This is a list of the shell commands of the most recent version of the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) IEEE Std 1003.1-2024 which is part of the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). These commands are implemented in many shells on modern Unix, Unix-like and other operating systems. This list does not cover commands for all versions of Unix and Unix-like shells nor other versions of POSIX.
As is typical in the context of a POSIX system, the term file refers to an item of a file system which can be a regular file, a directory or several other more specialized types.
Columns: Command The text one enters to launch the command. Category Functional categorization. Optionality Indicates whether the command is mandatory or optional in order to achieve conformance. If the latter, then a code indicates the optional functionality group to which the command belongs. Batch environment (BE) Batch job control. C‑language development (CD) For developing software in C. FORTRAN development (FD) For developing software in FORTRAN. FORTRAN runtime (FR) Runtime‑support for FORTRAN. Software development (SD) For developing software; not language specific. User portability (UP) Addresses consistency at the user interface level. X/Open System Interfaces (XSI) Historically UNIX-like features that were common on System V–style systems. Description Describes what the command does. First appeared Identifies an operating system version in which the command was first provided.
Command Category Optionality Description First appeared SCCS (XSI) Create and administer SCCS files PWB UNIX Misc Manage command aliases Misc Manage library archives Version 1 AT&T UNIX Text processing (FR) Interpret carriage-control characters System V Process management Execute commands at a later time Version 7 AT&T UNIX Text processing Pattern scanning and processing language Version 7 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Report non-directory portion of a pathname Version 7 AT&T UNIX Process management Schedule commands to be executed in a batch queue Misc Arbitrary-precision arithmetic calculator Version 6 AT&T UNIX Process management (UP) Move jobs to the background C programming (CD) Compile C source code IEEE Std 1003.1-2024 Misc (XSI) Print a calendar Version 5 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Concatenate and print files PDP-7 UNIX Filesystem Change the working directory Version 6 AT&T UNIX C programming (XSI) Generate a C-language call graph System V Filesystem Change file group ownership PWB UNIX Filesystem Change file modes/attributes/permissions PDP-7 UNIX Filesystem Change file ownership PDP-7 UNIX Filesystem Report file checksum and size 4.4BSD Filesystem Compare two files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Text processing Select or reject lines common to two files Version 4 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Execute a simple command Filesystem (XSI) Compress data 4.3BSD Filesystem Copy files PDP-7 UNIX Misc Schedule periodic background work System V Text processing Split files based on context PWB UNIX C programming (SD) Create a tags file 3BSD Text processing Cut out selected fields of each line of a file System III C programming (XSI) Generate a C-language program cross-reference table System V Misc Report or change system date and time Version 1 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Convert and copy files Version 5 AT&T UNIX SCCS (XSI) Make a delta (change) to an SCCS file PWB UNIX Filesystem Report free storage space Version 1 AT&T UNIX Text processing Compare two files Version 5 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Report the directory portion of a pathname System III Filesystem Estimate file space usage Version 1 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Write to standard output Version 2 AT&T UNIX Text processing The standard text editor PDP-7 UNIX Misc Set the environment for command invocation System III Text processing (UP) Text editor 1BSD Text processing Convert tabs to spaces 3BSD Shell programming Evaluate arguments as an expression Version 7 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Exit immediately with status 1 Version 7 AT&T UNIX Misc (UP) Process the command history list Process management (UP) Move a job to the foreground Filesystem Report type of files Version 4 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Find files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Text processing Filter for folding lines 1BSD Process management (XSI) List process IDs of all processes that have one or more files open System V Misc Generate a formatted message catalog SCCS (XSI) Get a version of an SCCS file PWB UNIX Misc Get configuration values Shell programming Parse utility options Misc Retrieve text string from messages object Misc Search text for a pattern Version 4 AT&T UNIX Misc Hash database access method Text processing Copy the first part of files PWB UNIX Text processing Codeset conversion HP-UX Misc Report user identity System V Misc (XSI) Remove a message queue, semaphore set, or shared memory segment identifier System V Misc (XSI) Report interprocess communication facilities status System V Process management (UP) Report background jobs Text processing Merges two sorted text files based on the presence of a common field Version 7 AT&T UNIX Process management Terminate or signal processes Version 4 AT&T UNIX C programming (CD) Generate programs for lexical tasks Version 7 AT&T UNIX Filesystem (XSI) Create a hard link to a file Version 1 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Link files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Get locale-specific information Misc Define locale environment Shell programming Log messages 4.3BSD Misc Report the user's login name 4.4BSD Text processing Send files to a printer System V Filesystem List directory contents Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Macro processor PWB UNIX Misc Process messages Version 1 AT&T UNIX Programming (SD) Maintain, update, and regenerate groups of programs PWB UNIX Misc Display system documentation Version 2 AT&T UNIX Misc Permit or deny messages Version 1 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Make directories Version 1 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Make FIFO special files 4.4BSD Text processing (UP) Display files on a page-by-page basis 3BSD Misc Create messages objects from messages object files Filesystem Move or rename files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Change to a new group Version 6 AT&T UNIX Misc Retrieve text string from messages object with plural form Process management Invoke a utility with an altered nice value Version 4 AT&T UNIX Text processing (XSI) Line numbering filter System III C programming (SD, XSI) Write the name list of an object file Version 1 AT&T UNIX Process management Invoke a utility immune to hangups Version 4 AT&T UNIX Misc Dump files in various formats Version 1 AT&T UNIX Text processing Merge corresponding or subsequent lines of files Version 32V AT&T UNIX Text processing Apply changes to files 4.3BSD Filesystem Check pathnames Misc Portable archive interchange 4.4BSD Text processing Paginate or columnate files for printing Version 1 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Write formatted output 4.3BSD-Reno SCCS (XSI) Print an SCCS file PWB UNIX Process management Report process status Version 4 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Print working directory Version 5 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Read a line from standard input Version 7 AT&T UNIXhttps://www.in-ulm.de/~mascheck/bourne/v7/ Filesystem Print destination of a symbolic link Filesystem Report the fully qualified path of a file XPG4 Process management Set nice values of running processes 4BSD Filesystem Remove file(s) Version 1 AT&T UNIX SCCS (XSI) Remove a delta from an SCCS file PWB UNIX Filesystem Remove empty directory(ies) Version 1 AT&T UNIX SCCS (XSI) Print current SCCS file-editing activity System III SCCS (XSI) Front end for the SCCS subsystem 4.3BSD Text processing Stream editor Version 7 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Shell, the standard command language interpreter Version 7 AT&T UNIX(in earlier versions, sh was either the Thompson shell or the PWB shell) Shell programming Suspend execution for an interval Version 4 AT&T UNIX Text processing Sort, merge, or sequence check text files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Split files into pieces Version 3 AT&T UNIX C programming Find printable strings in files 2BSD C programming (SD) Remove unnecessary information from executable files Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Set the options for a terminal Version 2 AT&T UNIX Misc Set terminal tabs PWB UNIX Text processing Copy the last part of a file PWB UNIX Misc (UP) Talk to another user 4.2BSD Shell programming Duplicate the standard output Version 5 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Evaluate expression Version 7 AT&T UNIX Process management Display elapsed, system and kernel time used by the current shell or designated process. Version 3 AT&T UNIX Process management Run command with a time limit Version 3 AT&T UNIX Filesystem Change file access and modification times Version 7 AT&T UNIX Misc Change terminal characteristics System V Text processing Translate characters Version 4 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Exit immediately with status 0 Version 7 AT&T UNIX Text processing Topological sort Version 7 AT&T UNIX Misc Report user's terminal name Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc (XSI) Displays how a name would be interpreted if used as a command Misc (XSI) Set or report file size limit Misc Get or set file mode creation mask System III Misc Remove alias definitions Misc Report system name PWB UNIX Misc (XSI) Expand compressed data 4.3BSD Text processing Convert spaces to tabs 3BSD SCCS (XSI) Undo a previous get of an SCCS file System III Text processing Report or filter out repeated lines in a file Version 3 AT&T UNIX Filesystem (XSI) Call the unlink function Version 1 AT&T UNIX Network (UU) System-to-system copy Version 7 AT&T UNIX Network Decode a binary file 4BSD Network Encode a binary file 4BSD Network (UU) uucp status inquiry and job control System III Process management (UU) Remote command execution Version 7 AT&T UNIX SCCS (XSI) Validate SCCS files System III Text processing (UP) Screen-oriented (visual) display editor 1BSD Process management Await process completion Version 4 AT&T UNIX Text processing Line, word and byte or character count Version 1 AT&T UNIX SCCS (XSI) Identify SCCS files PWB UNIX System administration (XSI) Display who is on the system Version 1 AT&T UNIX Misc Write to another user's terminal Version 1 AT&T UNIX Shell programming Construct argument lists and invoke utility PWB UNIX C programming (CD) Extract gettext calls from C source code strings IEEE Std 1003.1-2024 C programming (CD) Yet another compiler compiler PWB UNIX Text processing (XSI) Expand and concatenate compressed data 4.3BSD
See also GNOME Core Applications GNU Core Utilities List of GNU packages List of KDE applications List of Unix daemons Unix philosophy util-linux
References
External links
IEEE Std 1003.1,2004 specifications IEEE Std 1003.1,2008 specifications IEEE Std 1003.1,2024 specifications Rosetta Stone For *Nix – configurable list of equivalent programs for *nix systems. The Unix Acronym List: Unix Commands – explains the names of many Unix commands.