The Terminal is a program included with all versions of Mac OS X. To launch terminal goto Applications and click Utilities folder.Terminal is originated in Mac OS X’s predecessors, NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and allows the user to interact with the computer through a command line interface. By default it provides a bash shell.
Here is a list of 175 common Mac OS X commands for power users
alias - Create an alias
alloc - List used and free memory
awk – Find and Replace text within file(s)
basename – Convert a full pathname to just a folder path
bash - Bourne-Again SHell (Linux)
bless - Set volume bootability and startup disk options.
break - Exit from a loop
cal – Display a calendar
case – Conditionally perform a command
cat – Display the contents of a file
cd - Change Directory
chflags - Change a file or folder’s flags.
chgrp - Change group ownership
chmod - Change access permissions
chown - Change file owner and group
chroot – Run a command with a different root directory
cksum – Print CRC checksum and byte counts
clear - Clear terminal screen
cmp – Compare two files
comm – Compare two sorted files line by line
complete – Edit a command completion [word/pattern/list]
continue – Resume the next iteration of a loop
cp - Copy one or more files to another location
cron – Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab - Schedule a command to run at a later date/time
cut - Divide a file into several parts
date - Display or change the date & time
dc – Desk Calculator
dd – Data Dump – Convert and copy a file
df - Display free disk space
diff – Display the differences between two files
diff3 – Show differences among three files
dirname- Convert a full pathname to just a path
dirs Di – play list of remembered directories
diskutil - Disk utilities – Format, Verify, Repair
ditto – Copy files and folders
dscl – Directory Service command line utility
du - Estimate file space usage
echo - Display message on screen
ed - A line-oriented text editor (edlin)
enable – Stop or start printers and classes.
env – Set environment and run a utility
eval – Evaluate several commands/arguments
exec - Execute a command
exit - Exit the shell
expect – Programmed dialogue with interactive programs
expand - Convert tabs to spaces
expr - Evaluate expressions
false - Do nothing, unsuccessfully
fdisk - Partition table manipulator for Darwin UFS/HFS/DOS
find - Search for files that meet a desired criteria
fmt – Reformat paragraph text
fold - Wrap text to fit a specified width
for – Expand words, and execute commands
foreach - Loop, expand words, and execute commands
fsck - Filesystem consistency check and repair
fs – usage Filesystem usage (process/pathname)
ftp - Internet file transfer program
GetFileInfo - Get attributes of HFS+ files
getopt - Parse positional parameters
goto – Jump to label and continue execution
grep - Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
groups – Print group names a user is in
gzip - Compress or decompress files
head - Display the first lines of a file
hdiutil – Manipulate iso disk images
history - Command History
hostname - Print or set system name
id – Print user and group names/id’s
if – Conditionally perform a command
info – Help info
install - Copy files and set attributes
jobs – List active jobs
join - Join lines on a common field
kill – Stop a process from running
l - List files in long format (ls -l)
ll - List files in long format, showing invisible files (ls -la)
less - Display output one screen at a time
ln - Make links between files (hard links, symbolic links)
locate - Find files
logname – Print current login name
login - log into the computer
logout - Exit a login shell (bye)
lpr - Print files
lprm - Remove jobs from the print queue
lpstat – Printer status information
ls – List information about file(s)
lsbom – List a bill of materials file
lsof - List open files
man - Help manual
mkdir – Create new folder(s)
mkfifo – Make FIFOs (named pipes)
more - Display output one screen at a time
mount - Mount a file system
mv - Move or rename files or directories
net – Manage network resources
nice – Set the priority of a command
nohup - Run a command immune to hangups
onintr – Control the action of a shell interrupt
open - Open a file/folder/URL/Application
osascript – Execute AppleScript
passwd - Modify a user password
paste - Merge lines of files
pbcopy - Copy data to the clipboard
pbpaste - Paste data from the Clipboard
pico - Simple text editor
ping - Test a network connection
pmset - Power Management settings
popd - Restore the previous value of the current directory
pr – Convert text files for printing
printenv - Print environment variables
printf - Format and print data
ps - Process status
pushd - Save and then change the current directory
pwd - Print Working Directory
quota - Display disk usage and limits
rcp – Copy files between machines.
repeat - Execute a command multiple times
rm - Remove files
rmdir - Remove folder(s)
rpm – Remote Package Manager
rsync - Remote file copy – Sync file tree (also RsyncX)
say - Convert text to audible speech
sched – Schedule a command to run at a later time.
screencapture - Capture screen image to file or disk
sdiff – Merge two files interactively
security - Administer Keychains, keys, certificates and the Security framework
sed – Stream Editor
set – Set a shell variable = value
setenv - Set an environment variable = value
setfile – Set attributes of HFS+ files
shift – Shift positional parameters
shutdown - Shutdown or restart OS X
sleep - Delay for a specified time
softwareupdate - System software update tool
sort – Sort text files
split - Split a file into fixed-size pieces
stop - Stop a job or process
su - Substitute user identity
sudo - Execute a command as another user
sum – Print a checksum for a file
switch - Conditionally perform a command
tail - Output the last part of files
tar - Tape ARchiver
tee - Redirect output to multiple files
test – Condition evaluation
time – Measure Program Resource Use
touch - Change file timestamps
traceroute - Trace Route to Host
tr - Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
true - Do nothing, successfully
tty - Print filename of terminal on stdin
type - Describe a command
umask – Users file creation mask
umount - a device
unalias - Remove an alias
uname – Print system information
unexpand - Convert spaces to tabs
uniq - Uniquify files
units - Convert units from one scale to another
unset - Remove variable or function names
unsetenv - Remove environment variable
users - Print login names of users currently logged in
uuencode - Encode a binary file
uudecode - Decode a file created by uuencode
vi – Text Editor
wc - Print byte, word, and line counts
where - Report all known instances of a command
which – Locate a program file in the users path
while - Execute commands
who - Print all usernames currently logged on
whoami - Print the current user id and name (`id -un’)
xargs - Execute utility – passing arguments
yes - Print a string until interrupted
