OJBs Web Site: Tip

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Terminal: Manual and Help

Unix has thousands of pages of help information. If you forget how to use a command or need to use some unusual options you can refer to the built-in documentation for help.

The main help command is "man" (manual). Type "man x" to get help on the command "x", for example type "man ls" to get help on the ls (list directory) command. Press space at the end of each page or type Q to quit from the man display.

If you don't know the name of the command you need try the "apropos" command. For example if you can't remember the command to terminate processes type "apropos terminate". You will see the kill command listed. You can now use "man kill" to get full details.