Terminal & Shell Scripting commands

doskey /macros→alias Aliases List shell aliases Lists defined aliases. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu alias Fedora alias Arch alias Open full guide → doskey macro=value→alias name="command" Aliases Create command alias Creates a temporary shell alias. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu alias name="command" Fedora alias name="command" Arch alias name="command" Open full guide → & command separator→command1; command2 Control Operators Run commands sequentially Runs commands one after another regardless of success. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command1; command2 Fedora command1; command2 Arch command1; command2 Open full guide → && operator→command1 && command2 Control Operators Run next command on success Runs the second command only if the first succeeds. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command1 && command2 Fedora command1 && command2 Arch command1 && command2 Open full guide → || operator→command1 || command2 Control Operators Run fallback command Runs the second command only if the first fails. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command1 || command2 Fedora command1 || command2 Arch command1 || command2 Open full guide → %TEMP%→echo "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}" Environment Variables Show temp directory Prints the temporary directory path. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}" Fedora echo "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}" Arch echo "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}" Open full guide → %USERNAME%→echo "$USER" Environment Variables Show username variable Prints the current username environment variable. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo "$USER" Fedora echo "$USER" Arch echo "$USER" Open full guide → %USERPROFILE%→echo "$HOME" Environment Variables Show home directory variable Prints the current user home directory. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo "$HOME" Fedora echo "$HOME" Arch echo "$HOME" Open full guide → setx PATH→echo "export PATH="$PATH:/new/path"" >> ~/.bashrc Environment Variables Persist PATH change Adds a PATH modification to a shell startup file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo "export PATH="$PATH:/new/path"" >> ~/.bashrc Fedora echo "export PATH="$PATH:/new/path"" >> ~/.bashrc Arch echo "export PATH="$PATH:/new/path"" >> ~/.bashrc Open full guide → command /?→command --help Help Show command help Prints built-in command help when supported. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command --help Fedora command --help Arch command --help Open full guide → help command→man command Help Open command manual Shows the manual page for a command. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu man command Fedora man command Arch man command Open full guide → for /r→find . -type f -exec command {} \; Loops Loop files recursively Runs a command for each matching file under a tree. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find . -type f -exec command {} \; Fedora find . -type f -exec command {} \; Arch find . -type f -exec command {} \; Open full guide → forfiles→find . -mtime +7 -exec rm {} \; Loops Run command on matched files Finds files by criteria and runs a command on them. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find . -mtime +7 -exec rm {} \; Fedora find . -mtime +7 -exec rm {} \; Arch find . -mtime +7 -exec rm {} \; Open full guide → dir | find→command | grep "pattern" Pipelines Pipe output to search Sends command output to a text filter. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command | grep "pattern" Fedora command | grep "pattern" Arch command | grep "pattern" Open full guide → 2> redirection→command 2> errors.log Redirection Redirect stderr Writes error output to a file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command 2> errors.log Fedora command 2> errors.log Arch command 2> errors.log Open full guide → 2>&1 redirection→command > all.log 2>&1 Redirection Merge stdout and stderr Writes normal and error output to the same file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command > all.log 2>&1 Fedora command > all.log 2>&1 Arch command > all.log 2>&1 Open full guide → > redirection→command > file Redirection Redirect stdout Writes command output to a file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command > file Fedora command > file Arch command > file Open full guide → %* batch arguments→printf "%s\n" "$@" Scripts All script arguments Expands all positional arguments safely. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu printf "%s\n" "$@" Fedora printf "%s\n" "$@" Arch printf "%s\n" "$@" Open full guide → %1 batch argument→echo "$1" Scripts First script argument Reads the first positional parameter in a shell script. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo "$1" Fedora echo "$1" Arch echo "$1" Open full guide → %~dp0 script directory→cd "$(dirname "$0")" Scripts Script directory Changes to the directory containing the script. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu cd "$(dirname "$0")" Fedora cd "$(dirname "$0")" Arch cd "$(dirname "$0")" Open full guide → call script.bat→source script.sh Scripts Run script in current shell Sources a shell script so it can modify current shell state. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu source script.sh Fedora source script.sh Arch source script.sh Open full guide → choice→read -r -p "Continue? [y/N] " answer Scripts Prompt for choice Reads an interactive answer from the user. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu read -r -p "Continue? [y/N] " answer Fedora read -r -p "Continue? [y/N] " answer Arch read -r -p "Continue? [y/N] " answer Open full guide → start cmd /c→bash -c "command" Scripts Run command string Executes a command through Bash. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu bash -c "command" Fedora bash -c "command" Arch bash -c "command" Open full guide → timeout /nobreak→sleep 10 Scripts Wait for seconds Pauses script execution for a number of seconds. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sleep 10 Fedora sleep 10 Arch sleep 10 Open full guide → where /r→find /path -name "name" Search Search recursively for file Finds files by name under a directory tree. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find /path -name "name" Fedora find /path -name "name" Arch find /path -name "name" Open full guide → %errorlevel%→$? Terminal Check command success or failure exit code Reads the exit status of the last command. 0 means success; any non-zero value means failure. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu $? Fedora $? Arch $? Open full guide → break→Ctrl+C Terminal Interrupt a running command Stops a currently running command or script. Ctrl+C sends SIGINT to the foreground process. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu Ctrl+C Fedora Ctrl+C Arch Ctrl+C Open full guide → chcp→locale charmap Terminal Show terminal encoding Displays the active character encoding. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu locale charmap Fedora locale charmap Arch locale charmap Open full guide → cls→clear Terminal Clear the terminal screen Clears all text from the terminal window. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu clear Fedora clear Arch clear Open full guide → cmd /k (set title)→alias Terminal Create command shortcuts (aliases) Creates short nicknames for long commands. Add them to ~/.bashrc to make them permanent. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu alias Fedora alias Arch alias Open full guide → color→printf "\033[32mgreen\033[0m\n" Terminal Print colored terminal text Uses ANSI escape sequences for terminal color. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu printf "\033[32mgreen\033[0m\n" Fedora printf "\033[32mgreen\033[0m\n" Arch printf "\033[32mgreen\033[0m\n" Open full guide → doskey /history→history Terminal View command history Shows previously run commands. Linux keeps a much longer history than Windows. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu history Fedora history Arch history Open full guide → echo→echo Terminal Print text to terminal Displays a line of text. Also used in scripts for variable output. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo Fedora echo Arch echo Open full guide → exit→exit Terminal Exit the shell or return an exit code Closes the current shell session or exits a script, optionally with a numeric return code. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu exit Fedora exit Arch exit Open full guide → for→for ... in ...; do ... done Terminal Loop over a list or range Repeats a block of commands for each item in a list, range, or set of files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu for ... in ...; do ... done Fedora for ... in ...; do ... done Arch for ... in ...; do ... done Open full guide → goto→functions / break / continue Terminal Control flow — replace GOTO with functions Bash has no GOTO. Use functions, break, continue, or restructure logic with loops and conditionals. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu functions / break / continue Fedora functions / break / continue Arch functions / break / continue Open full guide → if→if [ condition ]; then ... fi Terminal Conditional branching in scripts Tests a condition and executes different code depending on whether it is true or false. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu if [ condition ]; then ... fi Fedora if [ condition ]; then ... fi Arch if [ condition ]; then ... fi Open full guide → mode con→stty -a Terminal Show terminal settings Displays terminal line discipline settings. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu stty -a Fedora stty -a Arch stty -a Open full guide → path→echo $PATH / export PATH Terminal View or modify the command search path Shows or modifies the list of directories the shell searches when you type a command. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo $PATH / export PATH Fedora echo $PATH / export PATH Arch echo $PATH / export PATH Open full guide → pause→read -p Terminal Pause a script and wait for keypress Halts a script and waits for the user to press a key before continuing. Used frequently in batch files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu read -p Fedora read -p Arch read -p Open full guide → prompt→export PS1="\u@\h:\w\$ " Terminal Set shell prompt Changes the shell prompt format. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu export PS1="\u@\h:\w\$ " Fedora export PS1="\u@\h:\w\$ " Arch export PS1="\u@\h:\w\$ " Open full guide → rem / ::→# Terminal Add comments to scripts Adds human-readable comments to shell scripts that are ignored during execution. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu # Fedora # Arch # Open full guide → set→export / env Terminal View or set environment variables Lists or modifies environment variables available in the current session. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu export / env Fedora export / env Arch export / env Open full guide → set /a (arithmetic)→$(( expression )) Terminal Perform arithmetic calculations Evaluates mathematical expressions in scripts or at the command line. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu $(( expression )) Fedora $(( expression )) Arch $(( expression )) Open full guide → shift→shift Terminal Shift script argument positions Shifts positional parameters ($1, $2...) left by one. Used to process command-line arguments in scripts. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu shift Fedora shift Arch shift Open full guide → start (open file/URL)→xdg-open Terminal Open files with default application Opens a file, folder, or URL with the appropriate default application — like double-clicking in the file manager. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu xdg-open Fedora xdg-open Arch xdg-open Open full guide → title→echo -ne "\033]0;My Title\007" Terminal Set the terminal window title Changes the title text shown in the terminal emulator's title bar. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu echo -ne "\033]0;My Title\007" Fedora echo -ne "\033]0;My Title\007" Arch echo -ne "\033]0;My Title\007" Open full guide → while (goto loop)→while [ condition ]; do ... done Terminal Loop while a condition is true Repeatedly executes commands as long as a condition remains true. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu while [ condition ]; do ... done Fedora while [ condition ]; do ... done Arch while [ condition ]; do ... done Open full guide →