Running Shell Commands

The syntax of Unix commands is not completely standardized but in general follow the pattern of a two or three-letter abbreviation followed by command-line options, which are single-letter options preceded by one hyphen or multiple-letter options with two hyphens. Many commands also take arguments.

Example Invoke the utility rm to delete a file.

rm myfile

In this example, the shell issues a request to the kernel to delete myfile. The kernel then communicates with the software that manages file storage to exectute the operation.

When it is complete the shell then returns the UNIX prompt to the user, indicating that it is waiting for further commands.