Tech Esoterica: CLI

These are general command-line interface shortcuts, useful for most things. ⊞ for Windows, □ for Linux/Mac (⌘ if Mac is different).

Parameters/Commands

Most of the commands have special elements that modify the command’s scope:

• e.g., “ls -S -s” will list all the files in a directory, but also sort them by size and print their size as well.
  • ⊞: [COMMAND] /w /s /p
  • □: [COMMAND] -w -s -p
• e.g., “dir /p” will print all the files in a directory, one page at a time.

To find all the parameters/options, consult the documentation:

• help [command]
• -h
• –help
• man

General Commands

Output something to a text file:

• [any command] > [filename]

Append something to the end of a text file:

• [any command] >> [filename]

Send a file’s text in as a command:

• < [filename]

Make the output of something become the input of something else:

• [program 1] | [program 2]

Display the current directory:

• □: pwd
• ⊞: echo %cd%

List the files in the directory:

• □: ls
• ⊞: dir

Count all files by type in a directory and recursively to subdirectories (Linux):

find . -type f | sed -n 's/..*\.//p' | sort | uniq -c

Change the directory:

• cd [path]

Delete a file/folder:

• □: rm [file or folder]
• ⊞: del [file or folder]

Delete everything in a file/folder:

• □: rm -rf [file path]/* (doesn’t get rid of hidden/system files)
• ⊞: del *.*

Delete all empty subfolders:

• ⊞: robocopy [parent directory you want to purge] [parent directory you want to purge] /s /move

Move a file/folder (which is the equivalent of renaming it):

• □: mv [file or folder]
• ⊞: move [file or folder]

Networking Commands

Display general network config:

• □: ip a
• ⌘: ifconfig
• ⊞: ipconfig

Show network statistics:

• netstat

Measure how long network connections take:

• ping [IP address]

Show where packets are dropping:

• tracert [IP address]

Display IP routing tables:

• show ip route

Check which IP protocols are enabled:

• show ip protocols