Appendix C. BusyBox Commands

BusyBox has many useful commands. Table C-1 lists the commands documented in a recent BusyBox snapshot.

Table C-1. Documented BusyBox Commands

Command	Description
adduser	Add a user
adjtimex	Read and optionally set system timebase parameters
ar	Extract or list FILES from an ar archive
arp	Manipulate the ARP cache
arping	Send ARP requests/replies
ash	Small shell, usually the default
basename	Strip directory path and suffixes from FILE
bbconfig	Print the config file that built BusyBox
bbsh	The bbsh shell (command interpreter)
blkid	Print UUIDs of all filesystems
brctl	Manage Ethernet bridges
bunzip2	Uncompress FILE
busybox	Hello world!
bzcat	Uncompress to stdout
bzip2	Compress FILE(s) with bzip2 algorithm
cal	Display a calendar
cat	Concatenate FILE(s) and print them to stdout
catv	Display nonprinting characters as ^x or M\-x
chat	Useful for interacting with a modem connected to stdin/stdout
chattr	Change file attributes on an ext2 fs
chcon	Change the security context of each FILE to CONTEXT
chgrp	Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP
chmod	Change permissions on a file
chown	Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP
chpasswd	Read user:password information from stdin and update /etc/passwd accordingly
chpst	Change the process state and run PROG
chroot	Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT
chrt	Manipulate real-time attributes of a process
chvt	Change the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
cksum	Calculate the CRC32 checksums of FILES
clear	Clear screen
cmp	Compare FILE1 to stdin if FILE2 is not specified
comm	Compare FILE1 to FILE2, or to stdin if - is specified
cp	Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
cpio	Extract or list files from a cpio archive, or create a cpio archive
crond	Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab	Maintain crontab files for individual users
cryptpw	Output a crypted string
cttyhack	Print selected fields from each input FILE to standard output
date	Display time (using +FMT) or set time
dc	Tiny RPN calculator
dd	Copy a file with converting and formatting
deallocvt	Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
delgroup	Delete group GROUP from the system or user USER from group GROUP
deluser	Delete USER from the system
depmod	Manage devfs permissions and old device name symlinks
devmem	Read/write from a physical address
df	Print filesystem usage statistics
dhcprelay	Relay DHCP requests from client devices to server device
diff	Compare files line by line and output the differences
dirname	Strip a nondirectory suffix from FILENAME
dmesg	Print or control the kernel ring buffer
dnsd	Small static DNS server daemon
dos2unix	Convert FILE from DOS to UNIX format
dpkg	Install, remove, and manage Debian packages
dpkg-deb	Perform actions on Debian packages (.debs)
du	Summarize disk space used for each FILE and/or directory
dumpkmap	Print a binary keyboard translation table to standard output
dumpleases	Display DHCP leases granted by udhcpd
e2fsck	Check ext2/ext3 filesystem
echo	Print the specified ARGs to stdout
ed	Eject the specified DEVICE (or default /dev/cdrom)
env	Print the current environment or run a program after setting
envdir	Set various environment variables as specified by files
envuidgid	Set $UID to account’s UID and $GID to account’s GID and run PROG
ether-wake	Send a magic packet to wake up sleeping machines
expand	Convert tabs to spaces, writing to standard output
expr	Print the value of EXPRESSION to standard output
fakeidentd	Provide fake ident (auth) service
FALSE	Return an exit code of FALSE (1)
fbset	Show and modify frame buffer settings
fbsplash	Splash image
fdflush	Force floppy disk drive to detect disk change
fdformat	Format floppy disk
fdisk	Change partition table
fgrep	Search for files
findfs	Find a filesystem device based on a label or UUID
fold	Wrap input lines in each FILE (standard input by default)
free	Display the amount of free and used system memory
freeramdisk	Free all memory used by the specified ramdisk
fsck	Check and repair filesystems
fsck.minix	Check MINIX filesystem
ftpget	Retrieve a remote file via FTP
ftpput	Store a local file on a remote machine via FTP
fuser	Find processes that use FILEs or PORTs
getenforce	Parse command options
getsebool	Get SELinux boolean value(s)
getty	Open a tty, prompt for a login name, and then invoke /bin/login
grep	Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input
gunzip	Uncompress FILEs (or standard input)
gzip	Compress FILEs (or standard input)
halt	Halt the system
hd	hd is an alias for hexdump
hdparm	Get/set hd device parameters
head	Print first ten lines of each FILE to standard output
hexdump	Display file(s) or standard input in a user-specified format
hostid	Print a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine
hostname	Get or set hostname or DNS domain name
httpd	Listen for incoming HTTP requests
hush	Query and set hardware clock (RTC)
id	Print information about USER or the current user
ifconfig	Configure a network interface
ifdown	Take down a network interface
ifenslave	Configure network interfaces for parallel routing
ifup	Bring up a network interface
inetd	Listen for network connections and launch programs
init	init is the parent of all processes
inotifyd	Spawn user space agent on filesystem changes
insmod	Load the specified kernel modules into the kernel
install	Copy files and set attributes
ip	Show/manipulate routing, devices, policy routing, and tunnels
ipaddr	ipaddr {add | delete} IFADDR dev STRING
ipcalc	Calculate IP network settings from an IP address
ipcrm	Uppercase options MQS remove an object by shmkey value
ipcs	Provide information on ipc facilities
iplink	iplink set DEVICE { up | down | arp | multicast { on | off }
iproute	iproute { list | flush } SELECTOR
iprule	iprule [list | add | del] SELECTOR ACTION
iptunnel	iptunnel { add | change | del | show } [NAME]
kbd_mode	Report or set the keyboard mode
kill	Send a signal (default is TERM) to given PIDs
killall	Send a signal (default is TERM) to given processes
killall5	Send a signal (default is TERM) to all processes outside the current session
klogd	Kernel logger
lash	lash is deprecated, so use hush
last	Show a listing of the last users who logged in to the system
length	Print STRING’s length
less	View a file or list of files
linux32	Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET
load_policy	Load a console font from standard input
loadkmap	Load a binary keyboard translation table from standard input
logger	Write MESSAGE to the system log
login	Begin a new session on the system
logname	Print the name of the current user
logread	Show messages in syslogd’s circular buffer
losetup	Set up and control loop devices
lpd	SPOOLDIR must contain (symlinks to) device nodes or directories
lpq	Line printer daemon
lpr	Line printer remote
ls	List directory contents
lsattr	List file attributes on an ext2 fs
lsmod	List the currently loaded kernel modules
lzmacat	Uncompress to stdout
makedevs	Create a range of special files as specified in a device table
makemime	Create MIME-encoded message
man	Format and display a manual page
matchpathcon	Get the default SELinux security context
md5sum	Print or check MD5 checksums
mdev	Mini-udev implementation
mesg	Control write access to your terminal
microcom	Copy bytes for stdin to TTY and from TTY to stdout
mkdir	Create DIRECTORY
mke2fs	Create an ext2/ext3 filesystem
mkfifo	Create a named pipe (identical to mknod name p)
mkfs.minix	Make a MINIX filesystem
mknod	Create a special file (block, character, or pipe)
mkswap	Prepare a block device to be used as a swap partition
mktemp	Create a temporary file
modprobe	Add or remove modules to or from the Linux kernel
more	View FILE or standard input one screen at a time
mount	Mount a filesystem
mountpoint	Check if the directory is a mountpoint
msh	Control magnetic tape drive operation
mv	Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
nameif	Rename the network interface while it’s in the down state
nc	TCP/IP Swiss army knife
netstat	Display networking information
nice	Run a program with a modified scheduling priority
nmeter	Monitor the system in real time
nohup	Run a command immune to hangups, with output to a non-tty
nslookup	Query the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST
od	Write an unambiguous representation of FILE
openvt	Start COMMAND on a new virtual terminal
parse	Parse tokens
passwd	Change the user’s password
patch	Apply a diff file to an original
pgrep	Display process(es) selected by the regex pattern
pidof	List PIDs of all processes with names that match NAMEs
ping	Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts
ping6	Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts
pipe_progress	Move the current root filesystem to PUT_OLD and make NEW_ROOT
pkill	Send a signal to process(es) selected by the regex pattern
popmaildir	Fetch content of the remote mailbox to local maildir
poweroff	Halt and shut off power
printenv	Print all or part of the environment
printf	Format and print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT
ps	Report process status
pscan	Scan a host and print all open ports
pwd	Print the full filename of the current working directory
raidautorun	Tell the kernel to automatically search and start RAID arrays
rdate	Get and possibly set the system date and time from a remote HOST
rdev	Print the device node associated with the filesystem mounted at /
readahead	Preload FILE(s) in RAM cache so that subsequent reads for those files do not block on disk I/O
readlink	Display the value of a symlink
readprofile	Read kernel profiling information
realpath	Return the absolute pathnames of a given argument
reboot	Reboot the system
reformime	Parse a MIME-encoded message
renice	Change the priority of running processes
reset	Reset the screen
resize	Resize the screen
restorecon	Reset security contexts of files in the pathname
rm	Remove (unlink) files
rmdir	Remove the DIRECTORY if it is empty
rmmod	Unload the specified kernel modules from the kernel
route	Edit kernel routing tables
rpm	Manipulate RPM packages
rpm2cpio	Output a cpio archive of the rpm file
rtcwake	Enter a system sleep state until the specified wakeup time
run-parts	Run a bunch of scripts in a directory
runcon	Run a program in a different security context
runlevel	Report the previous and current runlevel
runsv	Start and monitor a service and optionally an appendant log service
runsvdir	Start a runsv process for each subdirectory. If it exits, restart it.
rx	Receive a file using the xmodem protocol
script	Make a typescript of a terminal session
sed	Stream editor for filtering and transforming text
selinuxenabled	Determine if SELinux is enabled
seq	Print numbers from FIRST to LAST, in steps of INCREMENT
sestatus	SELinux status tool
setarch	Change the reported architecture
setconsole	Redirect system console output to DEVICE (default: /dev/tty)
setenforce	Reset file contexts under pathname according to spec_file
setfont	Load a console font
setkeycodes	Set entries into the kernel’s scancode-to-keycode map
setlogcons	Redirect the kernel output to console N
setsebool	Change SELinux boolean setting
setsid	Run PROG in a new session
setuidgid	Set uid and gid to account’s uid and gid
sh	Print or check SHA1 checksums
showkey	Show keys pressed
slattach	Attach network interface(s) to serial line(s)
sleep	Delay for a specified amount of time
softlimit	Set soft resource limits, and then run PROG
sort	Sort lines of text
split	Split a file into pieces
start-stop-daemon	Start and stop system daemon programs
stat	Display file (default) or filesystem status
strings	Display printable strings in a binary file
stty	Change and print terminal line settings
su	Change user ID or become root
sulogin	Single user login
sum	Checksum and count the blocks in a file
sv	Control services monitored by runsv supervisor
svlogd	Read log data from standard input, optionally filter log messages, and write the data to one or more automatically rotated logs
swapoff	Stop swapping on DEVICE
swapon	Start swapping on DEVICE
switch_root	Switch to another filesystem as the root of the mount tree
sync	Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk
sysctl	Configure kernel parameters at runtime
syslogd	System logging utility
tac	Concatenate FILE(s) and print them in reverse
tail	Print last ten lines of each FILE to standard output
tar	Create, extract, or list files from a tar file
taskset	Set or get CPU affinity
tc	Show/manipulate traffic control settings
tcpsvd	Create TCP socket, bind it to ip:port, and listen
tee	Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output
telnet	Connect to telnet server
telnetd	Handle incoming telnet connections
test	Check file types, compare values, and so on. Return a 0/1 exit code.
tftp	Transfer a file from/to the TFTP server
tftpd	Transfer a file on the TFTP client’s request
time	Run programs and summarize system resource usage
top	Provide a view of process activity in real time
touch	Update the last-modified date on the given FILE(s)
tr	Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
traceroute	Trace the route to HOST
TRUE	Return an exit code of TRUE (0)
tty	Print filename of standard input’s terminal
ttysize	Print dimension(s) of standard input’s terminal
tune2fs	Adjust filesystem options on ext[23] filesystems
udhcpc	Very small DHCP client
udhcpd	Very small DHCP server
udpsvd	Create UDP socket, bind it to ip:port, and wait
umount	Unmount filesystems
uname	Print system information
uncompress	Uncompress .Z file(s)
unexpand	Convert spaces to tabs, writing to standard output
uniq	Discard duplicate lines
unix2dos	Convert FILE from UNIX to DOS format
unlzma	Uncompress FILE
unzip	Extract files from ZIP archives
uptime	Display the time since the last boot
usleep	Pause for N microseconds
uudecode	Uudecode a file
uuencode	Uuencode a file to stdout
vconfig	Create and remove virtual Ethernet devices
vi	Edit a FILE
vlock	Lock a virtual terminal
watch	Execute a program periodically
watchdog	Periodically write to watchdog device DEV
wc	Print line, word, and byte counts for each FILE
wget	Retrieve files via HTTP or FTP
which	Locate a COMMAND
who	Show who is logged on
whoami	Print the username associated with the current effective user ID
xargs	Execute COMMAND on every item given by standard input
yes	Output a string repeatedly until killed
zcat	Uncompress to stdout
zcip	Manage a ZeroConf IPv4 link-local address