path: root/docs/busybox.pod

=head1 NAME

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

=head1 SYNOPSIS

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

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

=head1 DESCRIPTION

BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix utilities into a
single executable.  Most people will create a symlink to busybox for each
function name, and BusyBox will act like whatever you invoke it as.

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

=head1 COMMANDS

Currently defined functions:
busybox, cat, chmod, chown, chgrp, chroot, clear, chvt, cp, date,
dd, df, dmesg, du, fbset, find, free, deallocvt, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix,
grep, head, hostname, init, linuxrc, kill, ln, ls, lsmod, mkdir,
mknod, mkswap, more, mount, mv, ping, poweroff, ps, pwd, reboot,
rm, rmdir, sed, sleep, sort, sync, syslogd, swapon, swapoff, tail,
tar, tee, touch, true, false, uname, umount, uniq, update, zcat,
gunzip, gzip

=over 4

=item cat

Usage: cat [file ...]
 

=item chmod

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

Each MODE is one or more of the letters ugoa, one of the symbols +-= and
one or more of the letters rwxst.
  
Options:

 -R	change files and directories recursively.
 

=item chown

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

Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.
 
Options:

 -R	change files and directories recursively
 

=item chgrp

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

Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP.
 
Options:

 -R	change files and directories recursively
 

=item chroot

Usage: chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND...]

Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT.
 

=item clear



=item chvt

Usage: chvt N

Change foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
 

=item 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 possible
 -R	copy directories recursively
 

=item date



=item dd

Usage: dd [if=name] [of=name] [bs=n] [count=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 stout
 bs=n		read and write N BYTES at a time
 count=n	copy only n input blocks
 BYTES may be suffixed by w (x2), k (x1024), b (x512), or m (x1024^2).
 

=item df

Usage: df

=item dmesg

Usage: dmesg [-c] [-n level] [-s bufsize]
 

=item du

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

  -s	display only a total for each argument
 

=item fbset

Usage: fbset [options] [mode]

Options:

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


=item 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 (with leading directories removed) matches PATTERN.
 -print
 print the full file name followed by a newline to stdout.
 This version of find matches full regular expresions.

=item free

Usage: free

=item deallocvt

Usage: deallocvt N

Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
 

=item 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.
 

=item 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
 

=item grep



=item head

Usage: Usage: head [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.
 

=item 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
 

=item kill



=item 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
 

=item ls

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

=item lsmod



=item mkdir

Usage: 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 existing, make parent directories as needed
 

=item mknod

Usage: mknod NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR
Make 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.
 

=item 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).
 

=item more

Usage: more [file ...]
 

=item 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.
 

=item mv

Usage: mv SOURCE DEST

or: mv SOURCE... DIRECTORY

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

=item ping



=item poweroff



=item ps

Usage: ps

Report process status.
This version of ps accepts no options.
 

=item pwd



=item reboot



=item 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
 

=item rmdir

Usage: rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.
 

=item 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.
 

=item sleep

Usage: sleep N

Pause for N seconds.
 

=item sort

Usage: Usage: sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
  

=item sync

Usage: sync

Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.
 

=item 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
 

=item swapon

Usage: swapon device

Start swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.
 

=item swapoff

Usage: swapoff device

Stop swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.
 

=item 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.

 -c=N[kbm]       output the last N bytes
 -f              output appended data as the file grows
 -n=N            output the last N lines, instead of last 10
 -q              never output headers giving file names
 -v              always output headers giving file names
 --help          display this help and exit

If the first character of N (bytes or lines) is a `+', output begins with 
the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise, print the last N items
in the file.  N bytes may be suffixed by k (x1024), b (x512), or m (1024^2).
  

=item tar



=item 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
 

=item touch

Usage: touch [-c] file [file ...]
 Update the last-modified date on the given file[s].
 

=item true



=item false



=item 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
 

=item umount

Usage: Usage: umount [flags] filesystem|directory
 Flags:
 -a:	Unmount all file systems
 

=item uniq

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

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

 -h	display this help and exit

A field is a run of whitespace, then non-whitespace characters.
Fields are skipped before chars.
 

=item zcat

Usage: gunzip [OPTION]... FILE

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

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

=item 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
 

=item 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
 


=back

=head1 SEE ALSO

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

=head1 MAINTAINER

Erik Andersen <erik@lineo.com>

=head1 AUTHORS

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

Erik Andersen <erik@lineo.com>

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John Beppu <beppu@lineo.com>

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Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>

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Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>

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Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>	

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Bruce Perens <bruce@perens.com>

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Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>

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Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>

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Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>

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=cut