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UNIX For DOS Users

The following table shows a comparison between DOS (COMMAND.COM and MS/Windows NT CMD.EXE shell commands) and the equivalent Linux/Unix or Bash shell commands.

Command Comparison:

DOS Command UNIX or Bash Command Action
DIR ls -l (or use ls -lF)(-a all files)
(df -k Space remaining on filesystem)		 List directory contents
DIR *.* /o-d
DIR *.* /v /os
DIR /s
DIR /aa		 ls -tr
ls -ls
ls -R
ls -a		 List directory contents by reverse time of modification/creation.
List files and size
List directory/sub-directory contents recursively.
List hidden files.
TREE ls -R List directory recursivly
CD cd Change directory
MKDIR
MD		 mkdir Make a new directory
ASSIGN ln Create a file or directory link
RMDIR
RD		 rmdir Remove a directory
CHDIR pwd Display directory location
DEL
ERASE		 rm -iv Remove a file
RMDIR /S (NT)
DELTREE (Win 95...)		 rm -R Remove all directories and files below given directory
COPY cp -piv Copy a file
XCOPY cp -R Copy all file of directory recursivly
RENAME or MOVE mv -iv Rename/move a file
TYPE cat Dump contents of a file to users screen
MORE more Pipe output a single page at a time
HELP or COMMAND /? man Online manuals
CLS clear
ctrl-l		 Clear screen
EXIT
EXIT0		 exit
exit 0		 Exit a shell
FIND
FINDSTR		 grep Look for a word in files given in command line
COMP diff Compare two files and show differences. Also see comm, cmp, mgdiff and tkdiff.
FC diff Compare two files and show differences. Also see comm, cmp, mgdiff and tkdiff.
SET set and env List all environment variables
SET variable=value
echo %variable%		 set

export variable=value
echo $variable

 Set environment variables
Show environment variables
ECHO text echo text Echo text to screen
SET variable setenv (for C shell) or export VAR=val (for Korn shell. Also VAR=val) Set environment variables
PATH
PATH %PATH%;C:\DIR		 echo $PATH
PATH=$PATH:/dir		 Display search path for executables.
Set PATH environment variable.
PROMPT $p$g export PS1='\h(\u)\W> ' Set user command prompt.
DATE or TIME date Show date. (also set date - DOS only)
DOSKEY /h history List command history
DOSKEY NAME=command alias NAME=command Set command alias
BREAK ON trap Trap ctrl-break / Trap signals.
SORT sort Sort data alphabetically/numerically
EDLIN ed Line mode editor
EDIT filename.txt pico, gnp, vi, xedit, xemacs,dtpad Edit a file. The Linux editor which looks most like DOS edit is probably Pico. (Not a recomendation!)
BACKUP files A:\ tar -cvf /dev/fd0 files
mdir, mcopy
doswrite -a file (AIX only)		 Save files to floppy.
See Using DOS floppies
RESTORE A:\ files tar -xvf /dev/fd0 files
mdir, mcopy
dosread -a file (AIX only)		 Read files from floppy.
See Using DOS floppies
ATTRIB [+r|-r] [+a|-a] [+s|-s] [path\file] /s chmod Change file permissions. DOS: +:set to -:remove r:Read only a:Archive s:System /s:recursively
ATTRIB +h or -h mv file .file Change file to a hidden file - rename file with prefix "."
PRINT lpr Print a file
CALL
COMMAND /C (DOS), CMD (NT)		 source script (cshrc)
. script (bash)
sh script		 Execute script from within batch shell.
MEM free
top		 Show free memory on system
TASKLIST (WIN2K, XP) ps -aux
top		 List executable name, process ID number and memory usage of active processes
MSD lsdev Show system info (Command borrowed from AIX)
SCANDISK
DEFRAG C:		 fsck
debugfs		 Check and repair hard drive file system
CHDISK du -s Disk usage.
FDISK fdisk Tool to partition a hard drive.
SUBST V: C:\directory\path mount Mount a drive letter to a folder/directory on your hard drive.
FORMAT mke2fs
See: fdformat and mformat for floppies		 Format drive file system.
For floppy drive use see YoLinux Tutorial Using DOS Floppies with Linux
VER uname -a
echo $SHELL
cat /etc/issue		 Operating system/shell version
pkzip tar and zip Compress and uncompress files/directories. Use tar to create compilation of a directory before compressing. Linux also has compress, gzip
HOSTNAME hostname Print host name of computer
PING ping Send packets to a network host
TRACERT traceroute Show routes and router hops to given network destination.
IPCONFIG (NT)
WINIPCFG (Win 95...)
 ifconfig
or
ip addr show		 Display/configure network interface
NBTSTAT (Netbios info: -n, -c)
NBTSTAT -A IP-address		 nslookup host-name
host host-name		 Print DNS info for host.
NBTSTAT -a hostname nmblookup -A hostname lookup NetBIOS names.
ROUTE PRINT route -n Print routing table.
NET HELP START chkconfig --list |grep on List services.
NET STARTservice-name
NET STOPservice-name		 service service-name start
service service-name stop		 Start/stop service/daemon.
NET SHARES df Show mounted shares/filesystems.
NET SEND <node-name> <message> (NT) smbclient -M MS-Windows-host-name
talk		 Send pop-up to a MS/Windows PC
Send message to another Unix/Linux user. See YoLinux tutorial
WIN startx Start X-Windows.
REBOOT shutdown -r now Reboot system.

To find out how to do something on UNIX simply type "man -k subject_matter". This will do a key word search for all commands dealing with the subject matter. Then use the appropriate command. Online manuals are available on all the commands by typing "man command_name".

MS/Windows info:

Shell Descriptor/Operators:

DOS Descriptor/Operator UNIX or Bash Descriptor/Operator Description
\ / Directory path delimiter
.\ ./ Current directory
..\ ../ Parent directory
ctrl-z ctrl-d End of file/close shell
ctrl-c ctrl-c Interrupt/process break
* * file name wild card
? ? Single character wild card
%VAR% $VAR Variable prefix
%1 %2 %3 $1 $2 $3 First, second and third shell command line arguments.
/ - Command line option flag prefix
| | Pipe
> > stdout redirection
>> >> stdout redirection overwrite
< < stdin redirection

Shell Script Operators:

DOS Operator UNIX or Bash Operator Description
@
ECHO OFF		 set +v Set verbose mode off. -v: Echo each line of shell script as it is executed.
% $ command line argument prefix. DOS: %1 Bash: $1 for firs argument.
REM # Comment. (Not processed.)
== = string "equal to" comparison
!==! != string "not equal to" comparison
NOT ! negative of test expression
CHOICE case case/switch statement
IF

IF EXIST C:\filename

IF NOT EXIST C:\filename

 if [[ test-resulting-in-bool ]];
then
...
elif ...;
then
...
else
...
fi

if [ -e /dir/filename ];
then

if [ ! -e /dir/filename ];
then

 if-test

If file exists

If file does not exist.
GOTO ABC
...
:ABC		 goto ABC
...
:ABC		 Branch
FOR ... IN ... DO

FOR %%fff IN (C:\dir\*.*)
DO echo %%fff

 for ffiillee in lliisstt;
do ...;
done

for (( expr1; expr2; expr3; ))
do ...;
done

 For loop
ERRORLEVEL $? exit status/return code
PAUSE sleep sleep for specified interval

Bash shell aliases for DOS users:

The following are bash shell aliases which can be added to the system profile or the user's personal profile ($HOME/.bashrc) to correct and help DOS users on Linux. 

alias dir="echo 'Use the command: ls -lF'"
alias tree="echo 'Use the command: ls -R'"
alias del="echo 'Use the command: rm -iv'"
alias move="echo 'Use the command: mv -iv'"
alias rename="echo 'Use the command: mv -iv'"
alias copy="echo 'Use the command: cp -piv'"
alias type="echo 'Use the command: cat'"
alias cls="echo 'Use the command: clear'"
alias mem="echo 'Use the command: free'"
alias ver="echo 'Use the command: uname -a'"
alias A:="echo 'Use the command: mdir a:'"
alias a:="A:"
alias C:="echo 'No C drive in Linux. Go to your home directory with the command: cd'"
alias c:="C:"

Devices:

DOS Device Linux Device Description
NUL /dev/null Send into nothingness
CON stdin stdin from console
PRN
LPT1		 /dev/lp0 First printer device
COM1 /dev/ttyS0 Firsst serial port

Equivalent Linux and MS/Windows GUI Applications:

MS/Windows Command Linux Command Description
C:\WINDOWS\cmd gnome-terminal
konsole		 Command Text Terminal
C:\WINDOWS\explorer nautilus --no-desktop File browser
c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore firefox
mozilla		 Web browser
C:\WINDOWS\notepad
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad		 gedit Text editor
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\winword
excel
powerpnt		 oowriter
oocalc
ooimpress		 MS/Office and Open Office suites (ooffice)
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\acrord32 acroread Adobe PDF viewer
mspaint tuxpaint
xfig
gimp		 Graphics and painting program
C:\Program Files\WinZip\winzip32 file-roller File compress / decompress / pack / unpack
taskmgr ksysguard
qps
gnome-system-monitor
xosview		 Process and system load monitor

Links:

YoLinux Tutorials:

Links:

  • bash - Bash man page

Books:

"Learning the Bash Shell"
by Cameron Newham, Bill Rosenblatt
O'Reilly & Associates, ISBN# 1565923472

This book is a great bash shell script book.

Amazon.com
"Classic Shell Scripting"
by Arnold Robbins, Nelson H.F. Beebe
O'Reilly & Associates, ISBN# 0596005954

Amazon.com
"Wicked Cool Shell Scripts"
by Dave TAylor
No Starch Press, ISBN# 1593270127

Amazon.com
"Microsoft Windows Command-Line Administrator's Pocket Consultant"
by William R. Stanek
Sams, ISBN# 0735620385

Amazon.com
"Windows Xp: Command Line"
by Carolyn Z. Gillay, Bette A. Peat
Sams, ISBN# 1887902821

Amazon.com
"Windows XP Under the Hood: Hardcore Windows Scripting and Command Line Power"
by Brian Knittel
Sams, ISBN# 0789727331

Amazon.com

   
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