NAME

BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux

SYNTAX

 busybox <applet> [arguments...]  # or

 <applet> [arguments...]          # if symlinked

DESCRIPTION

BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most of the utilities you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than their full-featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU counterparts.

BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind. It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or exclude commands (or features) at compile time. This makes it easy to customize your embedded systems. To create a working system, just add /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or embedded system.

BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or 'make menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable. Then run 'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration.

After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to install BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the target directory specified by CONFIG_PREFIX. CONFIG_PREFIX can be set when configuring BusyBox, or you can specify an alternative location at install time (i.e., with a command line like 'make CONFIG_PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you enabled any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or hardlinks), these will also be installed in the location pointed to by CONFIG_PREFIX.

USAGE

BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable program that performs the same job as more than one utility program. That means there is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single binary acts like a large number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to be smaller since all the built-in utility programs (we call them applets) can share code for many common operations.

You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the command line. For example, entering

        /bin/busybox ls

will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.

Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful. So most people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.

For example, entering

        ln -s /bin/busybox ls
        ./ls

will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to make all these links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this for you when you run the 'make install' command.

If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a list of the applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.

COMMON OPTIONS

Most BusyBox applets support the --help argument to provide a terse runtime description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VERBOSE_USAGE option has been enabled, more detailed usage information will also be available.

COMMANDS

Currently available applets include:

        [, [[, addgroup, adduser, arch, awk, base64, basename, beep,
        bunzip2, bzip2, cat, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, chvt, cksum,
        clear, cmp, comm, cp, crc32, cut, date, dd, delgroup, deluser, df,
        dirname, dmesg, du, dumpkmap, echo, egrep, env, expr, false, fgrep,
        free, freeramdisk, fsync, getopt, grep, gunzip, gzip, head,
        hostname, hwclock, id, ifconfig, ifdown, ifup, install, ip, ipaddr,
        ipcalc, iplink, ipneigh, iproute, iprule, iptunnel, kbd_mode, kill,
        killall, killall5, ln, loadkmap, logname, losetup, ls, lzma, md5sum,
        mkdir, mkfifo, mknod, mkswap, mktemp, more, mv, netstat, passwd,
        ping, ping6, pkill, printf, ps, pwd, readlink, realpath, rm, rmdir,
        route, run-parts, setkeycodes, sh, sha1sum, showkey, sleep, sort,
        start-stop-daemon, stat, stty, swapoff, swapon, sync, sysctl, tac,
        tail, tar, tee, test, timeout, touch, tr, traceroute, traceroute6,
        true, truncate, tty, udhcpc, udhcpc6, udhcpd, uname, uniq, unlzma,
        unxz, unzip, usleep, volname, wc, which, whoami, whois, xz

COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS

addgroup

addgroup [-g GID] [-S] [USER] GROUP

Add a group or add a user to a group

        -g GID  Group id
        -S      Create a system group

adduser

adduser [OPTIONS] USER [GROUP]

Create new user, or add USER to GROUP

        -h DIR          Home directory
        -g GECOS        GECOS field
        -s SHELL        Login shell
        -G GRP          Group
        -S              Create a system user
        -D              Don't assign a password
        -H              Don't create home directory
        -u UID          User id
        -k SKEL         Skeleton directory (/etc/skel)

arch

arch

Print system architecture

awk

awk [OPTIONS] [AWK_PROGRAM] [FILE]...

        -v VAR=VAL      Set variable
        -F SEP          Use SEP as field separator
        -f FILE         Read program from FILE
        -e AWK_PROGRAM

base64

base64 [-d] [-w COL] [FILE]

Base64 encode or decode FILE to standard output

        -d      Decode data
        -w COL  Wrap lines at COL (default 76, 0 disables)

basename

basename FILE [SUFFIX] | -a FILE... | -s SUFFIX FILE...

Strip directory path and SUFFIX from FILE

        -a              All arguments are FILEs
        -s SUFFIX       Remove SUFFIX (implies -a)

beep

beep -f FREQ -l LEN -d DELAY -r COUNT -n

        -f      Frequency in Hz
        -l      Length in ms
        -d      Delay in ms
        -r      Repetitions
        -n      Start new tone

bunzip2

bunzip2 [-cfk] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

bzip2

bzip2 [-cfkdt123456789] [FILE]...

Compress FILEs (or stdin) with bzip2 algorithm

        -1..9   Compression level
        -d      Decompress
        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

cat

cat [-nbvteA] [FILE]...

Print FILEs to stdout

        -n      Number output lines
        -b      Number nonempty lines
        -v      Show nonprinting characters as ^x or M-x
        -t      ...and tabs as ^I
        -e      ...and end lines with $
        -A      Same as -vte

chgrp

chgrp [-RhLHPcvf]... GROUP FILE...

Change the group membership of FILEs to GROUP

        -h      Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
        -L      Traverse all symlinks to directories
        -H      Traverse symlinks on command line only
        -P      Don't traverse symlinks (default)
        -R      Recurse
        -c      List changed files
        -v      Verbose
        -f      Hide errors

chmod

chmod [-Rcvf] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...

MODE is octal number (bit pattern sstrwxrwxrwx) or [ugoa]{+|-|=}[rwxXst]

        -R      Recurse
        -c      List changed files
        -v      Verbose
        -f      Hide errors

chown

chown [-RhLHPcvf]... USER[:[GRP]] FILE...

Change the owner and/or group of FILEs to USER and/or GRP

        -h      Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
        -L      Traverse all symlinks to directories
        -H      Traverse symlinks on command line only
        -P      Don't traverse symlinks (default)
        -R      Recurse
        -c      List changed files
        -v      Verbose
        -f      Hide errors

chroot

chroot NEWROOT [PROG ARGS]

Run PROG with root directory set to NEWROOT

chvt

chvt N

Change the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN

cksum

cksum FILE...

Calculate CRC32 checksum of FILEs

clear

clear

Clear screen

cmp

cmp [-ls] [-n NUM] FILE1 [FILE2 [SKIP1 [SKIP2]]]

Compare FILE1 with FILE2 (or stdin)

        -l      Write the byte numbers (decimal) and values (octal)
                for all differing bytes
        -s      Quiet
        -n NUM  Compare at most NUM bytes

comm

comm [-123] FILE1 FILE2

Compare FILE1 with FILE2

        -1      Suppress lines unique to FILE1
        -2      Suppress lines unique to FILE2
        -3      Suppress lines common to both files

cp

cp [-arPLHpfinlsTu] SOURCE DEST or: cp [-arPLHpfinlsu] SOURCE... { -t DIRECTORY | DIRECTORY }

Copy SOURCEs to DEST

        -a      Same as -dpR
        -R,-r   Recurse
        -d,-P   Preserve symlinks (default if -R)
        -L      Follow all symlinks
        -H      Follow symlinks on command line
        -p      Preserve file attributes if possible
        -f      Overwrite
        -i      Prompt before overwrite
        -n      Don't overwrite
        -l,-s   Create (sym)links
        -T      Refuse to copy if DEST is a directory
        -t DIR  Copy all SOURCEs into DIR
        -u      Copy only newer files

crc32

crc32 FILE...

Calculate CRC32 checksum of FILEs

cut

cut [OPTIONS] [FILE]...

Print selected fields from FILEs to stdout

        -b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
        -c LIST Output only characters from LIST
        -d SEP  Field delimiter for input (default -f TAB, -F run of whitespace)
        -O SEP  Field delimeter for output (default = -d for -f, one space for -F)
        -D      Don't sort/collate sections or match -fF lines without delimeter
        -f LIST Print only these fields (-d is single char)
        -F LIST Print only these fields (-d is regex)
        -s      Output only lines containing delimiter
        -n      Ignored

date

date [OPTIONS] [+FMT] [[-s] TIME]

Display time (using +FMT), or set time

        -u              Work in UTC (don't convert to local time)
        [-s] TIME       Set time to TIME
        -d TIME         Display TIME, not 'now'
        -D FMT          FMT (strptime format) for -s/-d TIME conversion
        -r FILE         Display last modification time of FILE
        -R              Output RFC-2822 date
        -I[SPEC]        Output ISO-8601 date
                        SPEC=date (default), hours, minutes, seconds or ns

Recognized TIME formats:

        @seconds_since_1970
        hh:mm[:ss]
        [YYYY.]MM.DD-hh:mm[:ss]
        YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm[:ss]
        [[[[[YY]YY]MM]DD]hh]mm[.ss]
        'date TIME' form accepts MMDDhhmm[[YY]YY][.ss] instead

dd

dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [ibs=N obs=N/bs=N] [count=N] [skip=N] [seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync|fsync] [iflag=skip_bytes|count_bytes|fullblock|direct] [oflag=seek_bytes|append|direct]

Copy a file with converting and formatting

        if=FILE         Read from FILE instead of stdin
        of=FILE         Write to FILE instead of stdout
        bs=N            Read and write N bytes at a time
        ibs=N           Read N bytes at a time
        obs=N           Write N bytes at a time
        count=N         Copy only N input blocks
        skip=N          Skip N input blocks
        seek=N          Skip N output blocks
        conv=notrunc    Don't truncate output file
        conv=noerror    Continue after read errors
        conv=sync       Pad blocks with zeros
        conv=fsync      Physically write data out before finishing
        conv=swab       Swap every pair of bytes
        iflag=skip_bytes        skip=N is in bytes
        iflag=count_bytes       count=N is in bytes
        oflag=seek_bytes        seek=N is in bytes
        iflag=direct    O_DIRECT input
        oflag=direct    O_DIRECT output
        iflag=fullblock Read full blocks
        oflag=append    Open output in append mode
        status=noxfer   Suppress rate output
        status=none     Suppress all output

N may be suffixed by c (1), w (2), b (512), kB (1000), k (1024), MB, M, GB, G

delgroup

delgroup [USER] GROUP

Delete group GROUP from the system or user USER from group GROUP

deluser

deluser [--remove-home] USER

Delete USER from the system

df

df [-PkmhTai] [-B SIZE] [-t TYPE] [FILESYSTEM]...

Print filesystem usage statistics

        -P      POSIX output format
        -k      1024-byte blocks (default)
        -m      1M-byte blocks
        -h      Human readable (e.g. 1K 243M 2G)
        -T      Print filesystem type
        -t TYPE Print only mounts of this type
        -a      Show all filesystems
        -i      Inodes
        -B SIZE Blocksize

dirname

dirname FILENAME

Strip non-directory suffix from FILENAME

dmesg

dmesg [-cr] [-n LEVEL] [-s SIZE]

Print or control the kernel ring buffer

        -c              Clear ring buffer after printing
        -n LEVEL        Set console logging level
        -s SIZE         Buffer size
        -r              Print raw message buffer

du

du [-aHLdclsxhmk] [FILE]...

Summarize disk space used for FILEs (or directories)

        -a      Show file sizes too
        -b      Apparent size (including holes)
        -L      Follow all symlinks
        -H      Follow symlinks on command line
        -d N    Limit output to directories (and files with -a) of depth < N
        -c      Show grand total
        -l      Count sizes many times if hard linked
        -s      Display only a total for each argument
        -x      Skip directories on different filesystems
        -h      Sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G)
        -m      Sizes in megabytes
        -k      Sizes in kilobytes (default)

dumpkmap

dumpkmap > keymap

Print a binary keyboard translation table to stdout

echo

echo [-neE] [ARG]...

Print ARGs to stdout

        -n      No trailing newline
        -e      Interpret backslash escapes (\t=tab etc)
        -E      Don't interpret backslash escapes (default)

env

env [-i0] [-u NAME]... [-] [NAME=VALUE]... [PROG ARGS]

Print current environment or run PROG after setting up environment

        -, -i   Start with empty environment
        -0      NUL terminated output
        -u NAME Remove variable from environment

expr

expr EXPRESSION

Print the value of EXPRESSION

EXPRESSION may be:

        ARG1 | ARG2     ARG1 if it is neither null nor 0, otherwise ARG2
        ARG1 & ARG2     ARG1 if neither argument is null or 0, otherwise 0
        ARG1 < ARG2     1 if ARG1 is less than ARG2, else 0. Similarly:
        ARG1 <= ARG2
        ARG1 = ARG2
        ARG1 != ARG2
        ARG1 >= ARG2
        ARG1 > ARG2
        ARG1 + ARG2     Sum of ARG1 and ARG2. Similarly:
        ARG1 - ARG2
        ARG1 * ARG2
        ARG1 / ARG2
        ARG1 % ARG2
        STRING : REGEXP         Anchored pattern match of REGEXP in STRING
        match STRING REGEXP     Same as STRING : REGEXP
        substr STRING POS LEN   Substring of STRING, POS counts from 1
        index STRING CHARS      Index in STRING where any CHARS is found, or 0
        length STRING           Length of STRING
        quote TOKEN             Interpret TOKEN as a string, even if
                                it is a keyword like 'match' or an
                                operator like '/'
        (EXPRESSION)            Value of EXPRESSION

Beware that many operators need to be escaped or quoted for shells. Comparisons are arithmetic if both ARGs are numbers, else lexicographical. Pattern matches return the string matched between \( and \) or null; if \( and \) are not used, they return the number of characters matched or 0.

free

free [-bkmgh]

Display free and used memory

freeramdisk

freeramdisk DEVICE

Free all memory used by the specified ramdisk

fsync

fsync [-d] FILE...

Write all buffered blocks in FILEs to disk

        -d      Avoid syncing metadata

getopt

getopt [OPTIONS] [--] OPTSTRING PARAMS

        -a              Allow long options starting with single -
        -l LOPT[,...]   Long options to recognize
        -n PROGNAME     The name under which errors are reported
        -o OPTSTRING    Short options to recognize
        -q              No error messages on unrecognized options
        -Q              No normal output
        -s SHELL        Set shell quoting conventions
        -T              Version test (exits with 4)
        -u              Don't quote output

Example:

O=`getopt -l bb: -- ab:c:: "$@"` || exit 1 eval set -- "$O" while true; do case "$1" in -a) echo A; shift;; -b|--bb) echo "B:'$2'"; shift 2;; -c) case "$2" in "") echo C; shift 2;; *) echo "C:'$2'"; shift 2;; esac;; --) shift; break;; *) echo Error; exit 1;; esac done

grep

grep [-HhnlLoqvsrRiwFE] [-m N] [-A|B|C N] { PATTERN | -e PATTERN... | -f FILE... } [FILE]...

Search for PATTERN in FILEs (or stdin)

        -H      Add 'filename:' prefix
        -h      Do not add 'filename:' prefix
        -n      Add 'line_no:' prefix
        -l      Show only names of files that match
        -L      Show only names of files that don't match
        -c      Show only count of matching lines
        -o      Show only the matching part of line
        -q      Quiet. Return 0 if PATTERN is found, 1 otherwise
        -v      Select non-matching lines
        -s      Suppress open and read errors
        -r      Recurse
        -R      Recurse and dereference symlinks
        -i      Ignore case
        -w      Match whole words only
        -x      Match whole lines only
        -F      PATTERN is a literal (not regexp)
        -E      PATTERN is an extended regexp
        -m N    Match up to N times per file
        -A N    Print N lines of trailing context
        -B N    Print N lines of leading context
        -C N    Same as '-A N -B N'
        -e PTRN Pattern to match
        -f FILE Read pattern from file

gunzip

gunzip [-cfkt] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

gzip

gzip [-cfkdt] [FILE]...

Compress FILEs (or stdin)

        -d      Decompress
        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

head

head [OPTIONS] [FILE]...

Print first 10 lines of FILEs (or stdin). With more than one FILE, precede each with a filename header.

        -n N[bkm]       Print first N lines
        -n -N[bkm]      Print all except N last lines
        -c [-]N[bkm]    Print first N bytes
                        (b:*512 k:*1024 m:*1024^2)
        -q              Never print headers
        -v              Always print headers

hostname

hostname [-sidf] [HOSTNAME | -F FILE]

Show or set hostname or DNS domain name

        -s      Short
        -i      Addresses for the hostname
        -d      DNS domain name
        -f      Fully qualified domain name
        -F FILE Use FILE's content as hostname

hwclock

hwclock [-swul] [--systz] [-f DEV]

Show or set hardware clock (RTC)

        -s      Set system time from RTC
        -w      Set RTC from system time
        --systz Set in-kernel timezone, correct system time
                if RTC is kept in local time
        -f DEV  Use specified device (e.g. /dev/rtc2)
        -u      Assume RTC is kept in UTC
        -l      Assume RTC is kept in local time
                (if neither is given, read from /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime)

id

id [-ugGnr] [USER]

Print information about USER or the current user

        -u      User ID
        -g      Group ID
        -G      Supplementary group IDs
        -n      Print names instead of numbers
        -r      Print real ID instead of effective ID

ifconfig

ifconfig [-a] [IFACE] [ADDRESS]

Configure a network interface

        [add ADDRESS[/PREFIXLEN]]
        [del ADDRESS[/PREFIXLEN]]
        [[-]broadcast [ADDRESS]] [[-]pointopoint [ADDRESS]]
        [netmask ADDRESS] [dstaddr ADDRESS]
        [outfill NN] [keepalive NN]
        [hw ether ADDRESS] [metric NN] [mtu NN]
        [[-]trailers] [[-]arp] [[-]allmulti]
        [multicast] [[-]promisc] [txqueuelen NN] [[-]dynamic]
        [mem_start NN] [io_addr NN] [irq NN]
        [up|down] ...

ifdown

ifdown [-nmvf] [-i FILE] -a | IFACE...

        -a      Deconfigure all interfaces
        -i FILE Use FILE instead of /etc/network/interfaces
        -n      Dry run
                (note: doesn't disable mappings)
        -m      Don't run any mappings
        -v      Print out what would happen before doing it
        -f      Force

ifup

ifup [-nmvf] [-i FILE] -a | IFACE...

        -a      Configure all interfaces
        -i FILE Use FILE instead of /etc/network/interfaces
        -n      Dry run
                (note: doesn't disable mappings)
        -m      Don't run any mappings
        -v      Print out what would happen before doing it
        -f      Force

install

install [-cdDsp] [-o USER] [-g GRP] [-m MODE] [-t DIR] [SOURCE]... DEST

Copy files and set attributes

        -c      Just copy (default)
        -d      Create directories
        -D      Create leading target directories
        -s      Strip symbol table
        -p      Preserve date
        -o USER Set ownership
        -g GRP  Set group ownership
        -m MODE Set permissions
        -t DIR  Install to DIR

ip

ip [OPTIONS] address|route|link|tunnel|neigh|rule [ARGS]

OPTIONS := -f[amily] inet|inet6|link | -o[neline]

ip addr add|del IFADDR dev IFACE | show|flush [dev IFACE] [to PREFIX] ip route list|flush|add|del|change|append|replace|test ROUTE ip link set IFACE [up|down] [arp on|off] [multicast on|off] [promisc on|off] [mtu NUM] [name NAME] [qlen NUM] [address MAC] [master IFACE | nomaster] [netns PID] ip tunnel add|change|del|show [NAME] [mode ipip|gre|sit] [remote ADDR] [local ADDR] [ttl TTL] ip neigh show|flush [to PREFIX] [dev DEV] [nud STATE] ip rule [list] | add|del SELECTOR ACTION

ipaddr

ipaddr add|del IFADDR dev IFACE | show|flush [dev IFACE] [to PREFIX]

ipaddr add|change|replace|delete dev IFACE [CONFFLAG-LIST] IFADDR IFADDR := PREFIX | ADDR peer PREFIX [broadcast ADDR|+|-] [anycast ADDR] [label STRING] [scope SCOPE] PREFIX := ADDR[/MASK] SCOPE := [host|link|global|NUMBER] CONFFLAG-LIST := [CONFFLAG-LIST] CONFFLAG CONFFLAG := [noprefixroute] ipaddr show|flush [dev IFACE] [scope SCOPE] [to PREFIX] [label PATTERN]

ipcalc

ipcalc [-bnmphs] ADDRESS[/PREFIX] [NETMASK]

Calculate and display network settings from IP address

        -b      Broadcast address
        -n      Network address
        -m      Default netmask for IP
        -p      Prefix for IP/NETMASK
        -h      Resolved host name
        -s      No error messages

iplink

iplink set IFACE [up|down] [arp on|off] [multicast on|off] [promisc on|off] [mtu NUM] [name NAME] [qlen NUM] [address MAC] [master IFACE | nomaster] [netns PID] iplink add [link IFACE] IFACE [address MAC] type TYPE [ARGS] iplink delete IFACE type TYPE [ARGS] TYPE ARGS := vlan VLANARGS | vrf table NUM VLANARGS := id VLANID [protocol 802.1q|802.1ad] [reorder_hdr on|off] [gvrp on|off] [mvrp on|off] [loose_binding on|off] iplink show [IFACE]

ipneigh

ipneigh show|flush [to PREFIX] [dev DEV] [nud STATE]

iproute

iproute list|flush|add|del|change|append|replace|test ROUTE

iproute list|flush SELECTOR SELECTOR := [root PREFIX] [match PREFIX] [proto RTPROTO] PREFIX := default|ADDR[/MASK] iproute get ADDR [from ADDR iif IFACE] [oif IFACE] [tos TOS] iproute add|del|change|append|replace|test ROUTE ROUTE := NODE_SPEC [INFO_SPEC] NODE_SPEC := PREFIX [table TABLE_ID] [proto RTPROTO] [scope SCOPE] [metric METRIC] INFO_SPEC := NH OPTIONS NH := [via [inet|inet6] ADDR] [dev IFACE] [src ADDR] [onlink] OPTIONS := [mtu [lock] NUM] [advmss [lock] NUM]

iprule

iprule [list] | add|del SELECTOR ACTION

        SELECTOR := [from PREFIX] [to PREFIX] [tos TOS] [fwmark FWMARK[/MASK]]
                        [dev IFACE] [pref NUMBER]
        ACTION := [table TABLE_ID] [nat ADDR]
                        [prohibit|reject|unreachable]
                        [realms [SRCREALM/]DSTREALM]
        TABLE_ID := [local|main|default|NUMBER]

iptunnel

iptunnel add|change|del|show [NAME] [mode ipip|gre|sit] [remote ADDR] [local ADDR] [ttl TTL]

iptunnel add|change|del|show [NAME] [mode ipip|gre|sit] [remote ADDR] [local ADDR] [[i|o]seq] [[i|o]key KEY] [[i|o]csum] [ttl TTL] [tos TOS] [[no]pmtudisc] [dev PHYS_DEV]

kbd_mode

kbd_mode [-a|k|s|u] [-C TTY]

Report or set VT console keyboard mode

        -a      Default (ASCII)
        -k      Medium-raw (keycode)
        -s      Raw (scancode)
        -u      Unicode (utf-8)
        -C TTY  Affect TTY

kill

kill [-l] [-SIG] PID...

Send a signal (default: TERM) to given PIDs

        -l      List all signal names and numbers

killall

killall [-lq] [-SIG] PROCESS_NAME...

Send a signal (default: TERM) to given processes

        -l      List all signal names and numbers
        -q      Don't complain if no processes were killed

killall5

killall5 [-l] [-SIG] [-o PID]...

Send a signal (default: TERM) to all processes outside current session

        -l      List all signal names and numbers
        -o PID  Don't signal this PID

ln

ln [-sfnbtv] [-S SUF] TARGET... LINK|DIR

Create a link LINK or DIR/TARGET to the specified TARGET(s)

        -s      Make symlinks instead of hardlinks
        -f      Remove existing destinations
        -n      Don't dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
        -b      Make a backup of the target (if exists) before link operation
        -S SUF  Use suffix instead of ~ when making backup files
        -T      Treat LINK as a file, not DIR
        -v      Verbose

loadkmap

loadkmap < keymap

Load a binary keyboard translation table from stdin

logname

logname

Print the name of the current user

losetup

losetup [-rP] [-o OFS] {-f|LOOPDEV} FILE: associate loop devices losetup -c LOOPDEV: reread file size losetup -d LOOPDEV: disassociate losetup -a: show status losetup -f: show next free loop device

        -o OFS  Start OFS bytes into FILE
        -P      Scan for partitions
        -r      Read-only
        -f      Show/use next free loop device

ls

ls [-1AaCxdLHRFplinshrSXvctu] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]...

List directory contents

        -1      One column output
        -a      Include names starting with .
        -A      Like -a, but exclude . and ..
        -x      List by lines
        -d      List directory names, not contents
        -L      Follow symlinks
        -H      Follow symlinks on command line
        -R      Recurse
        -p      Append / to directory names
        -F      Append indicator (one of */=@|) to names
        -l      Long format
        -i      List inode numbers
        -n      List numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
        -s      List allocated blocks
        -lc     List ctime
        -lu     List atime
        --full-time     List full date/time
        -h      Human readable sizes (1K 243M 2G)
        --group-directories-first
        -S      Sort by size
        -X      Sort by extension
        -v      Sort by version
        -t      Sort by mtime
        -tc     Sort by ctime
        -tu     Sort by atime
        -r      Reverse sort order
        -w N    Format N columns wide
        --color[={always,never,auto}]

lzma

lzma -d [-cfk] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -d      Decompress
        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

md5sum

md5sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...

Print or check MD5 checksums

        -c      Check sums against list in FILEs
        -s      Don't output anything, status code shows success
        -w      Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines

mkdir

mkdir [-m MODE] [-p] DIRECTORY...

Create DIRECTORY

        -m MODE Mode
        -p      No error if exists; make parent directories as needed

mkfifo

mkfifo [-m MODE] NAME

Create named pipe

        -m MODE Mode (default a=rw)

mknod

mknod [-m MODE] NAME TYPE [MAJOR MINOR]

Create a special file (block, character, or pipe)

        -m MODE Creation mode (default a=rw)
TYPE:
        b       Block device
        c or u  Character device
        p       Named pipe (MAJOR MINOR must be omitted)

mkswap

mkswap [-L LBL] BLOCKDEV [KBYTES]

Prepare BLOCKDEV to be used as swap partition

        -L LBL  Label

mktemp

mktemp [-dt] [-p DIR] [TEMPLATE]

Create a temporary file with name based on TEMPLATE and print its name. TEMPLATE must end with XXXXXX (e.g. [/dir/]nameXXXXXX). Without TEMPLATE, -t tmp.XXXXXX is assumed.

        -d      Make directory, not file
        -q      Fail silently on errors
        -t      Prepend base directory name to TEMPLATE
        -p DIR  Use DIR as a base directory (implies -t)
        -u      Do not create anything; print a name

Base directory is: -p DIR, else $TMPDIR, else /tmp

more

more [FILE]...

View FILE (or stdin) one screenful at a time

mv

mv [-finT] SOURCE DEST or: mv [-fin] SOURCE... { -t DIRECTORY | DIRECTORY }

Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCEs to DIRECTORY

        -f      Don't prompt before overwriting
        -i      Interactive, prompt before overwrite
        -n      Don't overwrite an existing file
        -T      Refuse to move if DEST is a directory
        -t DIR  Move all SOURCEs into DIR

netstat

netstat [-ral] [-tuwx] [-enWp]

Display networking information

        -r      Routing table
        -a      All sockets
        -l      Listening sockets
                Else: connected sockets
        -t      TCP sockets
        -u      UDP sockets
        -w      Raw sockets
        -x      Unix sockets
                Else: all socket types
        -e      Other/more information
        -n      Don't resolve names
        -W      Wide display
        -p      Show PID/program name for sockets

passwd

passwd [-a ALG] [-dlu] [USER]

Change USER's password (default: current user)

        -a ALG  des,md5,sha256/512 (default des)
        -d      Set password to ''
        -l      Lock (disable) account
        -u      Unlock (enable) account

ping

ping [OPTIONS] HOST

Send ICMP ECHO_REQUESTs to HOST

        -4,-6           Force IP or IPv6 name resolution
        -c CNT          Send only CNT pings
        -s SIZE         Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default 56)
        -i SECS         Interval
        -A              Ping as soon as reply is received
        -t TTL          Set TTL
        -I IFACE/IP     Source interface or IP address
        -W SEC          Seconds to wait for the first response (default 10)
                        (after all -c CNT packets are sent)
        -w SEC          Seconds until ping exits (default:infinite)
                        (can exit earlier with -c CNT)
        -q              Quiet, only display output at start/finish
        -p HEXBYTE      Payload pattern

ping6

ping6 [OPTIONS] HOST

Send ICMP ECHO_REQUESTs to HOST

        -c CNT          Send only CNT pings
        -s SIZE         Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default 56)
        -i SECS         Interval
        -A              Ping as soon as reply is received
        -I IFACE/IP     Source interface or IP address
        -W SEC          Seconds to wait for the first response (default 10)
                        (after all -c CNT packets are sent)
        -w SEC          Seconds until ping exits (default:infinite)
                        (can exit earlier with -c CNT)
        -q              Quiet, only display output at start/finish
        -p HEXBYTE      Payload pattern

pkill

pkill [-l|-SIGNAL] [-xfvnoe] [-s SID|-P PPID|PATTERN]

Send signal to processes selected by regex PATTERN

        -l      List all signals
        -x      Match whole name (not substring)
        -f      Match against entire command line
        -s SID  Match session ID (0 for current)
        -P PPID Match parent process ID
        -v      Negate the match
        -n      Signal the newest process only
        -o      Signal the oldest process only
        -e      Display name and PID of the process being killed

printf

printf FORMAT [ARG]...

Format and print ARG(s) according to FORMAT (a-la C printf)

ps

ps [-o COL1,COL2=HEADER] [-T]

Show list of processes

        -o COL1,COL2=HEADER     Select columns for display
        -T                      Show threads

pwd

pwd

Print the full filename of the current working directory

readlink

readlink [-fnv] FILE

Display the value of a symlink

        -f      Canonicalize by following all symlinks
        -n      Don't add newline
        -v      Verbose

realpath

realpath FILE...

Print absolute pathnames of FILEs

rm

rm [-irf] FILE...

Remove (unlink) FILEs

        -i      Always prompt before removing
        -f      Never prompt
        -R,-r   Recurse

rmdir

rmdir [-p] DIRECTORY...

Remove DIRECTORY if it is empty

        -p      Include parents
        --ignore-fail-on-non-empty

route

route [-ne] [-A inet[6]] [{add|del} [-net|-host] TARGET [netmask MASK] [gw GATEWAY] [metric N] [mss BYTES] [window BYTES] [reject] [IFACE]]

Show or edit kernel routing tables

        -n      Don't resolve names
        -e      Display other/more information
        -A inet[6]      Select address family

run-parts

run-parts [-a ARG]... [-u UMASK] [--reverse] [--test] [--exit-on-error] [--list] DIRECTORY

Run a bunch of scripts in DIRECTORY

        -a ARG          Pass ARG as argument to scripts
        -u UMASK        Set UMASK before running scripts
        --reverse       Reverse execution order
        --test          Dry run
        --exit-on-error Exit if a script exits with non-zero
        --list          Print names of matching files even if they are not executable

setkeycodes

setkeycodes { SCANCODE KEYCODE }...

Modify kernel's scancode-to-keycode map, allowing unusual keyboards to generate usable keycodes.

SCANCODE is either xx or e0xx (hexadecimal), KEYCODE is decimal.

sh

sh [-il] [-|+Cabefmnuvx] [-|+o OPT]... [-c 'SCRIPT' [ARG0 ARGS] | FILE ARGS | -s ARGS]

Unix shell interpreter

sha1sum

sha1sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...

Print or check SHA1 checksums

        -c      Check sums against list in FILEs
        -s      Don't output anything, status code shows success
        -w      Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines

showkey

showkey [-a | -k | -s]

Show keys pressed

        -a      Display decimal/octal/hex values of the keys
        -k      Display interpreted keycodes (default)
        -s      Display raw scan-codes

sleep

sleep [N]...

Pause for a time equal to the total of the args given, where each arg can have an optional suffix of (s)econds, (m)inutes, (h)ours, or (d)ays

sort

sort [-nrughMcszbdfiokt] [-o FILE] [-k START[.OFS][OPTS][,END[.OFS][OPTS]] [-t CHAR] [FILE]...

Sort lines of text

        -o FILE Output to FILE
        -c      Check whether input is sorted
        -b      Ignore leading blanks
        -f      Ignore case
        -i      Ignore unprintable characters
        -d      Dictionary order (blank or alphanumeric only)
        -n      Sort numbers
        -g      General numerical sort
        -h      Sort human readable numbers (2K 1G)
        -M      Sort month
        -V      Sort version
        -t CHAR Field separator
        -k N[,M] Sort by Nth field
        -r      Reverse sort order
        -s      Stable (don't sort ties alphabetically)
        -u      Suppress duplicate lines
        -z      NUL terminated input and output

start-stop-daemon

start-stop-daemon [OPTIONS] [-S|-K] ... [-- ARGS...]

Search for matching processes, and then -K: stop all matching processes -S: start a process unless a matching process is found

Process matching:

        -u USERNAME|UID Match only this user's processes
        -n NAME         Match processes with NAME
                        in comm field in /proc/PID/stat
        -x EXECUTABLE   Match processes with this command
                        in /proc/PID/cmdline
        -p FILE         Match a process with PID from FILE
        All specified conditions must match
-S only:
        -x EXECUTABLE   Program to run
        -a NAME         Zeroth argument
        -b              Background
        -N N            Change nice level
        -c USER[:[GRP]] Change user/group
        -m              Write PID to pidfile specified by -p
-K only:
        -s SIG          Signal to send
        -t              Match only, exit with 0 if found
Other:

        -o              Exit with status 0 if nothing is done
        -v              Verbose
        -q              Quiet

stat

stat [-ltf] [-c FMT] FILE...

Display file (default) or filesystem status

        -c FMT  Use the specified format
        -f      Display filesystem status
        -L      Follow links
        -t      Terse display

FMT sequences for files:

 %a     Access rights in octal
 %A     Access rights in human readable form
 %b     Number of blocks allocated (see %B)
 %B     Size in bytes of each block reported by %b
 %d     Device number in decimal
 %D     Device number in hex
 %f     Raw mode in hex
 %F     File type
 %g     Group ID
 %G     Group name
 %h     Number of hard links
 %i     Inode number
 %n     File name
 %N     File name, with -> TARGET if symlink
 %o     I/O block size
 %s     Total size in bytes
 %t     Major device type in hex
 %T     Minor device type in hex
 %u     User ID
 %U     User name
 %x     Time of last access
 %X     Time of last access as seconds since Epoch
 %y     Time of last modification
 %Y     Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
 %z     Time of last change
 %Z     Time of last change as seconds since Epoch

FMT sequences for file systems:

 %a     Free blocks available to non-superuser
 %b     Total data blocks
 %c     Total file nodes
 %d     Free file nodes
 %f     Free blocks
 %i     File System ID in hex
 %l     Maximum length of filenames
 %n     File name
 %s     Block size (for faster transfer)
 %S     Fundamental block size (for block counts)
 %t     Type in hex
 %T     Type in human readable form

stty

stty [-a|g] [-F DEVICE] [SETTING]...

Without arguments, prints baud rate, line discipline, and deviations from stty sane

        -F DEVICE       Open device instead of stdin
        -a              Print all current settings in human-readable form
        -g              Print in stty-readable form
        [SETTING]       See manpage

swapoff

swapoff [-a] [DEVICE]

Stop swapping on DEVICE

        -a      Stop swapping on all swap devices

swapon

swapon [-a] [-e] [-d[POL]] [-p PRI] [DEVICE]

Start swapping on DEVICE

        -a      Start swapping on all swap devices
        -d[POL] Discard blocks at swapon (POL=once),
                as freed (POL=pages), or both (POL omitted)
        -e      Silently skip devices that do not exist
        -p PRI  Set swap device priority

sync

sync [-df] [FILE]...

Write all buffered blocks (in FILEs) to disk -d Avoid syncing metadata -f Sync filesystems underlying FILEs

sysctl

sysctl [-enq] { -a | -p [FILE]... | [-w] [KEY[=VALUE]]... }

Show/set kernel parameters

        -e      Don't warn about unknown keys
        -n      Don't show key names
        -q      Quiet
        -a      Show all values
        -p      Set values from FILEs (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
        -w      Set values

tac

tac [FILE]...

Concatenate FILEs and print them in reverse

tail

tail [OPTIONS] [FILE]...

Print last 10 lines of FILEs (or stdin) to. With more than one FILE, precede each with a filename header.

        -c [+]N[bkm]    Print last N bytes
        -n N[bkm]       Print last N lines
        -n +N[bkm]      Start on Nth line and print the rest
                        (b:*512 k:*1024 m:*1024^2)
        -q              Never print headers
        -v              Always print headers
        -f              Print data as file grows
        -F              Same as -f, but keep retrying
        -s SECONDS      Wait SECONDS between reads with -f

tar

tar c|x|t [-zJjahmvokO] [-f TARFILE] [-C DIR] [-T FILE] [-X FILE] [LONGOPT]... [FILE]...

Create, extract, or list files from a tar file

        c       Create
        x       Extract
        t       List
        -f FILE Name of TARFILE ('-' for stdin/out)
        -C DIR  Change to DIR before operation
        -v      Verbose
        -O      Extract to stdout
        -m      Don't restore mtime
        -o      Don't restore user:group
        -k      Don't replace existing files
        -z      (De)compress using gzip
        -J      (De)compress using xz
        -j      (De)compress using bzip2
        --lzma  (De)compress using lzma
        -a      (De)compress based on extension
        -h      Follow symlinks
        -T FILE File with names to include
        -X FILE File with glob patterns to exclude
        --exclude PATTERN       Glob pattern to exclude
        --overwrite             Replace existing files
        --strip-components NUM  NUM of leading components to strip
        --no-recursion          Don't descend in directories
        --numeric-owner         Use numeric user:group
        --no-same-permissions   Don't restore access permissions
        --to-command COMMAND    Pipe files to COMMAND

tee

tee [-ai] [FILE]...

Copy stdin to each FILE, and also to stdout

        -a      Append to the given FILEs, don't overwrite
        -i      Ignore interrupt signals (SIGINT)

timeout

timeout [-s SIG] [-k KILL_SECS] SECS PROG ARGS

Run PROG. Send SIG to it if it is not gone in SECS seconds. Default SIG: TERM.If it still exists in KILL_SECS seconds, send KILL.

touch

touch [-cham] [-d DATE] [-t DATE] [-r FILE] FILE...

Update mtime of FILEs

        -c      Don't create files
        -h      Don't follow links
        -a      Change only atime
        -m      Change only mtime
        -d DT   Date/time to use
        -t DT   Date/time to use
        -r FILE Use FILE's date/time

tr

tr [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]

Translate, squeeze, or delete characters from stdin, writing to stdout

        -c      Take complement of STRING1
        -d      Delete input characters coded STRING1
        -s      Squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character

traceroute

traceroute [-46IFlnrv] [-f 1ST_TTL] [-m MAXTTL] [-q PROBES] [-p PORT] [-t TOS] [-w WAIT_SEC] [-s SRC_IP] [-i IFACE] [-z PAUSE_MSEC] HOST [BYTES]

Trace the route to HOST

        -4,-6   Force IP or IPv6 name resolution
        -F      Set don't fragment bit
        -I      Use ICMP ECHO instead of UDP datagrams
        -l      Display TTL value of the returned packet
        -n      Print numeric addresses
        -r      Bypass routing tables, send directly to HOST
        -v      Verbose
        -f N    First number of hops (default 1)
        -m N    Max number of hops
        -q N    Number of probes per hop (default 3)
        -p N    Base UDP port number used in probes
                (default 33434)
        -s IP   Source address
        -i IFACE Source interface
        -t N    Type-of-service in probe packets (default 0)
        -w SEC  Wait for a response (default 3)
        -z MSEC Wait before each send

traceroute6

traceroute6 [-Inrv] [-f 1ST_TTL] [-m MAXTTL] [-q PROBES] [-p PORT] [-t TOS] [-w WAIT_SEC] [-s SRC_IP] [-i IFACE] [-z PAUSE_MSEC] HOST [BYTES]

Trace the route to HOST

        -I      Use ICMP ECHO instead of UDP datagrams
        -n      Print numeric addresses
        -r      Bypass routing tables, send directly to HOST
        -v      Verbose
        -f N    First number of hops (default 1)
        -m N    Max number of hops
        -q N    Number of probes per hop (default 3)
        -p N    Base UDP port number used in probes
                (default 33434)
        -s IP   Source address
        -i IFACE Source interface
        -t N    Type-of-service in probe packets (default 0)
        -w SEC  Wait for a response (default 3)
        -z MSEC Wait before each send

truncate

truncate [-c] -s SIZE FILE...

Truncate FILEs to SIZE

        -c      Do not create files
        -s SIZE

tty

tty [-s]

Print file name of stdin's terminal

        -s      Print nothing, only return exit status

udhcpc

udhcpc [-fbqvRB] [-a[MSEC]] [-t N] [-T SEC] [-A SEC|-n] [-i IFACE] [-P PORT] [-s PROG] [-p PIDFILE] [-oC] [-r IP] [-V VENDOR] [-F NAME] [-x OPT:VAL]... [-O OPT]...

        -i IFACE        Interface to use (default eth0)
        -P PORT         Use PORT (default 68)
        -s PROG         Run PROG at DHCP events (default /usr/share/udhcpc/default.script)
        -p FILE         Create pidfile
        -B              Request broadcast replies
        -t N            Send up to N discover packets (default 3)
        -T SEC          Pause between packets (default 3)
        -A SEC          Wait if lease is not obtained (default 20)
        -b              Background if lease is not obtained
        -n              Exit if lease is not obtained
        -q              Exit after obtaining lease
        -R              Release IP on exit
        -f              Run in foreground
        -S              Log to syslog too
        -a[MSEC]        Validate offered address with ARP ping
        -r IP           Request this IP address
        -o              Don't request any options (unless -O is given)
        -O OPT          Request option OPT from server (cumulative)
        -x OPT:VAL      Include option OPT in sent packets (cumulative)
                        Examples of string, numeric, and hex byte opts:
                        -x hostname:bbox - option 12
                        -x lease:3600 - option 51 (lease time)
                        -x 0x3d:0100BEEFC0FFEE - option 61 (client id)
                        -x 14:'"dumpfile"' - option 14 (shell-quoted)
        -F NAME         Ask server to update DNS mapping for NAME
        -V VENDOR       Vendor identifier (default 'udhcp VERSION')
        -C              Don't send MAC as client identifier
        -v              Verbose
Signals:

        USR1    Renew lease
        USR2    Release lease

udhcpc6

udhcpc6 [-fbqvR] [-t N] [-T SEC] [-A SEC|-n] [-i IFACE] [-s PROG] [-p PIDFILE] [-P PORT] [-ldo] [-r IPv6] [-x OPT:VAL]... [-O OPT]...

        -i IFACE        Interface to use (default eth0)
        -p FILE         Create pidfile
        -s PROG         Run PROG at DHCP events (default /usr/share/udhcpc/default6.script)
        -B              Request broadcast replies
        -t N            Send up to N discover packets
        -T SEC          Pause between packets (default 3)
        -A SEC          Wait if lease is not obtained (default 20)
        -b              Background if lease is not obtained
        -n              Exit if lease is not obtained
        -q              Exit after obtaining lease
        -R              Release IP on exit
        -f              Run in foreground
        -S              Log to syslog too
        -P PORT         Use PORT (default 546)
        -l              Send 'information request' instead of 'solicit'
                        (used for servers which do not assign IPv6 addresses)
        -r IPv6         Request this address ('no' to not request any IP)
        -d              Request prefix
        -o              Don't request any options (unless -O is given)
        -O OPT          Request option OPT from server (cumulative)
        -x OPT:VAL      Include option OPT in sent packets (cumulative)
                        Examples of string, numeric, and hex byte opts:
                        -x hostname:bbox - option 12
                        -x lease:3600 - option 51 (lease time)
                        -x 0x3d:0100BEEFC0FFEE - option 61 (client id)
                        -x 14:'"dumpfile"' - option 14 (shell-quoted)
        -v              Verbose
Signals:

        USR1    Renew lease
        USR2    Release lease

udhcpd

udhcpd [-fS] [-I ADDR] [-a MSEC] [-P PORT] [CONFFILE]

DHCP server

        -f      Run in foreground
        -S      Log to syslog too
        -I ADDR Local address
        -a MSEC Timeout for ARP ping (default 2000)
        -P PORT Use PORT (default 67)
Signals:

        USR1    Update lease file

uname

uname [-amnrspvio]

Print system information

        -a      Print all
        -m      Machine (hardware) type
        -n      Hostname
        -r      Kernel release
        -s      Kernel name (default)
        -p      Processor type
        -v      Kernel version
        -i      Hardware platform
        -o      OS name

uniq

uniq [-cduiz] [-f,s,w N] [FILE [OUTFILE]]

Discard duplicate lines

        -c      Prefix lines by the number of occurrences
        -d      Only print duplicate lines
        -u      Only print unique lines
        -i      Ignore case
        -z      NUL terminated output
        -f N    Skip first N fields
        -s N    Skip first N chars (after any skipped fields)
        -w N    Compare N characters in line

unlzma

unlzma [-cfk] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

unxz

unxz [-cfk] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

unzip

unzip [-lnojpqK] FILE[.zip] [FILE]... [-x FILE]... [-d DIR]

Extract FILEs from ZIP archive

        -l      List contents (with -q for short form)
        -n      Never overwrite files (default: ask)
        -o      Overwrite
        -j      Do not restore paths
        -p      Write to stdout
        -t      Test
        -q      Quiet
        -K      Do not clear SUID bit
        -x FILE Exclude FILEs
        -d DIR  Extract into DIR

usleep

usleep N

Pause for N microseconds

volname

volname [DEVICE]

Show CD volume name of the DEVICE (default /dev/cdrom)

wc

wc [-cmlwL] [FILE]...

Count lines, words, and bytes for FILEs (or stdin)

        -c      Count bytes
        -m      Count characters
        -l      Count newlines
        -w      Count words
        -L      Print longest line length

which

which [-a] COMMAND...

Locate COMMAND

        -a      Show all matches

whoami

whoami

Print the user name associated with the current effective user id

whois

whois [-i] [-h SERVER] [-p PORT] NAME...

Query WHOIS info about NAME

        -i      Show redirect results too
        -h,-p   Server to query

xz

xz -d [-cfk] [FILE]...

Decompress FILEs (or stdin)

        -d      Decompress
        -c      Write to stdout
        -f      Force
        -k      Keep input files
        -t      Test integrity

LIBC NSS

GNU Libc (glibc) uses the Name Service Switch (NSS) to configure the behavior of the C library for the local environment, and to configure how it reads system data, such as passwords and group information. This is implemented using an /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file, and using one or more of the /lib/libnss_* libraries. BusyBox tries to avoid using any libc calls that make use of NSS. Some applets however, such as login and su, will use libc functions that require NSS.

If you enable CONFIG_USE_BB_PWD_GRP, BusyBox will use internal functions to directly access the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and /etc/shadow files without using NSS. This may allow you to run your system without the need for installing any of the NSS configuration files and libraries.

When used with glibc, the BusyBox 'networking' applets will similarly require that you install at least some of the glibc NSS stuff (in particular, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /lib/libnss_dns*, /lib/libnss_files*, and /lib/libresolv*).

Shameless Plug: As an alternative, one could use a C library such as uClibc. In addition to making your system significantly smaller, uClibc does not require the use of any NSS support files or libraries.

MAINTAINER

Denis Vlasenko <vda.linux@googlemail.com>

AUTHORS

The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know it or not. If you have written code included in BusyBox, you should probably be listed here so you can obtain your bit of eternal glory. If you should be listed here, or the description of what you have done needs more detail, or is incorrect, please send in an update.

Emanuele Aina <emanuele.aina@tiscali.it>

    run-parts

Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>

    Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
    core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
    Lots of tedious effort writing these boring docs that
    nobody is going to actually read.

Laurence Anderson <l.d.anderson@warwick.ac.uk>

    rpm2cpio, unzip, get_header_cpio, read_gz interface, rpm

Jeff Angielski <jeff@theptrgroup.com>

    ftpput, ftpget

Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>

    expr, hostid, logname, whoami

John Beppu <beppu@codepoet.org>

    du, nslookup, sort

Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>

    tiny-ls(ls)

Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>

    fbset, ping, hostname

Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>

    more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
    various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance

Jordan Crouse <jordan@cosmicpenguin.net>

    ipcalc

Magnus Damm <damm@opensource.se>

    tftp client insmod powerpc support

Larry Doolittle <ldoolitt@recycle.lbl.gov>

    pristine source directory compilation, lots of patches and fixes.

Glenn Engel <glenne@engel.org>

    httpd

Gennady Feldman <gfeldman@gena01.com>

    Sysklogd (single threaded syslogd, IPC Circular buffer support,
    logread), various fixes.

Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>

    cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.

Daniel Jacobowitz <dan@debian.org>

    mktemp.c

Matt Kraai <kraai@alumni.cmu.edu>

    documentation, bugfixes, test suite

Stephan Linz <linz@li-pro.net>

    ipcalc, Red Hat equivalence

John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>

    tr

Glenn McGrath <bug1@iinet.net.au>

    Common unarchiving code and unarchiving applets, ifupdown, ftpgetput,
    nameif, sed, patch, fold, install, uudecode.
    Various bugfixes, review and apply numerous patches.

Manuel Novoa III <mjn3@codepoet.org>

    cat, head, mkfifo, mknod, rmdir, sleep, tee, tty, uniq, usleep, wc, yes,
    mesg, vconfig, make_directory, parse_mode, dirname, mode_string,
    get_last_path_component, simplify_path, and a number trivial libbb routines

    also bug fixes, partial rewrites, and size optimizations in
    ash, basename, cal, cmp, cp, df, du, echo, env, ln, logname, md5sum, mkdir,
    mv, realpath, rm, sort, tail, touch, uname, watch, arith, human_readable,
    interface, dutmp, ifconfig, route

Vladimir Oleynik <dzo@simtreas.ru>

    cmdedit; xargs(current), httpd(current);
    ports: ash, crond, fdisk, inetd, stty, traceroute, top;
    locale, various fixes
    and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.

Bruce Perens <bruce@pixar.com>

    Original author of BusyBox in 1995, 1996. Some of his code can
    still be found hiding here and there...

Tim Riker <Tim@Rikers.org>

    bug fixes, member of fan club

Kent Robotti <robotti@metconnect.com>

    reset, tons and tons of bug reports and patches.

Chip Rosenthal <chip@unicom.com>, <crosenth@covad.com>

    wget - Contributed by permission of Covad Communications

Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>

    Lots of bugs fixes and patches.

Gyepi Sam <gyepi@praxis-sw.com>

    Remote logging feature for syslogd

Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>

    mkswap, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix

Mark Whitley <markw@codepoet.org>

    grep, sed, cut, xargs(previous),
    style-guide, new-applet-HOWTO, bug fixes, etc.

Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>

    gzip, mini-netcat(nc)

Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>

    tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance

Tito Ragusa <farmatito@tiscali.it>

    devfsd and size optimizations in strings, openvt and deallocvt.

Paul Fox <pgf@foxharp.boston.ma.us>

    vi editing mode for ash, various other patches/fixes

Roberto A. Foglietta <me@roberto.foglietta.name>

    port: dnsd

Bernhard Reutner-Fischer <rep.dot.nop@gmail.com>

    misc

Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>

    initial e2fsprogs, printenv, setarch, sum, misc

Jie Zhang <jie.zhang@analog.com>

    fixed two bugs in msh and hush (exitcode of killed processes)