BusyBox has many useful commands. Here is a list of the commands documented in a recent BusyBox snapshot.
addgroup |
Adds a group to the system |
adduser |
Adds a user to the system |
adjtimex |
Reads and optionally sets system timebase parameters |
ar |
Extracts or lists files from an ar archive |
arping |
Pings hosts by ARP requests/replies |
ash |
The ash shell (command interpreter) |
awk |
Pattern-scanning and processing language |
basename |
Strips directory path and suffixes from files |
bunzip2 |
Uncompresses a file (or standard input if no input file specified) |
bzcat |
Uncompresses to stdout |
cal |
Displays a calendar |
cat |
Concatenates file(s) and prints them to stdout |
chgrp |
Changes the group membership of each file |
chmod |
Changes file access permissions |
chown |
Changes the owner and/or group of file(s) |
chroot |
Runs the command with root directory set to new root |
chvt |
Changes the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN |
clear |
Clears screen |
cmp |
Compares files |
cp |
Copies files |
cpio |
Extracts or lists files from a cpio archive |
crond |
BusyBox's version of cron daemon |
crontab |
Manages crontab control file |
cut |
Prints selected fields from each input file to standard output |
date |
Displays or sets the system time |
dc |
Tiny RPN calculator |
dd |
Copies a file, converting and formatting according to options |
deallocvt |
Deallocates unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN |
delgroup |
Deletes a group from the system |
deluser |
Deletes a user from the system |
devfsd |
Obsolete daemon for managing devfs permissions and old device name symlinks |
df |
Prints the file system space used and space available |
dirname |
Strips a nondirectory suffix from a filename |
dmesg |
Prints or controls the kernel ring buffer |
dos2unix |
Converts a file from DOS format to UNIX format |
dpkg |
Utility to install, remove, and manage Debian packages |
dpkg-deb |
Performs actions on Debian packages (debs) |
du |
Summarizes disk space used for each file and/or directory |
dumpkmap |
Prints a binary keyboard-translation table to standard output |
dumpleases |
Displays the DHCP leases granted by udhcpd |
echo |
Prints the specified ARGs to stdout |
env |
Prints the current environment or runs a program after setting |
expr |
Prints the value of an expression to standard output |
false |
Returns an exit code of FALSE (1) |
fbset |
Shows and modifies frame buffer settings |
fdflush |
Forces floppy disk drive to detect disk change |
fdformat |
Low-level-formats a floppy disk |
fdisk |
Changes partition table |
find |
Searches for files in a directory hierarchy |
fold |
Wraps input lines in each file |
free |
Displays the amount of free and used system memory |
freeramdisk |
Frees all memory used by the specified ramdisk |
fsckminix |
Performs a consistency check for MINIX file systems |
ftpget |
Retrieves a remote file via FTP |
ftpput |
Stores a local file on a remote machine via FTP |
getopt |
Parses command options |
getty |
Opens a tty, prompts for a login name, and then invokes /bin/login |
grep |
Searches for PATTERN in each file or standard input |
gunzip |
Uncompresses file (or standard input) |
gzip |
Compresses file(s) with maximum compression |
halt |
Halts the system |
hdparm |
Gets/sets hard disk parameters |
head |
Prints first 10 lines of each file to standard output |
hexdump |
Dumps files in user-specified binary, octal, hex, character, or decimal format |
hostid |
Prints a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine |
hostname |
Gets or sets the hostname |
httpd |
Listens for incoming http server requests |
hwclock |
Queries and sets the hardware clock (RTC) |
id |
Prints information for USERNAME or the current user |
ifconfig |
Configures a network interface |
ifdown |
Deconfigures an interface |
ifup |
Configure an interface |
inetd |
Listenss for network connections and launches programs |
init |
BusyBox version of init |
insmod |
Loads the specified kernel modules into the kernel |
install |
Copies files and sets attributes |
ip |
TCP/IP configuration utility |
ipaddr |
Manipulates interface addresses |
ipcalc |
Calculates IP network settings from an IP address |
iplink |
Manipulates interface settings |
iproute |
Displays/sets routing table entries |
iptunnel |
BusyBox iptunnel utility |
kill |
Sends a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es) |
killall |
Sends a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es) |
klogd |
Kernel logger |
lash |
The BusyBox LAme SHell (command interpreter) |
last |
Shows a listing of the last users who logged into the system |
length |
Prints the length of the specified STRING |
ln |
Creates a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET |
loadfont |
Loads a console font from standard input |
loadkmap |
Loads a binary keyboard-translation table from standard input |
logger |
Writes MESSAGE to the system log |
login |
Begins a new session on the system |
logname |
Prints the name of the current user |
logread |
Shows the messages from syslogd |
losetup |
Associates LOOPDEVICE with file |
ls |
Lists directory contents |
lsmod |
Lists the currently loaded kernel modules |
makedevs |
Creates a range of block or character special files |
md5sum |
Prints or checks MD5 checksums |
mesg |
mesg controls write access to your terminal |
mkdir |
Creates directory entries |
mkfifo |
Creates a named pipe (identical to mknod name p) |
mkfsminix |
Makes a MINIX file system |
mknod |
Creates a special file (block, character, or pipe) |
mkswap |
Prepares a disk partition to be used as a swap partition |
mktemp |
Creates a temporary file with its name based on TEMPLATE |
modprobe |
Used for high-level module loading and unloading |
more |
Filter for viewing files one screenful at a time |
mount |
Mounts a file system |
mt |
Controls magnetic tape drive operation |
mv |
Renames and/or moves files |
nameif |
Renames a network interface while in the down state |
nc |
Netcat opens a pipe to IP:port |
netstat |
Netstat displays Linux networking information |
nslookup |
Queries the nameserver for the IP address of the given host |
od |
Dumps files in octal and other formats |
openvt |
Starts a command on a new virtual terminal |
passwd |
Changes a user password |
patch |
BusyBox implementation of patch |
pidof |
Gets PID of named process |
ping |
Sends ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts |
ping6 |
Sends ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts |
pivot_root |
Changes the root file system |
poweroff |
Halts the system and requests that the kernel shut off the power |
printf |
Formats and prints arguments according to user format |
ps |
Reports process status |
pwd |
Prints the full filename of the current working directory |
rdate |
Gets and possibly sets the system date and time from a remote HOST |
readlink |
Displays the value of a symbolic link |
realpath |
Returns the absolute pathnames of a given argument |
reboot |
Reboots the system |
renice |
Changes priority of running processes in allowed priorities range |
reset |
Resets the screen |
rm |
Removes (unlink) file(s) |
rmdir |
Removes directory(ies), if they are empty |
rmmod |
Unloads the specified kernel modules from the kernel |
route |
Edits the kernel's routing tables |
rpm |
Manipulates RPM packages |
rpm2cpio |
Outputs a cpio archive of the rpm file |
run-parts |
Runs a bunch of scripts in a directory |
rx |
Receives a file using the xmodem protocol |
sed |
Busybox Stream Editor implementation |
seq |
Prints a range of numbers to standard output |
setkeycodes |
Sets entries into the kernel's scancode-to-keycode map |
sha1sum |
Prints or checks SHA1 checksums |
sleep |
Delay for specified amount of time |
sort |
Sorts lines of text in the specified files |
start-stop-daemon |
Program to start and stop services |
strings |
Displays printable strings in a binary file |
stty |
Displays and modifies terminal settings |
su |
Changes user ID or become root |
sulogin |
Single user login |
swapoff |
Disables virtual memory page swapping |
swapon |
Enables virtual memory page swapping |
sync |
Writes all buffered file system blocks to disk |
sysctl |
Configures kernel parameters at runtime |
syslogd |
Linux system and kernel-logging utility |
tail |
Prints last 10 lines of each file to standard output |
tar |
Creates, extracts, or lists files from a tar file |
tee |
Copies standard input to each file and also to standard output |
telnet |
BusyBox Telnet client implementation |
telnetd |
BusyBox Telnet server implementation |
test |
Checks file types and compares values, returning an exit |
tftp |
Transfers a file using TFTP protocol |
time |
Measures time used by a program |
top |
Provides a view of processor activity in real time |
touch |
Updates the last-modified date on the given FILE[s] |
tr |
Translates, squeezes, and/or deletes characters |
traceroute |
Traces the route IP packets follow |
true |
Returns an exit code of trUE (0) |
tty |
Prints the filename of the terminal connected to standard input |
udhcpc |
BusyBox DHCP client implementation |
udhcpd |
BusyBox DHCP server implementation |
umount |
Unmount file systems |
uname |
Prints certain system information |
uncompress |
Uncompresses Z file(s) |
uniq |
Discards all but one of successive identical lines from INPUT |
unix2dos |
Converts file from UNIX format to DOS format |
unzip |
Extracts files from ZIP archives |
uptime |
Displays the time since the last boot |
usleep |
Pauses for n microseconds |
uudecode |
Uudecodes a file that is uuencoded |
uuencode |
Uuencodes a file |
vconfig |
Lets you create and remove virtual Ethernet devices |
vi |
BusyBox vi editor |
vlock |
Locks a virtual terminal and requires a password to unlock it |
watch |
Executes a program periodically |
watchdog |
Periodically writes to a specified watchdog device |
wc |
Prints line, word, and byte counts for each file |
wget |
Retrieves files via HTTP or FTP |
which |
Locates a command on the current path |
who |
Prints the current usernames and related information |
whoami |
Prints the username associated with the current effective user ID |
xargs |
Executes a command on every item given by standard input |
yes |
Repeatedly outputs a line with all specified STRING(s), or y |
zcat |
Uncompresses to stdout |