduction
2.1.1. Finding Commands on Solaris
2.1.2. Finding Commands on GNU/Linux and Mac OS X
2.2. Alphabetical Summary of Common Commands
2.3. Alphabetical Summary of Solaris Commands
2.4. Alphabetical Summary of GNU/Linux Commands
2.5. Alphabetical Summary of Mac OS X Commands
2.6. Alphabetical Summary of Java Commands
3. The Unix Shell: An Overview
3.1. Introduction to the Shell
3.2. Purpose of the Shell
3.2.1. Interactive Use
3.2.2. Customization of Your Unix Session
3.2.3. Programming
3.3. Shell Flavors
3.3.1. Which Shell Do I Want?
3.4. Shell Source Code URLs
3.5. Common Features
3.6. Differing Features
4. The Bash and Korn Shells
4.1. Overview of Features
4.2. Invoking the Shell
4.2.1. Options
4.2.1.1. Common options4.2.1.2. Bash options
4.2.2. Arguments
4.3. Syntax
4.3.1. Special Files
4.3.2. Filename Metacharacters
4.3.2.1. Examples
4.3.3. Quoting
4.3.3.1. Examples
4.3.4. Command Forms
4.3.4.1. Examples
4.3.5. Redirection Forms
4.3.5.1. Simple redirection4.3.5.2. Redirection using file descriptors4.3.5.3. Multiple redirection4.3.5.4. Examples
4.3.6. Coprocesses
4.3.6.1. Examples
4.4. Functions
4.5. Variables
4.5.1. Variable Substitution
4.5.1.1. Examples
4.5.2. Built-in Shell Variables
4.5.3. Other Shell Variables
4.5.4. Arrays
4.5.5. Discipline Functions (ksh93 Only)
4.5.6. Special Prompt Strings
4.6. Arithmetic Expressions
4.6.1. Operators
4.6.2. Built-in Mathematical Functions (ksh93 Only)
4.6.3. Examples
4.7. Command History
4.7.1. Line-Edit Mode
4.7.1.1. Common editing keystrokes
4.7.2. The fc and hist Commands
4.7.2.1. Examples
4.7.3. Programmable Completion (Bash Only)
4.7.3.1. Examples
4.8. Job Control
4.9. Command Execution
4.10. Restricted Shells
4.11. Built-in Commands (Bash and Korn Shells)
5. tcsh: An Extended C Shell
5.1. Overview of Features
5.2. Invoking the Shell
5.2.1. Options
5.2.2. Arguments
5.3. Syntax
5.3.1. Special Files
5.3.2. Filename Metacharacters
5.3.2.1. Examples
5.3.3. Quoting
5.3.3.1. Examples
5.3.4. Command Forms
5.3.4.1. Examples
5.3.5. Redirection Forms
5.3.5.1. Simple redirection5.3.5.2. Multiple redirection5.3.5.3. Examples
5.4. Variables
5.4.1. Variable Substitution
5.4.1.1. Examples
5.4.2. Variable Modifiers
5.4.2.1. Examples using pathname modifiers5.4.2.2. Examples using quoting modifiers
5.4.3. Predefined Shell Variables
5.4.4. Formatting for the Prompt Variable
5.4.5. Sample .tcshrc File
5.4.6. Environment Variables
5.5. Expressions
5.5.1. Operators
5.5.1.1. Assignment operators5.5.1.2. Arithmetic operators5.5.1.3. Bitwise and logical operators5.5.1.4. Comparison operators5.5.1.5. File inquiry operators
5.5.2. Examples
5.6. Command History
5.6.1. Command Substitution
5.6.2. Command Substitution Examples
5.6.3. Word Substitution
5.6.4. Word Substitution Examples
5.6.5. History Modifiers
5.6.5.1. Printing, substitution, and quoting5.6.5.2. Truncation
5.6.6. History Modifier Examples
5.6.7. Special Aliases
5.6.7.1. Examples
5.7. Command-Line Manipulation
5.7.1. Completion
5.7.2. Related Shell Variables
5.7.3. Related Command-Line Editor Commands
5.7.4. Related Shell Built-ins
5.7.5. Command-Line Editing
5.7.5.1. Emacs mode5.7.5.2. vi mode
5.8. Job Control
5.9. Built-in Commands
6. Package Management
6.1. Linux Package Management
6.2. The Red Hat Package Manager
6.2.1. RPM Package Concepts
6.2.2. The rpm Command
6.2.2.1. General options6.2.2.2. Install, upgrade, and freshen options6.2.2.3. Query options6.2.2.4. Uninstall options6.2.2.5. Verify options6.2.2.6. Database rebuild options6.2.2.7. Signature check options6.2.2.8. Miscellaneous options6.2.2.9. FTP/HTTP options
6.2.3. RPM Examples
6.2.4. The rpmbuild Command
6.2.4.1. rpmbuild options
6.3. Yum: Yellowdog Updater Modified
6.3.1. The yum Command
6.3.1.1. General options
6.3.2. Yum Command Summary
6.4. up2date: Red Hat Update Agent
6.4.1. Options
6.5. The Debian Package Manager
6.5.1. Files
6.5.2. Package Priorities
6.5.3. Package and Selection States
6.5.4. Package Flags
6.5.5. Scripts
6.5.6. Debian Package Manager Command Summary
6.6. Mac OS X Package Management
6.6.1. Fink and Fink Commander
6.6.2. The GNU Mac OS X Public Archive
6.6.3. Building from Source
6.7. Solaris Package Management
6.7.1. Solaris Package Management Command Summary
II. Text Editing and Processing
7. Pattern Matching
7.1. Filenames Versus Patterns
7.2. Metacharacters
7.2.1. Search Patterns
7.2.2. Replacement Patterns
7.3. Metacharacters, Listed by Unix Program
7.4. Examples of Searching
7.4.1. Examples of Searching and Replacing
8. The Emacs Editor
8.1. Conceptual Overview
8.1.1. Modes
8.1.2. Buffer and Window
8.1.3. Point and Mark
8.1.4. Kill and Yank
8.1.5. Notes on the Tables
8.1.6. Absolutely Essential Commands
8.2. Command-Line Syntax
8.3. Summary of Commands by Group
8.3.1. File-Handling Commands
8.3.2. Cursor-Movement Commands
8.3.3. Deletion Commands
8.3.4. Paragraphs and Regions
8.3.5. Stopping and Undoing Commands
8.3.6. Transposition Commands
8.3.7. Search Commands
8.3.8. Capitalization Commands
8.3.9. Word-Abbreviation Commands
8.3.10. Buffer-Manipulation Commands
8.3.11. Window Commands
8.3.12. Special Shell Characters
8.3.13. Indentation Commands
8.3.14. Centering Commands
8.3.15. Macro Commands
8.3.16. Basic Indentation Commands
8.3.17. Detail Information Help Commands
8.3.18. Help Commands
8.4. Summary of Commands by Key
8.4.1. Control-Key Sequences
8.4.2. Meta-Key Sequences
8.5. Summary of Commands by Name
9. The vi, ex, and vim Editors
9.1. Conceptual Overview
9.2. Command-Line Syntax
9.2.1. Command-Line Options
9.3. Review of vi Operations
9.3.1. Command Mode
9.3.2. Insert Mode
9.3.3. Syntax of vi Commands
9.3.3.1. Examples9.3.3.2. Visual mode (vim only)
9.3.4. Status-Line Commands
9.4. vi Commands
9.4.1. Movement Commands
9.4.1.1. Character9.4.1.2. Text9.4.1.3. Lines9.4.1.4. Screens9.4.1.5. Searches9.4.1.6. Line numbering9.4.1.7. Marks
9.4.2. Insert Commands
9.4.3. Edit Commands
9.4.3.1. Changing and deleting text9.4.3.2. Copying and moving
9.4.4. Saving and Exiting
9.4.5. Accessing Multiple Files
9.4.6. Window Commands (vim)
9.4.7. Interacting with the System
9.4.8. Macros
9.4.9. Miscellaneous Commands
9.5. vi Configuration
9.5.1. The :set Command
9.5.2. Options Used by :set
9.5.3. Example .exrc File
9.6. ex Basics
9.6.1. Syntax of ex Commands
9.6.2. Addresses
9.6.3. Address Symbols
9.6.4. Options
9.7. Alphabetical Summary of ex Commands
10. The sed Editor
10.1. Conceptual Overview
10.1.1. Typical Uses of sed
10.1.2. sed Operation
10.2. Command-Line Syntax
10.2.1. Standard Options
10.2.2. GNU sed Options
10.3. Syntax of sed Commands
10.3.1. Pattern Addressing
10.3.2. Examples
10.3.3. GNU sed Regular Expression Extensions
10.4. Group Summary of sed Commands
10.4.1. Basic Editing
10.4.2. Line Information
10.4.3. Input/Output Processing
10.4.4. Yanking and Putting
10.4.5. Branching Commands
10.4.6. Multiline Input Processing
10.5. Alphabetical Summary of sed Commands
11. The awk Programming Language
11.1. Conceptual Overview
11.2. Command-Line Syntax
11.2.1. Standard Options
11.2.2. Important gawk Options
11.3. Patterns and Procedures
11.3.1. Patterns
11.3.2. Procedures
11.3.3. Simple Pattern-Action Examples
11.4. Built-in Variables
11.5. Operators
11.6. Variable and Array Assignment
11.6.1. Escape Sequences
11.6.2. Octal and Hexadecimal Constants in gawk
11.7. User-Defined Functions
11.8. Gawk-Specific Features
11.8.1. Coprocesses and Sockets
11.8.2. Profiling
11.8.3. File Inclusion
11.8.4. Internationalization
11.9. Implementation Limits
11.10. Group Listing of awk Functions and Commands
11.11. Alphabetical Summary of awk Functions and Commands
11.12. Output Redirections
11.12.1. printf Formats
11.13. Source Code
III. Software Development
12. Source Code Management: An Overview
12.1. Introduction and Terminology
12.2. Usage Models
12.3. Unix Source Code Management Systems
12.4. Other Source Code Management Systems
13. The Revision Control System
13.1. Overview of Commands
13.2. Basic Operation
13.3. General RCS Specifications
13.3.1. Keyword Substitution
13.3.2. Keywords
13.3.3. Example Values
13.3.4. Revision Numbering
13.3.5. Specifying the Date
13.3.6. Specifying States
13.3.7. Standard Options and Environment Variables
13.4. Alphabetical Summary of Commands
14. The Concurrent Versions System
14.1. Conceptual Overview
14.1.1. CVS Wrappers
14.1.2. Stickiness
14.2. Command-Line Syntax and Options
14.2.1. cvs Options
14.2.2. Common Subcommand Options
14.3. Dot Files
14.4. Environment Variables
14.4.1. Client Environment Variables
14.4.2. Server Environment Variables
14.5. Keywords and Keyword Modes
14.6. Dates
14.6.1. Legal Date Formats
14.6.1.1. ISO 860114.6.1.2. RFC 822 and RFC 1123
14.6.2. Legal Date Keywords
14.6.3. Time Zones
14.7. CVSROOT Variables
14.7.1. Environment Variables in CVSROOT Files
14.7.2. Internal Variables in CVSROOT Files
14.7.3. Shell Variables in CVSROOT Files
14.8. Alphabetical Summary of Commands
15. The Subversion Version Control System
15.1. Conceptual Overview
15.1.1. Basic Version Control Operations
15.1.2. Building a Better CVS
15.1.3. Converting a Repository from CVS to Subversion
15.1.4. Special File Properties
15.2. Obtaining Subversion
15.2.1. Subversion Releases
15.2.2. A View Down the Road
15.2.3. Source Code
15.3. Using Subversion: A Quick Tour
15.4. The Subversion Command Line Client: svn
15.4.1. svn Options
15.4.2. svn Subcommands
15.5. Repository Administration: svnadmin
15.5.1. svnadmin Options
15.5.2. svnadmin Subcommands
15.6. Examining the Repository: svnlook
15.6.1. svnlook Options
15.6.2. svnlook Subcommands
15.7. Providing Remote Access: svnserve
15.7.1. svnserve Options
15.8. Other Subversion Components
16. The GNU make Utility
16.1. Conceptual Overview
16.2. Command-Line Syntax
16.2.1. Options
16.3. Makefile Lines
16.3.1. Special Dependencies
16.3.2. Conditional Input
16.4. Macros
16.4.1. Creating and Using Macros
16.4.1.1. Defining macros16.4.1.2. Macro values16.4.1.3. Exporting macros16.4.1.4. Overriding command-line macros
16.4.2. Internal Macros
16.4.3. Macro Modifiers
16.4.4. Macros with Special Handling
16.4.5. Text Manipulation with Macros and Functions
16.5. Special Target Names
16.6. Writing Command Lines
17. The GDB Debugger
17.1. Conceptual Overview
17.1.1. Source Code Locations
17.2. Command-Line Syntax
17.3. Initialization Files
17.3.1. The .gdbinit File
17.3.2. The .inputrc File
17.4. GDB Expressions
17.4.1. The Value History
17.4.2. Convenience Variables and Machine Registers
17.4.3. Special Expressions
17.5. The GDB Text User Interface
17.6. Group Listing of GDB Commands
17.6.1. Aliases for Other Commands
17.6.2. Breakpoints
17.6.3. Examining Data
17.6.4. Controlling and Examining Files
17.6.5. Running a Program
17.6.6. Examining the Stack
17.6.7. Status Inquiries
17.6.8. Support Facilities
17.6.9. Text User Interface Commands
17.6.10. Frequently Used Commands
17.7. Summary of set and show Commands
17.8. Summary of the info Command
17.9. Alphabetical Summary of GDB Commands
18. Writing Manual Pages
18.1. Introduction
18.2. Overview of nroff/troff
18.2.1. Command-Line Invocation
18.2.1.1. Example
18.2.2. Conceptual Overview
18.2.2.1. Requests and macros18.2.2.2. Specifying measurements18.2.2.3. Requests that cause a line break18.2.2.4. Embedded formatting controls
18.2.3. Outline of Useful Requests
18.2.4. Useful Escape Sequences
18.2.5. Special Characters
18.3. Alphabetical Summary of man Macros
18.4. Predefined Strings
18.5. Internal Names
18.6. Sample Document
IV. References
A. ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) Character Set
B. Bibliography
Unix Descriptions and Programmer’s Manuals
Unix Internals
System and Network Administration
Programming with the Unix Mindset
Programming Languages
TCP/IP Networking
Software Development
Emacs
Standards
O’Reilly Books
Index
About the Author
Colophon
Copyright

Content preview from Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Command-Line Invocation

nroff and troff are invoked from the command line as follows:

    nroff  [options]  [files]
    troff  [options]  [files]

Although both formatters support a plethora of options, the following two are the most important for everyday use.

-m name: Prepend a macro file to input files. Historically, one of /usr/lib/tmac/tmac. name or /usr/share/lib/tmac/tmac. name were the locations of the macros for name. Solaris uses /usr/share/lib/tmac/ name. GNU troff uses something like /usr/local/share/groff/ x.y.z /tmac/ name .tmac. The actual location and filename(s) vary among different Unix systems.
-T name: Prepare output designed for printer or typesetter name. For device names, see your specific documentation or a local expert. GNU troff provides both PostScript and T_EX DVI output.

Example

Format a manual page for printing using groff:

    $ groff -man /usr/share/man/man1/awk.1 | lpr

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.

Julian F.

Head of Cybersecurity

I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.

Addison B.

Field Engineer

I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.

Amir M.

Data Platform Tech Lead

I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.

Mark W.

Embedded Software Engineer

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596100299Errata Page

Cloud Computing

Data Engineering

Data Science

AI & ML

Programming Languages

Software Architecture

IT/Ops

Security

Design

Business

Soft Skills

Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

by Arnold Robbins

Command-Line Invocation

Example

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

Julian F.

Addison B.

Amir M.

Mark W.

You might also like

The Art of UNIX Programming

Learning the Unix Operating System, 5th Edition

Unix Power Tools, 3rd Edition

UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 5th Edition

Publisher Resources