Documentation Reference Number: #0023
GNU
I. Description
GNU utilities are distributed as a part of most Linux distributions. GNU utilities include things like cat, sed, grep, find, which, etc.
II. GNU Core Utilities
The GNU Core Utilites constitute an array of command line programs which are usually a part of any Linux based operating system.
| GNU Core Utilities | |
|---|---|
| Program Name | Description |
| arch | Prints the computer architecture type. |
| b2sum | Print or check a BLAKE2b (512 bit) checksum. |
| base32 | Encode and or decode data and print the output to standard output (STDOUT). |
| base64 | Encode and or decode data and print the output to standard output (STDOUT). |
| basename | Take a filepath as input, produce as output the name of the file with directory components removed. |
| basenc | Encode and or decode data and print the output to standard output (STDOUT). |
| cat | Concatenate files and print to standard output (STDOUT). |
| chcon | Change the SELinux security context of a given file to a new context. |
| chgrp | Change the group ownership of one or more files. |
| chmod | Change the file mode bits (RWX) of one or more files. |
| chown | Change the owner and or group of one or more files. |
| chroot | Execute a command, or run an interactive shell with a special root directory. |
| cksum | Compute the checksum of one or more files. |
| comm | Compare two text files line by line. |
| cp | Copy a file or directory |
| csplit | Split a file into multiple files based on a pattern. |
| cut | |
| date | |
| dd | |
| df | |
| dir | |
| dircolors | |
| dirname | |
| du | |
| echo | |
| env | |
| expand | |
| expr | |
| factor | |
| false | |
| find | Locate files or directories by name or pattern. |
| fmt | |
| fold | |
| grep | Search through the content of text files and print matches. |
| groups | |
| head | |
| hostid | |
| hostname | |
| id | |
| install | |
| join | |
| kill | |
| link | |
| ln | |
| logname | |
| ls | |
| md5sum | |
| mkdir | |
| mkfifo | |
| mknod | |
| mktemp | |
| mv | |
| nice | |
| nl | |
| nohup | |
| nproc | |
| numfmt | |
| od | |
| paste | |
| pathchk | |
| pinky | |
| pr | |
| printenv | |
| printf | |
| ptx | |
| pwd | |
| readlink | |
| realpath | Output the absolute file name for the given file. |
| rm | Delete files, or directories. |
| rmdir | Delete a directory. |
| runcon | Execute a command with the specified security context. |
| seq | Output a sequence of numbers. |
| sha1sum | Calculate the SHA1 message digest for a given file. |
| sha224sum | Calculate the SHA224 message digest for a given file. |
| sha256sum | Calculate the SHA256 message digest for a given file. |
| sha384sum | Calculate the SHA384 message digest for a given file. |
| sha512sum | Calculate the SHA512 message digest for a given file. |
| shred | Overwrite the content of a file to hide the content of the file; optionally delete the file. |
| shuf | Randomize the input text and write to standard output (STDOUT). |
| sleep | Suspend execution for the specified amount of time. |
| sort | Sort lines of text files and output to standard output (STDOUT). |
| split | Split a file into one or more pieces. |
| stat | Output file status, or file system status |
| stdbuf | Execute a command with modified buffering settings for the standard streams. |
| stty | Output or modify terminal characteristics. |
| sum | Checksum the blocks in a file, and count the blocks in a file. |
| sync | Flush cached writes to persistent storage. |
| tac | Concatenate files, then print the file content to standard output (STDOUT) in reverse. |
| tail | Output the last 10 lines of the specified files to standard output (STDOUT). |
| tar | Combine multiple files, and directories into a single archive (.tar) file. |
| tee | Write standard input (STDIN) to each file AND also to standard output (STDOUT). |
| test | Determine the type of file. |
| timeout | Execute a command with a time limit. |
| touch | Create a file; or update the 'last accessed' time of a file. |
| tr | Substitute, or delete characters from the standard input (STDIN) write output to standard output (STDOUT). |
| true | Exit with a status code indicating success. |
| truncate | Increase or decrease the size of a file to the specified size. |
| tsort | Perform a topological sort of the input text. |
| tty | Output the file name of the terminal that is connected to standard input (STDIN). |
| uname | Output system information. |
| unexpand | Convert spaces to tabs. |
| uniq | Output text with adjacent matching lines of text removed. |
| unlink | Remove a file using the unlink function. |
| uptime | Output how long the current computer has been turned on and running. |
| users | Print the user names of all users who are currently logged into the current computer. |
| vdir | List the files in a directory. |
| wc | Print a newline count, word count, and byte count for each input file. |
| who | Show the users who are logged on to the computer |
| whoami | Print the username associated with the current effective user ID. |
| yes | Print a string repeatedly until stopped. |