Shell operations - Linux / Windows command line Reference

Linux shell commands are lower case. Windows command line commands are not case sensitive. In linux path and filenames are case sensitive. Windows path and file names are not case sensitive. Linux paths use forward slashes “/” as separators. Windows paths use backslashes “\” as separators. Linux paths do not use disk drive letters. Windows paths may include disk drive letters such as “C:\tmp”.

Linux	Windows cmd line	Description
cat file	TYPE file	Display the contents of a text file
cd path	CHDIR path or CD path	Change directory. A space is required for Linux. For example, in DOS you may type “CD\” to change to the top level directory. In Linux type “cd /” to change to the top level directory.
chmod params file	ATTRIB params file	Set file mode attributes. Common linux modes are “read”, “write”, “executable”. DOS uses file extensions such as EXE or COM for designate files as executable. Linux does not use extensions for executable files. Instead set the executable file mode. For example,chmod +x indicator sets the “indicator” file to be executable.
cmp file1 file2	FC file1 file2	Compare two files to check for binary differences
cp from to	COPY from {to}	Copy a file or files from one location to another. In DOS you may omit the “to” path to copy to the current directory. In Linux specify the “to” path as a period “.” to copy to the current directory.
df	fsutil volume diskfree c:(or other drive letter) (must run as admin)	Output disk size and free space information
echo text	ECHO text	Output some text, commonly redirected to a device or file. For example, echo “hello” > /dev/ttyS0 will send the message “hello” out the serial port.
kill pid	N/A	End a running process. Use the “ps” command first to determine the process id (pid).
ls {path}	DIR {path}	List files in a directory. If path is not specified the listing will show files in the current directory. For Linux the parameter “-l” is useful for a detailed listing. For example,ls –l /usr provides a detailed directory listing showing file attributes and date stamp.
mkdir path	MKDIR path or MD path	Create a directory.
mount params dev mntpt	N/A	Enable access to a file system such as a USB flash drive.
mv from to	RENAME from to or REN from to	Rename a file.
ps	N/A	Show list of running processes along with their pids (process ids).
pwd	CD	Display the current directory.
rm file	DEL file	Delete a file.
rmdir path	RMDIR path or RD path	Remove a directory. The directory must be empty.
umount	N/A	Disconnect from a file system.