Linux/UNIX For DOS Users

The following table shows a comparison between DOS (COMMAND.COM and MS/Windows NT CMD.EXE shell commands) and the equivalent Linux/Unix or Bash shell commands.

DOS Command	UNIX or Bash Command	Action
DIR	ls -l (or use ls -lF)(-a all files) (df -k Space remaining on filesystem)	List directory contents
DIR *.* /o-d DIR *.* /v /os DIR /s DIR /aa	ls -tr ls -ls ls -R ls -a	List directory contents by reverse time of modification/creation. List files and size List directory/sub-directory contents recursively. List hidden files.
TREE	ls -R	List directory recursivly
CD	cd	Change directory
MKDIR MD	mkdir	Make a new directory
ASSIGN	ln	Create a file or directory link
RMDIR RD	rmdir	Remove a directory
CHDIR	pwd	Display directory location
DEL ERASE	rm -iv	Remove a file
RMDIR /S (NT) DELTREE (Win 95...)	rm -R	Remove all directories and files below given directory
COPY	cp -piv	Copy a file
XCOPY	cp -R	Copy all file of directory recursivly
RENAME or MOVE	mv -iv	Rename/move a file
TYPE	cat	Dump contents of a file to users screen
MORE	more	Pipe output a single page at a time
HELP or COMMAND /?	man	Online manuals
CLS	clear ctrl-l	Clear screen
EXIT EXIT0	exit exit 0	Exit a shell
FIND FINDSTR	grep	Look for a word in files given in command line
COMP	diff	Compare two files and show differences. Also see comm, cmp, mgdiff and tkdiff.
FC	diff	Compare two files and show differences. Also see comm, cmp, mgdiff and tkdiff.
SET	set and env	List all environment variables
SET variable=value echo %variable%	set export variable=value echo $variable	Set environment variables Show environment variables
ECHO text	echo text	Echo text to screen
SET variable	setenv (for C shell) or export VAR=val (for Korn shell. Also VAR=val)	Set environment variables
PATH PATH %PATH%;C:DIR	echo $PATH PATH=$PATH:/dir	Display search path for executables. Set PATH environment variable.
PROMPT $p$g	export PS1="h(u)W> "	Set user command prompt.
DATE or TIME	date	Show date. (also set date - DOS only)
DOSKEY /h	history	List command history
DOSKEY NAME=command	alias NAME=command	Set command alias
BREAK ON	trap	Trap ctrl-break / Trap signals.
SORT	sort	Sort data alphabetically/numerically
EDLIN	ed	Line mode editor
EDIT filename.txt	pico, gnp, vi, xedit, xemacs,dtpad	Edit a file. The Linux editor which looks most like DOS edit is probably Pico. (Not a recomendation!)
BACKUP files A:	tar -cvf /dev/fd0 files mdir, mcopy doswrite -a file (AIX only)	Save files to floppy. See Using DOS floppies
RESTORE A: files	tar -xvf /dev/fd0 files mdir, mcopy dosread -a file (AIX only)	Read files from floppy. See Using DOS floppies
ATTRIB [+r|-r] [+a|-a] [+s|-s] [pathfile] /s	chmod	Change file permissions. DOS: +:set to -:remove r:Read only a:Archive s:System /s:recursively
ATTRIB +h or -h	mv file .file	Change file to a hidden file - rename file with prefix "."
PRINT	lpr	Print a file
CALL COMMAND /C (DOS), CMD (NT)	source script (cshrc) . script (bash) sh script	Execute script from within batch shell.
MEM	free top	Show free memory on system
TASKLIST (WIN2K, XP)	ps -aux top	List executable name, process ID number and memory usage of active processes
MSD	lsdev	Show system info (Command borrowed from AIX)
SCANDISK DEFRAG C:	fsck debugfs	Check and repair hard drive file system
CHDISK	du -s	Disk usage.
FDISK	fdisk	Tool to partition a hard drive.
SUBST V: C:directorypath	mount	Mount a drive letter to a folder/directory on your hard drive.
FORMAT	mke2fs See: fdformat and mformat for floppies	Format drive file system. For floppy drive use see YoLinux Tutorial Using DOS Floppies with Linux
VER	uname -a echo $SHELL cat /etc/issue	Operating system/shell version
pkzip	tar and zip	Compress and uncompress files/directories. Use tar to create compilation of a directory before compressing. Linux also has compress, gzip
HOSTNAME	hostname	Print host name of computer
PING	ping	Send packets to a network host
TRACERT	traceroute	Show routes and router hops to given network destination.
IPCONFIG (NT) WINIPCFG (Win 95...)	ifconfig	Display/configure network interface
NBTSTAT (Netbios info: -n, -c) NBTSTAT -A IP-address	nslookup host-name host host-name	Print DNS info for host.
NBTSTAT -a hostname	nmblookup -A hostname	lookup NetBIOS names.
ROUTE PRINT	route -n	Print routing table.
NET HELP START	chkconfig --list |grep on	List services.
NET STARTservice-name NET STOPservice-name	service service-name start service service-name stop	Start/stop service/daemon.
NET SHARES	df	Show mounted shares/filesystems.
NET SEND <node-name> <message> (NT)	smbclient -M MS-Windows-host-name talk	Send pop-up to a MS/Windows PC Send message to another Unix/Linux user. See YoLinux tutorial
WIN	startx	Start X-Windows.
REBOOT	shutdown -r now	Reboot system.

To find out how to do something on UNIX simply type "man -k subject_matter". This will do a key word search for all commands dealing with the subject matter. Then use the appropriate command. Online manuals are available on all the commands by typing "man command_name".

MS/Windows info:

DOS Descriptor/Operator	UNIX or Bash Descriptor/Operator	Description
	/	Directory path delimiter
.	./	Current directory
..	../	Parent directory
ctrl-z	ctrl-d	End of file/close shell
ctrl-c	ctrl-c	Interrupt/process break
*	*	file name wild card
		Single character wild card
%VAR%	$VAR	Variable prefix
%1 %2 %3	$1 $2 $3	First, second and third shell command line arguments.
/	-	Command line option flag prefix
|	|	Pipe
>	>	stdout redirection
>>	>>	stdout redirection overwrite
<	<	stdin redirection

DOS Operator	UNIX or Bash Operator	Description
@ ECHO OFF	set +v	Set verbose mode off. -v: Echo each line of shell script as it is executed.
%	$	command line argument prefix. DOS: %1 Bash: $1 for firs argument.
REM	#	Comment. (Not processed.)
==	=	string "equal to" comparison
!==!	!=	string "not equal to" comparison
NOT	!	negative of test expression
CHOICE	case	case/switch statement
IF IF EXIST C:filename IF NOT EXIST C:filename	if [[ test-resulting-in-bool ]]; then ... elif ...; then ... else ... fi if [ -e /dir/filename ]; then if [ ! -e /dir/filename ]; then	if-test If file exists If file does not exist.
GOTO ABC ... :ABC	goto ABC ... :ABC	Branch
FOR ... IN ... DO FOR %%fff IN (C:dir*.*) DO echo %%fff	for ffiillee in lliisstt; do ...; done for (( expr1; expr2; expr3; )) do ...; done	For loop
ERRORLEVEL	$?	exit status/return code
PAUSE	sleep	sleep for specified interval

The following are bash shell aliases which can be added to the system profile or the user"s personal profile ($HOME/.bashrc) to correct and help DOS users on Linux.

alias dir="echo "Use the command: ls -lF""alias tree="echo "Use the command: ls -R""alias del="echo "Use the command: rm -iv""alias move="echo "Use the command: mv -iv""alias rename="echo "Use the command: mv -iv""alias copy="echo "Use the command: cp -piv""alias type="echo "Use the command: cat""alias cls="echo "Use the command: clear""alias mem="echo "Use the command: free""alias ver="echo "Use the command: uname -a""alias A:="echo "Use the command: mdir a:""alias a:="A:"alias C:="echo "No C drive in Linux. Go to your home directory with the command: cd""alias c:="C:"

DOS Device	Linux Device	Description
NUL	/dev/null	Send into nothingness
CON	stdin	stdin from console
PRN LPT1	/dev/lp0	First printer device
COM1	/dev/ttyS0	Firsst serial port

MS/Windows Command	Linux Command	Description
C:WINDOWScmd	gnome-terminal konsole	Command Text Terminal
C:WINDOWSexplorer	nautilus --no-desktop	File browser
c:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore	firefox mozilla	Web browser
C:WINDOWS otepad C:Program FilesWindows NTAccessorieswordpad	gedit	Text editor
C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice10winword excel powerpnt	oowriter oocalc ooimpress	MS/Office and Open Office suites (ooffice)
C:Program FilesAdobeAcrobat 7.0Readeracrord32	acroread	Adobe PDF viewer
mspaint	tuxpaint xfig gimp	Graphics and painting program
C:Program FilesWinZipwinzip32	file-roller	File compress / decompress / pack / unpack
taskmgr	ksysguard qps gnome-system-monitor xosview	Process and system load monitor