NAME

busybox - I am BusyBox of Borg. Unix will be assimilated.


SYNOPSIS

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

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


DESCRIPTION

BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix utilities into a single executable. Most people will create a link to busybox for each function they wish to use, and BusyBox will act like whatever it was invoked as. For example,

        ln -s ./busybox ls
        ./ls

will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled into busybox). You can also invoke BusyBox by providing it the command to run on the command line. For example,

        ./busybox ls

will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.

BusyBox has been written with size-optimization in mind. It is very easy to include or exclude the commands (or features) you want installed. BusyBox tries to make itself useful to small systems with limited resources.


COMMON OPTIONS

Most BusyBox commands support the --help option to provide a terse runtime description of their behavior.


COMMANDS

Currently defined functions include:

basename, cat, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, clear, chvt, cp, date, dd, df, dirname, dmesg, du, dutmp, echo, false, fbset, fdflush, find, free, freeramdisk, deallocvt, fsck.minix, grep, gunzip, gzip, halt, head, hostid, hostname, init, kill, killall, length, ln, loadacm, loadfont, loadkmap, logger, logname, ls, lsmod, makedevs, math, mkdir, mkfifo, mkfs.minix, mknod, mkswap, mnc, more, mount, mt, mv, nslookup, ping, poweroff, printf, ps, pwd, reboot, rm, rmdir, rmmod, sed, sh, sfdisk, sleep, sort, sync, syslogd, swapon, swapoff, tail, tar, test, tee, touch, tr, true, tty, umount, uname, uniq, update, uptime, usleep, wc, whoami, yes, zcat, [

basename
Usage: basename [file ...]

Strips directory and suffix from filenames.

Example:

        $ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
        foo
        $ basename /usr/local/bin/
        bin

-------------------------------

cat
Usage: cat [file ...]

Concatenates files and prints them to the standard output.

Example:

        $ cat /proc/uptime
        110716.72 17.67

-------------------------------

chgrp
Usage: chgrp [OPTION]... GROUP FILE...

Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP.

Options:

        -R      change files and directories recursively

Example:

        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
        $ chgrp root /tmp/foo
        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 andersen root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

chmod
Usage: chmod [-R] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...

Changes file access permissions for the specified file(s) or directory(s). Each MODE is defined by combining the letters for WHO has access to the file, an OPERATOR for selecting how the permissions should be changed, and a PERISSION for the file(s) or directory(s).

WHO may be chosen from:

        u       the User who owns the file
        g       users in the file's Group
        o       Other users not in the file's group
        a       All users

OPERATOR may be chosen from:

        +       add a permission
        -       remove a permission
        =       assign a permission
 
PERMISSION may be chosen from:

        r       Read    
        w       Write
        x       eXecute (or access for directories)
        s       Set user (or group) ID bit
        t       sTickey bit (for directories prevents removing files by non-owners)

Alternately, permissions may be set numerically where the first three numbers are calculated by adding the octal values:

        4       Read
        2       Write
        1       eXecute

An optional fourth digit may also be used to specify

        4       Set user ID
        2       Set group ID
        1       sTickey bit

Options:

        -R      change files and directories recursively.
 
Example:

        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -rw-rw-r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
        $ chmod u+x /tmp/foo
        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -rwxrw-r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo*
        $ chmod 444 /tmp/foo
        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

chown
Usage: chown [OPTION]... OWNER[.[GROUP] FILE...

Changes the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.

Options:

        -R      change files and directories recursively

Example:

        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
        $ chown root /tmp/foo
        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 root     andersen        0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
        $ chown root.root /tmp/foo
        ls -l /tmp/foo
        -r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

chroot
Usage: chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND...]

Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT. Example:

        $ ls -l /bin/ls
        lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          12 Apr 13 00:46 /bin/ls -> /busybox
        $ mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt -t minix
        $ chroot /mnt
        $ ls -l /bin/ls
        -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        40816 Feb  5 07:45 /bin/ls*

-------------------------------

clear
Clears the screen.

-------------------------------

chvt
Usage: chvt N

Change foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN

-------------------------------

cp
Usage: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST

   or: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY

Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.

        -a      same as -dpR
        -d      preserve links
        -p      preserve file attributes if possable
        -R      copy directories recursively

-------------------------------

date
Usage: date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]

  or:  date [OPTION] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]

Display the current time in the given FORMAT, or set the system date.

Options:

        -R              output RFC-822 compliant date string
        -s              set time described by STRING
        -u              print or set Coordinated Universal Time

Example:

        $ date
        Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000

-------------------------------

dd
Usage: dd [if=name] [of=name] [bs=n] [count=n] [skip=n] [seek=n]

Copy a file, converting and formatting according to options

        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
        count=n copy only n input blocks
        skip=n  skip n input blocks
        seek=n  skip n output blocks

Numbers may be suffixed by w (x2), k (x1024), b (x512), or M (x1024^2) Example:

        $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
        4+0 records in
        4+0 records out

-------------------------------

df
Usage: df [filesystem ...]

Prints the filesystem space used and space available.

Example:

        $ df
        Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
        /dev/sda3              8690864   8553540    137324  98% /
        /dev/sda1                64216     36364     27852  57% /boot
        $ df /dev/sda3
        Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
        /dev/sda3              8690864   8553540    137324  98% /

-------------------------------

dirname
Usage: dirname NAME

Strip non-directory suffix from file name

Example:

        $ dirname /tmp/foo
        /tmp
        $ dirname /tmp/foo/
        /tmp

-------------------------------

dmesg
Usage: dmesg [-c] [-n level] [-s bufsize] Print or controls the kernel ring buffer.

-------------------------------

du
Usage: du [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Summarize disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk space is printed in units of 1k (i.e. 1024 bytes).

Options:

        -l      count sizes many times if hard linked
        -s      display only a total for each argument

Example:

        $ ./busybox du
        16      ./CVS
        12      ./kernel-patches/CVS
        80      ./kernel-patches
        12      ./tests/CVS
        36      ./tests
        12      ./scripts/CVS
        16      ./scripts
        12      ./docs/CVS
        104     ./docs
        2417    .
         
-------------------------------

dutmp
Usage: dutmp [FILE]

Dump utmp file format (pipe delimited) from FILE or stdin to stdout.

Example:

        $ dutmp /var/run/utmp
        8|7||si|||0|0|0|955637625|760097|0
        2|0|~|~~|reboot||0|0|0|955637625|782235|0
        1|20020|~|~~|runlevel||0|0|0|955637625|800089|0
        8|125||l4|||0|0|0|955637629|998367|0
        6|245|tty1|1|LOGIN||0|0|0|955637630|998974|0
        6|246|tty2|2|LOGIN||0|0|0|955637630|999498|0
        7|336|pts/0|vt00andersen|andersen|:0.0|0|0|0|955637763|0|0
         
-------------------------------

echo
Usage: echo [-neE] [ARG ...]

Prints the specified ARGs to stdout

Options:

        -n      suppress trailing newline
        -e      interpret backslash-escaped characters (i.e. \t=tab etc)
        -E      disable interpretation of backslash-escaped characters

Example:

        $ echo "Erik is cool"
        Erik is cool
        $  echo -e "Erik\nis\ncool"
        Erik
        is
        cool
        $ echo "Erik\nis\ncool"
        Erik\nis\ncool
         
-------------------------------

false
Returns an exit code of FALSE (1)

Example:

        $ false
        $ echo $?
        1

-------------------------------

fbset
Usage: fbset [options] [mode]

Show and modify frame buffer device settings

Options:

        -h
        -fb
        -db
        -a
        -i
        -g
        -t
        -accel
        -hsync
        -vsync
        -laced
        -double

Example:

        $ fbset
        mode "1024x768-76"
                        # D: 78.653 MHz, H: 59.949 kHz, V: 75.694 Hz
                        geometry 1024 768 1024 768 16
                        timings 12714 128 32 16 4 128 4
                        accel false
                        rgba 5/11,6/5,5/0,0/0
        endmode

-------------------------------

fdflush
Usage: fdflush device

Force floppy disk drive to detect disk change

-------------------------------

find
Usage: find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION]

Search for files in a directory hierarchy. The default PATH is the current directory; default EXPRESSION is '-print'

EXPRESSION may consist of:

        -follow                 Dereference symbolic links.
        -name PATTERN   File name (leading directories removed) matches PATTERN.
        -print                  print the full file name followed by a newline to stdout.

Example:

        $ find / -name /etc/passwd
        /etc/passwd

-------------------------------

free
Usage: free

Displays the amount of free and used memory in the system.

Example:

        $ free
                                  total         used         free       shared      buffers
          Mem:       257628       248724         8904        59644        93124
         Swap:       128516         8404       120112
        Total:       386144       257128       129016

-------------------------------

freeramdisk
Usage: freeramdisk DEVICE

Free all memory used by the specified ramdisk.

Example:

        $ freeramdisk /dev/ram2

-------------------------------

deallocvt
Usage: deallocvt N

Deallocates unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN

-------------------------------

fsck.minix
Usage: fsck.minix [-larvsmf] /dev/name

Performs a consistency check for MINIX filesystems.

OPTIONS:

        -l      Lists all filenames
        -r      Perform interactive repairs
        -a      Perform automatic repairs
        -v      verbose
        -s      Outputs super-block information
        -m      Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings
        -f      Force file system check.

-------------------------------

grep
Usage: grep [OPTIONS]... PATTERN [FILE]...

Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input.

OPTIONS:

        -h      suppress the prefixing filename on output
        -i      ignore case distinctions
        -n      print line number with output lines
        -q      be quiet. Returns 0 if result was found, 1 otherwise

This version of grep matches full regular expresions.

Example:

        $ grep root /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
        $ grep ^[rR]oo. /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

-------------------------------

gunzip
Usage: gunzip [OPTION]... FILE

Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-').

Options:

        -c      Write output to standard output
        -t      Test compressed file integrity

Example:

        $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
        -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen   557009 Apr 11 10:55 /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar.gz
        $ gunzip /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar.gz
        $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
        -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen  1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar

-------------------------------

gzip
Usage: gzip [OPTION]... FILE

Compress FILE with maximum compression. When FILE is '-', reads standard input. Implies -c.

Options:

        -c      Write output to standard output instead of FILE.gz

Example:

        $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
        -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen  1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar
        $ gzip /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar
        $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
        -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen   554058 Apr 14 17:49 /tmp/busybox-0.43.tar.gz

-------------------------------

halt
Usage: halt

This comand halts the system.

-------------------------------

head
Usage: head [OPTION] [FILE]...

Print first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

Options:

        -n NUM          Print first NUM lines instead of first 10

Example:

        $ head -n 2 /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
        daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh

-------------------------------

hostid
Usage: hostid

Prints out a unique 32-bit identifier for the current machine. The 32-bit identifier is intended to be unique among all UNIX systems in existence.

-------------------------------

hostname
Usage: hostname [OPTION] {hostname | -F file}

Get or set the hostname or DNS domain name. If a hostname is given (or a file with the -F parameter), the host name will be set.

Options:

        -s              Short
        -i              Addresses for the hostname
        -d              DNS domain name
        -F FILE         Use the contents of FILE to specify the hostname

Example:

        $ hostname
        slag 

-------------------------------

init
Usage: init

Init is the parent of all processes.

This version of init is designed to be run only by the kernel.

BusyBox init doesn't support multiple runlevels. The runlevels field of the /etc/inittab file is completely ignored by BusyBox init. If you want runlevels, use sysvinit.

BusyBox init works just fine without an inittab. If no inittab is found, it has the following default behavior:

        ::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS
        ::askfirst:/bin/sh

if it detects that /dev/console is _not_ a serial console, it will also run:

        tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh

If you choose to use an /etc/inittab file, the inittab entry format is as follows:

        <id>:<runlevels>:<action>:<process>

        <id>: 

                WARNING: This field has a non-traditional meaning for BusyBox init!
                The id field is used by BusyBox init to specify the controlling tty for
                the specified process to run on.  The contents of this field are
                appended to "/dev/" and used as-is.  There is no need for this field to
                be unique, although if it isn't you may have strange results.  If this
                field is left blank, it is completely ignored.  Also note that if
                BusyBox detects that a serial console is in use, then all entries
                containing non-empty id fields will _not_ be run.  BusyBox init does
                nothing with utmp.  We don't need no stinkin' utmp.

        <runlevels>: 

                The runlevels field is completely ignored.

        <action>: 

                Valid actions include: sysinit, respawn, askfirst, wait, 
                once, and ctrlaltdel.

                askfirst acts just like respawn, but before running the specified
                process it displays the line "Please press Enter to activate this
                console." and then waits for the user to press enter before starting
                the specified process.

                Unrecognised actions (like initdefault) will cause init to emit
                an error message, and then go along with its business.

        <process>: 

                Specifies the process to be executed and it's command line.

Example /etc/inittab file:

        # This is run first except when booting in single-user mode.
        #
        ::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS

        # /bin/sh invocations on selected ttys
        #
        # Start an "askfirst" shell on the console (whatever that may be)
        ::askfirst:/bin/sh
        # Start an "askfirst" shell on /dev/tty2
        tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh

        # /sbin/getty invocations for selected ttys
        #
        tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
        tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5

        # Example of how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
        #
        #ttyS0::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
        #ttyS1::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
        #
        # Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
        #ttyS2::respawn:/sbin/getty -x0 -s 57600 ttyS2

        # Stuff to do before rebooting
        ::ctrlaltdel:/bin/umount -a -r > /dev/null 2>&1
        ::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/swapoff -a > /dev/null 2>&1

-------------------------------

kill
Usage: kill [-signal] process-id [process-id ...]

Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).

Options:

        -l      List all signal names and numbers.

Example:

        $ ps | grep apache
        252 root     root     S [apache]
        263 www-data www-data S [apache]
        264 www-data www-data S [apache]
        265 www-data www-data S [apache]
        266 www-data www-data S [apache]
        267 www-data www-data S [apache]
        $ kill 252

-------------------------------

killall
Usage: killall [-signal] process-name [process-name ...]

Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).

Options:

        -l      List all signal names and numbers.

Example:

        $ killall apache

-------------------------------

length
Usage: length string

Prints out the length of the specified string.

Example: $ length ``Hello'' 5

-------------------------------

ln
Usage: ln [OPTION] TARGET... LINK_NAME|DIRECTORY Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET Options:

        -s      make symbolic links instead of hard links
        -f      remove existing destination files
 
Example:

    $ ln -s busybox /tmp/ls
    [andersen@debian busybox]$ ls -l /tmp/ls
    lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            7 Apr 12 18:39 ls -> busybox*

-------------------------------

loadacm
Usage: loadacm

Loads an acm from standard input.

Example:

        $ loadacm < /etc/i18n/acmname

-------------------------------

loadfont
Usage: loadfont

Loads a console font from standard input.

Example:

        $ loadfont < /etc/i18n/fontname

-------------------------------

loadkmap
Usage: loadkmap

Loads a binary keyboard translation table from standard input.

Example:

        $ loadkmap < /etc/i18n/lang-keymap

-------------------------------

logger
Usage: logger [OPTION]... [MESSAGE]

Write MESSAGE to the system log. If MESSAGE is '-', log stdin.

Options:

        -s      Log to stderr as well as the system log.
        -t      Log using the specified tag (defaults to user name).
        -p      Enter the message with the specified priority.
                This may be numerical or a ``facility.level'' pair.

Example:

                $ logger "hello"

-------------------------------

logname
Usage: logname

Print the name of the current user.

Example:

        $ logname
        root

-------------------------------

ls
Usage: ls [-1acdelnpuxACF] [filenames...]

Options:

        -a      do not hide entries starting with .
        -c      with  -l:  show ctime (the time of last
                modification of file status information)
        -d      list directory entries instead of contents
        -e      list both full date and full time
        -l      use a long listing format
        -n      list numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
        -p      append indicator (one of /=@|) to entries
        -u      with -l: show access time (the time of last
                access of the file)
        -x      list entries by lines instead of by columns
        -A      do not list implied . and ..
        -C      list entries by columns
        -F      append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries

-------------------------------

lsmod
Usage: lsmod

Shows a list of all currently loaded kernel modules.

-------------------------------

makedevs
Usage: makedevs NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR FIRST LAST [s]

Creates a range of block or character special files

TYPEs include:

        b:      Make a block (buffered) device.
        c or u: Make a character (un-buffered) device.
        p:      Make a named pipe. MAJOR and MINOR are ignored for named pipes.

FIRST specifies the number appended to NAME to create the first device. LAST specifies the number of the last item that should be created. If 's' is the last argument, the base device is created as well.

Example:

        $ makedevs /dev/ttyS c 4 66 2 63
        [creates ttyS2-ttyS63]
        $ makedevs /dev/hda b 3 0 0 8 s
        [creates hda,hda1-hda8]

-------------------------------

math
Usage: math expression ...

This is a Tiny RPN calculator that understands the following operations: +, -, /, *, and, or, not, eor.

Example:

        $ math 2 2 add
        4
        $ math 8 8 \* 2 2 + /
        16
        $ math 0 1 and
        0
        $ math 0 1 or
        1

-------------------------------

mkdir
Usage: mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY...

Create the DIRECTORY(ies), if they do not already exist

Options:

        -m      set permission mode (as in chmod), not rwxrwxrwx - umask
        -p      no error if dir exists, make parent directories as needed

Example:

        $ mkdir /tmp/foo
        $ mkdir /tmp/foo
        /tmp/foo: File exists
        $ mkdir /tmp/foo/bar/baz
        /tmp/foo/bar/baz: No such file or directory
        $ mkdir -p /tmp/foo/bar/baz

-------------------------------

mkfifo
Usage: mkfifo [OPTIONS] name

Creates a named pipe (identical to 'mknod name p')

Options:

        -m      create the pipe using the specified mode (default a=rw)

-------------------------------

mkfs.minix
Usage: mkfs.minix [-c | -l filename] [-nXX] [-iXX] /dev/name [blocks]

Make a MINIX filesystem.

OPTIONS:

        -c              Check the device for bad blocks
        -n [14|30]      Specify the maximum length of filenames
        -i              Specify the number of inodes for the filesystem
        -l FILENAME     Read the bad blocks list from FILENAME
        -v              Make a Minix version 2 filesystem

-------------------------------

mknod
Usage: mknod [OPTIONS] NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR

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

Options:

        -m      create the special file using the specified mode (default a=rw)

TYPEs include: b: Make a block (buffered) device. c or u: Make a character (un-buffered) device. p: Make a named pipe. MAJOR and MINOR are ignored for named pipes.

Example:

        $ mknod /dev/fd0 b 2 0 
        $ mknod -m 644 /tmp/pipe p

-------------------------------

mkswap
Usage: mkswap [-c] [-v0|-v1] device [block-count]

Prepare a disk partition to be used as a swap partition.

Options:

        -c              Check for read-ability.
        -v0             Make version 0 swap [max 128 Megs].
        -v1             Make version 1 swap [big!] (default for kernels > 2.1.117).
        block-count     Number of block to use (default is entire partition).

-------------------------------

mnc
Usage: mnc [IP] [port]

mini-netcat opens a pipe to IP:port

Example:

        $ mnc foobar.somedomain.com 25
        220 foobar ESMTP Exim 3.12 #1 Sat, 15 Apr 2000 00:03:02 -0600
        help
        214-Commands supported:
        214-    HELO EHLO MAIL RCPT DATA AUTH
        214     NOOP QUIT RSET HELP
        quit
        221 foobar closing connection
 
-------------------------------

more
Usage: more [file ...]

More is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time.

Example:

        $ dmesg | more

-------------------------------

mount
Usage: mount [flags] mount [flags] device directory [-o options,more-options]

Flags:

        -a:     Mount all file systems in fstab.
        -o option:      One of many filesystem options, listed below.
        -r:     Mount the filesystem read-only.
        -t filesystem-type:     Specify the filesystem type.
        -w:     Mount for reading and writing (default).

Options for use with the ``-o'' flag:

        async / sync:   Writes are asynchronous / synchronous.
        dev / nodev:    Allow use of special device files / disallow them.
        exec / noexec:  Allow use of executable files / disallow them.
        loop: Mounts a file via loop device.
        suid / nosuid:  Allow set-user-id-root programs / disallow them.
        remount: Re-mount a currently-mounted filesystem, changing its flags.
        ro / rw: Mount for read-only / read-write.
        There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem.
        You'll have to see the written documentation for those.

Example:

        $ mount
        /dev/hda3 on / type minix (rw)
        proc on /proc type proc (rw)
        devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
        $ mount /dev/fd0 /mnt -t msdos -o ro
        $ mount /tmp/diskimage /opt -t ext2 -o loop

-------------------------------

mt
Usage: mt [-f device] opcode value

Control magnetic tape drive operation

-------------------------------

mv
Usage: mv SOURCE DEST

   or: mv SOURCE... DIRECTORY

Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.

Example:

        $ mv /tmp/foo /bin/bar

-------------------------------

nslookup
Usage: nslookup [HOST]

Queries the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST

Example:

        $ nslookup localhost
        Server:     default
        Address:    default

        Name:       debian
        Address:    127.0.0.1

-------------------------------

ping
Usage: ping [OPTION]... host

Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts.

Options:

        -c COUNT        Send only COUNT pings.
        -q              Quiet mode, only displays output at start
                        and when finished.
Example:

        $ ping localhost
        PING slag (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
        64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=20.1 ms

        --- debian ping statistics ---
        1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
        round-trip min/avg/max = 20.1/20.1/20.1 ms

-------------------------------

poweroff
Shuts down the system, and requests that the kernel turn off power upon halting.

-------------------------------

printf
Usage: printf format [argument...]

Formats and prints the given data in a manner similar to the C printf command.

Example:

        $ printf "Val=%d\n" 5
        Val=5

-------------------------------

ps
Usage: ps

Report process status

This version of ps accepts no options.

Example:

        $ ps
  PID  Uid      Gid State Command
    1 root     root     S init
    2 root     root     S [kflushd]
    3 root     root     S [kupdate]
    4 root     root     S [kpiod]
    5 root     root     S [kswapd]
  742 andersen andersen S [bash]
  743 andersen andersen S -bash
  745 root     root     S [getty]
 2990 andersen andersen R ps

-------------------------------

pwd
Prints the full filename of the current working directory.

Example:

        $ pwd
        /root

-------------------------------

reboot
Instructs the kernel to reboot the system.

-------------------------------

rm
Usage: rm [OPTION]... FILE...

Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

Options:

        -f              remove existing destinations, never prompt
        -r or -R        remove the contents of directories recursively

Example:

        $ rm -rf /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

rmdir
Usage: rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...

Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.

Example:

        # rmdir /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

rmmod
Usage: rmmod [OPTION]... [MODULE]...

Unloads the specified kernel modules from the kernel.

Options:

        -a      Try to remove all unused kernel modules.

Example:

        $ rmmod tulip

-------------------------------

sed
Usage: sed [-n] -e script [file...]

Allowed sed scripts come in the following form:

        'ADDR [!] COMMAND'

        where address ADDR can be:
          NUMBER    Match specified line number
          $         Match last line
          /REGEXP/  Match specified regexp
          (! inverts the meaning of the match)

        and COMMAND can be:
          s/regexp/replacement/[igp]
                 which attempt to match regexp against the pattern space
                 and if successful replaces the matched portion with replacement.

          aTEXT
                 which appends TEXT after the pattern space

Options:

        -e      add the script to the commands to be executed
        -n      suppress automatic printing of pattern space

This version of sed matches full regular expresions.

Example:

        $ echo "foo" | sed -e 's/f[a-zA-Z]o/bar/g'
        bar

-------------------------------

sh
Usage: sh

lash -- the BusyBox LAme SHell (command interpreter)

This command does not yet have proper documentation.

Use lash just as you would use any other shell. It properly handles pipes, redirects, job control, can be used as the shell for scripts (#!/bin/sh), and has a sufficient set of builtins to do what is needed. It does not (yet) support Bourne Shell syntax. If you need things like ``if-then-else'', ``while'', and such, use ash or bash. If you just need a very simple and extremely small shell, this will do the job.

-------------------------------

sfdisk
Usage: sfdisk [options] device ...

device: something like /dev/hda or /dev/sda

useful options:

    -s [or --show-size]: list size of a partition
    -c [or --id]:        print or change partition Id
    -l [or --list]:      list partitions of each device
    -d [or --dump]:      idem, but in a format suitable for later input
    -i [or --increment]: number cylinders etc. from 1 instead of from 0
    -uS, -uB, -uC, -uM:  accept/report in units of sectors/blocks/cylinders/MB
    -T [or --list-types]:list the known partition types
    -D [or --DOS]:       for DOS-compatibility: waste a little space
    -R [or --re-read]:   make kernel reread partition table
    -N# :                change only the partition with number #
    -n :                 do not actually write to disk
    -O file :            save the sectors that will be overwritten to file
    -I file :            restore these sectors again
    -v [or --version]:   print version
    -? [or --help]:      print this message

dangerous options:

    -g [or --show-geometry]: print the kernel's idea of the geometry
    -x [or --show-extended]: also list extended partitions on output

                             or expect descriptors for them on input
    -L  [or --Linux]:      do not complain about things irrelevant for Linux
    -q  [or --quiet]:      suppress warning messages
    You can override the detected geometry using:
    -C# [or --cylinders #]:set the number of cylinders to use
    -H# [or --heads #]:    set the number of heads to use
    -S# [or --sectors #]:  set the number of sectors to use

You can disable all consistency checking with:

    -f  [or --force]:      do what I say, even if it is stupid

-------------------------------

sleep
Usage: sleep N

Pause for N seconds.

Example:

        $ sleep 2
        [2 second delay results]

-------------------------------

sort
Usage: sort [-n] [-r] [FILE]...

Sorts lines of text in the specified files

Example:

        $ echo -e "e\nf\nb\nd\nc\na" | sort
        a
        b
        c
        d
        e
        f

-------------------------------

sync
Usage: sync

Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.

-------------------------------

syslogd
Usage: syslogd [OPTION]...

Linux system and kernel (provides klogd) logging utility. Note that this version of syslogd/klogd ignores /etc/syslog.conf.

Options:

        -m      Change the mark timestamp interval. default=20min. 0=off
        -n      Do not fork into the background (for when run by init)
        -K      Do not start up the klogd process (by default syslogd spawns klogd).
        -O      Specify an alternate log file.  default=/var/log/messages

-------------------------------

swapon
Usage: swapon [OPTION] [device]

Start swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.

Options:

        -a      Start swapping on all swap devices

-------------------------------

swapoff
Usage: swapoff [OPTION] [device]

Stop swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.

Options:

        -a      Stop swapping on all swap devices

-------------------------------

tail
Usage: tail [OPTION] [FILE]...

Print last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

Options:

        -n NUM          Print last NUM lines instead of first 10
        -f              Output data as the file grows.  This version
                        of 'tail -f' supports only one file at a time.

Example:

        $ tail -n 1 /etc/resolv.conf
        nameserver 10.0.0.1

-------------------------------

tar
Usage: tar -[cxtvO] [--exclude File] [-f tarFile] [FILE] ...

Create, extract, or list files from a tar file. Note that this version of tar treats hard links as separate files.

Main operation mode:

        c               create
        x               extract
        t               list

File selection:

        f               name of tarfile or "-" for stdin
        O               extract to stdout
        --exclude       file to exclude

Informative output:

        v               verbosely list files processed

Example:

        $ zcat /tmp/tarball.tar.gz | tar -xf -
        $ tar -cf /tmp/tarball.tar /usr/local

-------------------------------

test, [
Usage: test EXPRESSION or [ EXPRESSION ]

Checks file types and compares values returning an exit code determined by the value of EXPRESSION.

Example:

        $ test 1 -eq 2
        $ echo $?
        1
        $ test 1 -eq 1
        $ echo $?
        0
        $ [ -d /etc ]
        $ echo $?
        0
        $ [ -d /junk ]
        $ echo $?
        1

-------------------------------

tee
Usage: tee [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output.

Options:

        -a      append to the given FILEs, do not overwrite

Example:

        $ echo "Hello" | tee /tmp/foo
        $ cat /tmp/foo
        Hello

-------------------------------

touch
Usage: touch [-c] file [file ...]

Update the last-modified date on (or create) the selected file[s].

Example:

        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        /bin/ls: /tmp/foo: No such file or directory
        $ touch /tmp/foo
        $ ls -l /tmp/foo
        -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 15 01:11 /tmp/foo

-------------------------------

tr
Usage: tr [-cdsu] string1 [string2]

Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from standard input, writing to standard output.

Example:

        $ echo "gdkkn vnqkc" | tr [a-y] [b-z]
        hello world

-------------------------------

true
Returns an exit code of TRUE (0)

Example:

        $ true
        $ echo $?
        0

-------------------------------

tty
Usage: tty

Print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.

Options:

        -s      print nothing, only return an exit status

Example:

        $ tty
        /dev/tty2

-------------------------------

umount
Usage: umount [flags] filesystem|directory

Flags:

        -a:     Unmount all file systems
        -r:     Try to remount devices as read-only if mount is busy
        -f:     Do not free loop device (if a loop device has been used)

Example:

        $ umount /dev/hdc1 

-------------------------------

uname
Usage: uname [OPTION]...

Print certain system information. With no OPTION, same as -s.

Options:

        -a      print all information
        -m      the machine (hardware) type
        -n      print the machine's network node hostname
        -r      print the operating system release
        -s      print the operating system name
        -p      print the host processor type
        -v      print the operating system version

Example:

        $ uname -a
        Linux debian 2.2.15pre13 #5 Tue Mar 14 16:03:50 MST 2000 i686 unknown

-------------------------------

uniq
Usage: uniq [OPTION]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]

Discard all but one of successive identical lines from INPUT (or standard input), writing to OUTPUT (or standard output).

Example:

        $ echo -e "a\na\nb\nc\nc\na" | sort | uniq
        a
        b
        c

-------------------------------

update
Usage: update [options]

Periodically flushes filesystem buffers.

Options:

        -S      force use of sync(2) instead of flushing
        -s SECS call sync this often (default 30)
        -f SECS flush some buffers this often (default 5)

-------------------------------

uptime
Usage: uptime

Tells how long the system has been running since boot.

Example:

        $ uptime
          1:55pm  up  2:30, load average: 0.09, 0.04, 0.00

-------------------------------

usleep
Usage: usleep N

Pauses for N microseconds.

Example:

        $ usleep 1000000
        [pauses for 1 second]

-------------------------------

wc
Usage: wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Print line, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, read standard input.

Options:

        -c      print the byte counts
        -l      print the newline counts
        -L      print the length of the longest line
        -w      print the word counts

Example:

        $ wc /etc/passwd
             31      46    1365 /etc/passwd

-------------------------------

whoami
Usage: whoami

Prints the user name associated with the current effective user id.

Example:

        $ whoami
        andersen

-------------------------------

yes
Usage: yes [OPTION]... [STRING]...

Repeatedly outputs a line with all specified STRING(s), or `y'.

-------------------------------

zcat
This is essentially an alias for invoking ``gunzip -c'', where it decompresses the file inquestion and send the output to stdout.

-------------------------------


SEE ALSO

textutils(1), shellutils(1), etc...


MAINTAINER

Erik Andersen


AUTHORS

The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know it or not.

Erik Andersen


John Beppu


Brian Candler


Randolph Chung


Dave Cinege


Karl M. Hegbloom


John Lombardo


Bruce Perens


Linus Torvalds


Charles P. Wright


Enrique Zanardi