NAME

BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux


SYNTAX

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

 <function> [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 fileutils, shellutils, findutils, textutils, grep, gzip, tar, etc. BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or emdedded system. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options then 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 a kernel, a shell (such as ash), and an editor (such as elvis-tiny or ae).


USAGE

When you create a link to BusyBox for the function you wish to use, when BusyBox is called using that link it will behave as if the command itself has been invoked.

For example, entering

        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 issuing the command as an argument on the command line. For example, entering

        ./BusyBox ls

will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.


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, cut, date, dd, df, dirname, dmesg, du, dutmp, echo, false, fbset, fdflush, find, free, freeramdisk, deallocvt, fsck.minix, grep, gunzip, gzip, halt, head, hostid, hostname, id, init, kill, killall, length, ln, loadacm, loadfont, loadkmap, logger, logname, ls, lsmod, makedevs, math, mkdir, mkfifo, mkfs.minix, mknod, mkswap, mktemp, nc, more, mount, mt, mv, nslookup, ping, poweroff, printf, ps, pwd, reboot, rm, rmdir, rmmod, sed, setkeycodes, 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 [SUFFIX]

Strips directory path and suffixes from FILE. If specified, also removes any trailing SUFFIX.

Example:

        $ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
        foo
        $ basename /usr/local/bin/
        bin
        $ basename /foo/bar.txt .txt
        bar

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

cat

Usage: cat [FILE ...]

Concatenates FILE(s) 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 directories). 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 FILE(s) (or directories).

WHO may be chosen from

        u       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 can be set numerically where the first three numbers are calculated by adding the octal values, such as

        4       Read
        2       Write
        1       Execute

An optional fourth digit can 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      Changes 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

Changes the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN

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

cp

Usage: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST

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

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

Options:

        -a      Same as -dpR
        -d      Preserves links
        -p      Preserves file attributes if possable
        -R      Copies directories recursively

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

cut

Usage: cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Prints selected fields from each input FILE to standard output.

Options:

        -b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
        -c LIST Output only characters from LIST
        -d DELIM        Use DELIM instead of tab as the field delimiter
        -f N    Print only these fields
        -n      Ignored

Example:

        $ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 1 -d ' '
        Hello
        $ echo "Hello world" | cut -f 2 -d ' '
        world

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

date

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

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

Displays the current time in the given FORMAT, or sets the system date.

Options:

        -R      Outputs RFC-822 compliant date string
        -s      Sets time described by STRING
        -u      Prints or sets 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 system memory.

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

Frees 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
        -v      select non-matching lines

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 

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

id

Print information for USERNAME or the current user

Options:

        -g      prints only the group ID
        -u      prints only the user ID
        -r      prints the real user ID instead of the effective ID (with -ug)

Example:

        $ id
        uid=1000(andersen) gid=1000(andersen)

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

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
    $ 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).

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

mktemp

Usage: mktemp [-q] TEMPLATE

Creates a temporary file with its name based on TEMPLATE. TEMPLATE is any name with six `Xs' (i.e. /tmp/temp.XXXXXX).

Example:

        $ mktemp /tmp/temp.XXXXXX
        /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
        $ ls -la /tmp/temp.mWiLjM
        -rw-------    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM

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

nc

Usage: nc [IP] [port]

Netcat opens a pipe to IP:port

Example:

        $ nc 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 fs-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.
        atime/noatime:  Enable / disable updates to inode access times.
        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

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

setkeycodes

Usage: setkeycodes SCANCODE KEYCODE ...

Set entries into the kernel's scancode-to-keycode map, allowing unusual keyboards to generate usable keycodes.

SCANCODE may be either xx or e0xx (hexadecimal), and KEYCODE is given in decimal

Example:

        # setkeycodes e030 127

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

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 [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]

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

Options:

        -c      take complement of STRING1
        -d      delete input characters coded STRING1
        -s      squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character

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:     Force filesystem umount (i.e. unreachable NFS server)
                -l:     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.

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


LIBC NSS

GNU Libc 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. BusyBox has made it Policy that it will never use NSS, and will never use and libc calls that make use of NSS. This allows you to run an embedded system without the need for installing an /etc/nsswitch.conf file and without and /lib/libnss_* libraries installed.

If you are using a system that is using a remote LDAP server for authentication via GNU libc NSS, and you want to use BusyBox, then you will need to adjust the BusyBox source. Chances are though, that if you have enough space to install of that stuff on your system, then you probably want the full GNU utilities.


SEE ALSO

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


MAINTAINER

Erik Andersen <andersee@debian.org> <andersen@lineo.com>


AUTHORS

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

Erik Andersen <andersee@debian.org>

John Beppu <beppu@lineo.com>

Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>

Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>

Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>

Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>

John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>

Bruce Perens <bruce@perens.com>

Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>

Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>

Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>