User`s guide

28 Chapter 4
About UNIX Command-Line Structure
UNIX commands share some basic conventions. First you enter the name of the tool, then
any information the tool needs to carry out your request. Most tools come with help or man
(short for “manual”) pages that describe how to use the tool. Help pages give an overview of
arguments (also known as options or parameters) that the tool understands. Man pages give
more detail and examples.
To find help pages, type the name of the tool and then the argument -help. For example:
pdisk -help
installer -help
To find man pages for a tool, type man, followed by the tool name. For example:
man ssh
man installer
These conventions are used in describing tool options: italic text in <angle brackets>
represents information you need to supply, and text in [square brackets] represents optional
information you can supply.
When you supply information in a command, enclose location or item names that include
spaces in quotation marks ("like this").
Here’s an example of a command as you might see it described in a man page for the
Network Setup Tool, followed by what you would type, and the result.
Man page example:
"Usage: networksetup -setmanual <network service> <ip address> <subnet>
<
router>"
Set the <
network service> TCP/IP configuration to manual with IP Address
set to <
ip address>
Type this:
networksetup -setmanual "Built-in Ethernet" 192.168.00.100
255.255.255.0 192.168.100.1
To get this result:
Manual Configuration
IP Address: 192.168.100.100
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Router: 192.168.100.1
LL2133.book Page 28 Friday, May 24, 2002 11:17 AM