freebsd-tips revision 93516
1This fortune brought to you by: 2$FreeBSD: head/games/fortune/datfiles/freebsd-tips 93516 2002-04-01 08:43:58Z joe $ 3% 4Having trouble using fetch through a firewall? Try setting the environment 5variable FTP_PASSIVE_MODE to yes, and see fetch(3) for more details. 6% 7By pressing "Scroll Lock" you can use the arrow keys to scroll backward 8through the console output. Press "Scroll Lock" again to turn it off. 9% 10Want colour in your directory listings? Use "ls -G". "ls -F" is also useful, 11and they can be combined as "ls -FG". 12% 13If you need to ask a question on the FreeBSD-questions mailing list then 14 15 http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/\ 16 freebsd-questions/index.html 17 18contains lots of useful advice to help you get the best results. 19% 20If you'd like to keep track of applications in the FreeBSD ports tree, take a 21look at FreshPorts; 22 23 http://www.freshports.org/ 24% 25To search for files that match a particular name, use find(1); for example 26 27 find / -name "*GENERIC*" -ls 28 29will search '/', and all subdirectories, for files with 'GENERIC' in the name. 30 -- Stephen Hilton <nospam@hiltonbsd.com> 31% 32In tcsh, you can `set autolist' to have the shell automatically show 33all the possible matches when doing filename/directory expansion. 34% 35You can `set autologout = 30' to have tcsh log you off automatically 36if you leave the shell idle for more than 30 minutes. 37% 38If you `set filec' (file completion) in tcsh and write a part of the 39filename, pressing TAB will show you the available choices when there 40is more than one, or complete the filename if there's only one match. 41% 42You can press up-arrow or down-arrow to walk through a list of 43previous commands in tcsh. 44% 45You can disable tcsh's terminal beep if you `set nobeep'. 46% 47If you `set watch (0 any any)' in tcsh, you will be notified when 48someone logs in or out of your system. 49% 50Nice tcsh prompt: set prompt = '%m %# ' 51% 52Nice tcsh prompt: set prompt = '%n@%m%# ' 53% 54Nice tcsh prompt: set prompt = '%n@%m:%~%# ' 55% 56Nice tcsh prompt: set prompt = '%n@%m:%/%# ' 57% 58Nice tcsh prompt: set prompt = '[%B%m%b] %B%~%b%# ' 59% 60Simple tcsh prompt: set prompt = '%# ' 61% 62If you want df(1) and other commands to display disk sizes in 63kilobytes instead of 512-byte blocks, set BLOCKSIZE in your 64environment to 'K'. You can also use 'M' for Megabytes or 'G' for 65Gigabytes. If you want df(1) to automatically select the best size 66then use 'df -h'. 67% 68To change an environment variable in tcsh you use: setenv NAME "value" 69where NAME is the name of the variable and "value" its new value. 70% 71To change an environment variable in /bin/sh use: 72 73 $ VARIABLE="value" 74 $ export VARIABLE 75% 76You can use /etc/make.conf to control the options used to compile software 77on this system. Example entries are in /usr/share/examples/etc/make.conf. 78% 79To do a fast search for a file, try 80 81 locate filename 82 83locate uses a database that is updated every Saturday (assuming your computer 84is running FreeBSD at the time) to quickly find files based on name only. 85% 86In order to search for a string in some files, use 'grep' like this: 87 88 grep "string" filename1 [filename2 filename3 ...] 89 90This will print out the lines in the files that contain the string. grep can 91also do a lot more advanced searches - type 'man grep' for details. 92% 93You can use the 'fetch' command to retrieve files over ftp or http. 94 95 fetch http://www.freebsd.org/index.html 96 97will download the front page of the FreeBSD web site. 98% 99In order to make fetch (the FreeBSD downloading tool) ask for 100username/password when it encounter a password-protected web page, you can set 101the environment variable HTTP_AUTH to 'basic:*'. 102% 103You can permanently set environment variables for your shell by putting them 104in a startup file for the shell. The name of the startup file varies 105depending on the shell - csh and tcsh uses .login, bash, sh, ksh and zsh use 106.profile. When using bash, sh, ksh or zsh, don't forget to export the 107variable. 108% 109If you are running xterm, the default TERM variable will be 'xterm'. If you 110set this environment variable to 'xterm-color' instead, a lot of programs will 111use colors. You can do this by 112 113 TERM=xterm-color; export TERM 114 115in Bourne-derived shells, and 116 117 setenv TERM xterm-color 118 119in csh-derived shells. 120% 121If you do not want to get beeps in X11 (X Windows), you can turn them off with 122 123 xset b off 124% 125You can look through a file in a nice text-based interface by typing 126 127 less filename 128% 129The default editor in FreeBSD is vi, which is efficient to use when you have 130learned it, but somewhat user-unfriendly. To use ee (an easier but less 131powerful editor) instead, set the environment variable EDITOR to /usr/bin/ee 132% 133If you accidently end up inside vi, you can quit it by pressing Escape, colon 134(:), q (q), bang (!) and pressing return. 135% 136You can use aliases to decrease the amount of typing you need to do to get 137commands you commonly use. Examples of fairly popular aliases include (in 138bourne shell style, as in /bin/sh, bash, ksh, and zsh): 139 140 alias lf="ls -FA" 141 alias ll="ls -lA" 142 alias su="su -m" 143 144In csh or tcsh, these would be 145 146 alias lf ls -FA 147 alias ll ls -lA 148 alias su su -m 149 150To remove an alias, you can usually use 'unalias aliasname'. To list all 151aliases, you can usually type just 'alias'. 152% 153In order to support national characters for european languages in tools like 154less without creating other nationalisation aspects, set the environment 155variable LC_ALL to 'en_US.ISO8859-1'. 156% 157You can search for documentation on a keyword by typing 158 159 apropos keyword 160% 161Man pages are divided into section depending on topic. There are 9 different 162sections numbered from 1 (General Commands) to 9 (Kernel Developer's Manual). 163You can get an introduction to each topic by typing 164 165 man <number> intro 166 167In other words, to get the intro to general commands, type 168 169 man 1 intro 170% 171FreeBSD is started up by the program 'init'. The first thing init does when 172starting multiuser mode (ie, starting the computer up for normal use) is to 173run the shell script /etc/rc. By reading /etc/rc, you can learn a lot about 174how the system is put together, which again will make you more confident about 175what happens when you do something with it. 176% 177If you want to play CDs with FreeBSD, a utility for this is already included. 178Type 'cdcontrol' then 'help' to learn more. (You may need to set the CDROM 179environment variable in order to make cdcontrol want to start.) 180% 181If you have a CD-ROM drive in your machine, you can make the CD-ROM that is 182presently inserted available by typing 'mount /cdrom' as root. The CD-ROM 183will be available under /cdrom/. Remember to do 'umount /cdrom' before 184removing the CD-ROM (it will usually not be possible to remove the CD-ROM 185without doing this.) 186 187Note: This tip may not work in all configurations. 188% 189You can install extra packages for FreeBSD by using the ports system. 190If you have installed it, you can download, compile, and install software by 191just typing 192 193 # cd /usr/ports/<category>/<portname> 194 # make install && make clean 195 196as root. The ports infrastructure will download the software, change it so 197it works on FreeBSD, compile it, install it, register the installation so it 198will be possible to automatically uninstall it, and clean out the temporary 199working space it used. You can remove an installed port you decide you do not 200want after all by typing 201 202 # cd /usr/ports/<category>/<portname> 203 # make deinstall 204 205as root. 206% 207Nice bash prompt: PS1='(\[$(tput md)\]\t <\w>\[$(tput me)\]) $(echo $?) \$ ' 208 -- Mathieu <mathieu@hal.interactionvirtuelle.com> 209% 210To see the output from when your computer started, run dmesg(8). If it has 211been replaced with other messages, look at /var/run/dmesg.boot. 212 -- Francisco Reyes <lists@natserv.com> 213% 214You can use "whereis" to locate standard binary, manual page and source 215directories for the specified programs. This can be particularly handy 216when you are trying to find where in the ports tree an application is. 217 218Try "whereis netscape" and "whereis whereis". 219 -- Konstantinos Konstantinidis <kkonstan@duth.gr> 220% 221You can press Ctrl-D to quickly exit from a shell, or logout from a 222login shell. 223 -- Konstantinos Konstantinidis <kkonstan@duth.gr> 224% 225You can use "pkg_info" to see a list of packages you have installed. 226 -- Konstantinos Konstantinidis <kkonstan@duth.gr> 227% 228You can change the video mode on all consoles by adding something like 229the following to /etc/rc.conf: 230 231 allscreens="80x30" 232 233You can use "vidcontrol -i mode | grep T" for a list of supported text 234modes. 235 -- Konstantinos Konstantinidis <kkonstan@duth.gr> 236% 237Any user that is a member of the wheel group can use "su -" to simulate 238a root login. You can add a user to the wheel group by editing /etc/group. 239 -- Konstantinos Konstantinidis <kkonstan@duth.gr> 240% 241Over quota? "du -s * | sort -n " will give you a sorted list of your 242directory sizes. 243 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 244% 245Handy bash(1) prompt: PS1="\u@\h \w \!$ " 246 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 247% 248Ever wonder what those numbers after command names were, as in cat(1)? It's 249the section of the manual the man page is in. "man man" will tell you more. 250 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 251% 252"man hier" will explain the way FreeBSD filesystems are normally laid out. 253 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 254% 255"man tuning" gives some tips how to tune performance of your FreeBSD system. 256 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 257% 258"man firewall" will give advice for building a FreeBSD firewall 259 -- David Scheidt <dscheidt@tumbolia.com> 260% 261You can often get answers to your questions about FreeBSD by searching in the 262FreeBSD mailing list archives at 263 264 http://www.freebsd.org/search.html 265% 266You can adjust the volume of various parts of the sound system in your 267computer by typing 'mixer <type> <volume>'. To get a list of what you can 268adjust, just type 'mixer'. 269% 270You can automatically download and install binary packages by doing 271 272 pkg_add -r <URL> 273 274where you replace <URL> with the URL to the package. This will also 275automatically install the packages the package you download is dependent on 276(ie, the packages it needs in order to work.) 277% 278You can get a good standard workstation install by using the 279instant-workstation port/package. If you have ports installed, you can 280install it by doing 281 282 # cd /usr/ports/misc/instant-workstation 283 # make install && make clean 284 285as root. This will install a collection of packages that is convenient to 286have on a workstation. 287% 288You can get a good generic server install by using the 289instant-server port/package. If you have ports installed, you can 290install it by doing 291 292 # cd /usr/ports/misc/instant-server 293 # make install && make clean 294 295as root. This will install a collection of packages that is appropriate for 296running a "generic" server. 297% 298You can make a log of your terminal session with script(1). 299% 300"man ports" gives many useful hints about installing FreeBSD ports. 301% 302ports/net/netcat port is useful not only for redirecting input/output 303to TCP or UDP connections, but also for proxying them. See inetd(8) for 304details. 305% 306If other operating systems have damaged your Master Boot Record, you can 307reinstall it either with /stand/sysinstall or with boot0cfg(8). See 308"man boot0cfg" for details. 309% 310Need to see the calendar for this month? Simply type "cal". To see the 311whole year, type "cal 2001". 312 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 313% 314Need to quickly return to your home directory? Type "cd". 315 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 316% 317To see the last time that you logged in, use lastlogin(8). 318 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 319% 320To clear the screen, use "clear". To re-display your screen buffer, press 321the scroll lock key and use your page up button. When you're finished, 322press the scroll lock key again to get your prompt back. 323 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 324% 325To save disk space in your home directory, can compress files you 326rarely use with "gzip filename". 327 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 328% 329To read a compressed file without having to first uncompress it, use 330"zcat" or "zmore" to view it. 331 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 332% 333To see how much disk space is left on your partitions, use 334 335 df -h 336 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 337% 338To see the 10 largest files on a directory or partition, use 339 340 du /partition_or_directory_name | sort -rn | head 341 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 342% 343To determine whether a file is a text file, executable, or some other type 344of file, use 345 346 file filename 347 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 348% 349Time to change your password? Type "passwd" and follow the prompts. 350 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 351% 352Want to know how many words, lines, or bytes are contained in a file? Type 353"wc filename". 354 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 355% 356Need to print a manpage? Use 357 358 man name_of_manpage | col -bx | lpr 359 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 360% 361Need to remove all those ^M characters from a DOS file? Try 362 363 col -bx < dosfile > newfile 364 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 365% 366Forget what directory you are in? Type "pwd". 367 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 368% 369If you are in the C shell and have just installed a new program, you won't 370be able to run it unless you first type "rehash". 371 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 372% 373Need to leave your terminal for a few minutes and don't want to logout? 374Use "lock -p". When you return, use your password as the key to unlock the 375terminal. 376 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 377% 378Need to find the location of a program? Use "locate program_name". 379 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 380% 381Forget how to spell a word or a variation of a word? Use 382 383 look portion_of_word_you_know 384 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 385% 386To see the last 10 lines of a long file, use "tail filename". To see the 387first 10 lines, use "head filename". 388 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 389% 390To see how long it takes a command to run, type the word "time" before the 391command name. 392 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 393% 394To quickly create an empty file, use "touch filename". 395 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 396% 397To find out the hostname associated with an IP address, use 398 399 dig -x IP_address 400 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 401% 402If you use the C shell, add the following line to the .cshrc file in your 403home directory to prevent core files from being written to disk: 404 405 limit coredumpsize 0 406 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 407% 408If you need a reminder to leave your terminal, type "leave hhmm" where 409"hhmm" represents in how many hours and minutes you need to leave. 410 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 411% 412Need to do a search in a manpage or in a file you've sent to a pager? Use 413"/search_word". To repeat the same search, type "n" for next. 414 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 415% 416Forget when Easter is? Try "ncal -e". If you need the date for Orthodox 417Easter, use "ncal -o" instead. 418 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 419% 420Need to see your routing table? Type "netstat -rn". The entry with the G 421flag is your gateway. 422 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 423% 424Need to see which daemons are listening for connection requests? Use 425"sockstat -4l" for IPv4, and "sockstat -l" for IPv4 and IPv6. 426 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 427% 428Can't remember is you've installed a certain port or not? Try "pkg_info | 429grep port_name". 430 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 431% 432Got some time to kill? Try typing "hangman". 433 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 434% 435To erase a line you've written at the command prompt, use "Ctrl u". 436 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 437% 438To repeat the last command in the C shell, type "!!". 439 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 440% 441Need to quickly empty a file? Use "echo > filename". 442 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 443% 444To see all of the directories on your FreeBSD system, type 445 446 ls -R / | more 447 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 448% 449To see the IP addresses currently set on your active interfaces, type 450"ifconfig -u". 451 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 452% 453To see the MAC addresses of the NICs on your system, type 454 455 ifconfig -a 456 -- Dru <genesis@istar.ca> 457% 458You can save your kernel startup configuration with kget(8). The 459Configuration can be edited at boot time with 'boot -c' command in loader. 460See boot(8), loader(8) for details. 461% 462You can open up a new split-screen window in (n)vi with :N or :E and then 463use ^w to switch between the two. 464% 465sh (the default bourne shell in FreeBSD) supports command-line editing. Just 466``set -o emacs'' or ``set -o vi'' to enable it. 467% 468When you've made modifications to a file in vi(1) and then find that 469you can't write it, type ``<ESC>!rm -f %'' then ``:w!'' to force the 470write 471 472This won't work if you don't have write permissions to the directory 473and probably won't be suitable if you're editing through a symbolic link. 474% 475If you want to quickly check for duplicate package/port installations, 476try the following pkg_info command. 477 478 pkg_info | sort | sed -e 's/-[0-9].*$//' | \ 479 uniq -c | grep -v '^[[:space:]]*1' 480