Unix / Linux - Shell Manpage Help

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All the Unix commands come with a number of optional and mandatory options. It is very common to forget the complete syntax of these commands.

Because no one can possibly remember every Unix command and all its options, we have online help available to mitigate this right from when Unix was at its development stage.

Unix's version of Help files are called man pages. If there is a command name and you are not sure how to use it, then Man Pages help you out with every step.

Syntax

Here is the simple command that helps you get the detail of any Unix command while working with the system −

$man command

Example

Suppose there is a command that requires you to get help; assume that you want to know about pwd then you simply need to use the following command −

$man pwd

The above command helps you with the complete information about the pwd command. Try it yourself at your command prompt to get more detail.

You can get complete detail on man command itself using the following command −

$man man

Man Page Sections

Man pages are generally divided into sections, which generally vary by the man page author's preference. Following table lists some common sections −

Sr.No.	Section & Description
1	NAME Name of the command
2	SYNOPSIS General usage parameters of the command
3	DESCRIPTION Describes what the command does
4	OPTIONS Describes all the arguments or options to the command
5	SEE ALSO Lists other commands that are directly related to the command in the man page or closely resemble its functionality
6	BUGS Explains any known issues or bugs that exist with the command or its output
7	EXAMPLES Common usage examples that give the reader an idea of how the command can be used
8	AUTHORS The author of the man page/command

To sum it up, man pages are a vital resource and the first avenue of research when you need information about commands or files in a Unix system.

Useful Shell Commands

The following link gives you a list of the most important and very frequently used Unix Shell commands.

If you do not know how to use any command, then use man page to get complete detail about the command.

Here is the list of Unix Shell - Useful Commands