BUSYBOX(1)

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 embedded system. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than 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 -h option to provide a terse runtime description of their behavior.

COMMANDS
Currently defined functions include:

adjtimex, ar, basename, busybox, cat, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, chvt, clear, cmp, cp, cpio, cut, date, dc, dd, deallocvt, df, dirname, dmesg, dos2unix, dpkg, dpkg-deb, du, dumpkmap, dutmp, echo, expr, false, fbset, fdflush, find, free, freeramdisk, fsck.minix, getopt, grep, gunzip, gzip, halt, head, hostid, hostname, id, ifconfig, init, insmod, kill, killall, klogd, length, ln, loadacm, loadfont, loadkmap, logger, logname, ls, lsmod, makedevs, md5sum, mkdir, mkfifo, mkfs.minix, mknod, mkswap, mktemp, more, mount, mt, mv, nc, nslookup, ping, pivot_root, poweroff, printf, ps, pwd, rdate, readlink, reboot, renice, reset, rm, rmdir, rmmod, route, rpm2cpio, sed, setkeycodes, sh, sleep, sort, stty, swapoff, swapon, sync, syslogd, tail, tar, tee, telnet, test, tftp, touch, tr, true, tty, umount, uname, uniq, unix2dos, update, uptime, usleep, uudecode, uuencode, watchdog, wc, wget, which, whoami, xargs, yes, zcat, [

adjtimex
    adjtimex [-q] [-o offset] [-f frequency] [-p timeconstant] [-t tick]

    Reads and optionally sets system timebase parameters. See adjtimex(2).

    Options:

            -q              quiet mode - do not print
            -o offset       time offset, microseconds
            -f frequency    frequency adjust, integer kernel units (65536 is 1ppm)
                            (positive values make the system clock run fast)
            -t tick         microseconds per tick, usually 10000
            -p timeconstant
    -------------------------------

ar  ar -[ov][ptx] ARCHIVE FILES

    Extract or list FILES from an ar archive.

    Options:

            -o              preserve original dates
            -p              extract to stdout
            -t              list
            -x              extract
            -v              verbosely list files processed
    -------------------------------

basename
    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 cat [FILE]...

    Concatenates FILE(s) and prints them to stdout.

    Example:

            $ cat /proc/uptime
            110716.72 17.67
    -------------------------------

chgrp
    chgrp [OPTION]... GROUP FILE...

    Change the group membership of each FILE to 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
            $ chgrp root /tmp/foo
            $ ls -l /tmp/foo
            -r--r--r--    1 andersen root            0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
    -------------------------------

chmod
    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      Changes 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
    chown [ -Rh ]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...

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

    Options:

            -R      Changes files and directories recursively.
            -h      Do not dereference symbolic links.
    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
    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*
    -------------------------------

chvt
    chvt N

    Changes the foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN

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

clear
    clear

    Clear screen.

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

cmp cmp FILE1 [FILE2]

            -s      quiet mode - do not print
    Compare files.
    -------------------------------

cp  cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST

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

            -a      Same as -dpR
            -d      Preserves links
            -p      Preserves file attributes if possible
            -f      force (implied; ignored) - always set
            -R      Copies directories recursively
    -------------------------------

cpio
    cpio -[dimtuv][F cpiofile]

    Extract or list files from a cpio archive Main operation mode:

            d               make leading directories
            i               extract
            m               preserve mtime
            t               list
            u               unconditional overwrite         F               input from file
    -------------------------------

cut 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 CHAR         Use CHAR instead of tab as the field delimiter
            -s              Output only the lines containing 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
    date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]

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

    Options:

            -R              Outputs RFC-822 compliant date string
            -d STRING       display time described by STRING, not `now'
            -s              Sets time described by STRING
            -u              Prints or sets Coordinated Universal Time
    Example:

            $ date
            Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000
    -------------------------------

dc  dc expression ...

    This is a Tiny RPN calculator that understands the following operations: +, -, /, *, and, or, not, eor. i.e., 'dc 2 2 add' -> 4, and 'dc 8 8 \* 2 2 + /' -> 16

    Example:

            $ dc 2 2 +
            4
            $ dc 8 8 * 2 2 + /
            16
            $ dc 0 1 and
            0
            $ dc 0 1 or
            1
            $ echo 72 9 div 8 mul | dc
            64
    -------------------------------

dd  dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [bs=N] [count=N] [skip=N]
          [seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync]

    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
            conv=notrunc    don't truncate output file
            conv=noerror    continue after read errors
            conv=sync       pad blocks with zeros
    Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k (x1024), MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G (x1073741824).

    Example:

            $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
            4+0 records in
            4+0 records out
    -------------------------------

deallocvt
    deallocvt N

    Deallocate unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN

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

df  df [-hmk] [FILESYSTEM ...]

    Print the filesystem space used and space available.

    Options:

            -h      print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
            -m      print sizes in megabytes
            -k      print sizes in kilobytes(default)
    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
    dirname [FILENAME ...]

    Strips non-directory suffix from FILENAME

    Example:

            $ dirname /tmp/foo
            /tmp
            $ dirname /tmp/foo/
            /tmp
    -------------------------------

dmesg
    dmesg [-c] [-n LEVEL] [-s SIZE]

    Prints or controls the kernel ring buffer

    Options:

            -c              Clears the ring buffer's contents after printing
            -n LEVEL        Sets console logging level
            -s SIZE         Use a buffer of size SIZE
    -------------------------------

dos2unix
    dos2unix [option] [FILE]

    Converts FILE from dos format to unix format. When no option is given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output.

    Options:

            -u      output will be in UNIX format
            -d      output will be in DOS format
    -------------------------------

dpkg
    dpkg -i package_file [-CPru] package_name

            -i      Install the package
            -C      Configure an unpackaged package
            -P      Purge all files of a package
            -r      Remove all but the configuration files for a package
            -u      Unpack a package, but dont configure it
    -------------------------------

dpkg_deb
    dpkg_deb [-cefItxX] FILE [argument]

    Perform actions on debian packages (.debs)

    Options:

            -c      List contents of filesystem tree
            -e      Extract control files to [argument] directory
            -f      Display control field name starting with [argument]
            -I      Display the control filenamed [argument]
            -t      Extract filesystem tree to stdout in tar format
            -x      Extract packages filesystem tree to directory
            -X      Verbose extract
    Example:

            $ dpkg-deb -X ./busybox_0.48-1_i386.deb /tmp
    -------------------------------

du  du [-lsxhmk] [FILE]...

    Summarizes disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk space is printed in units of 1024 bytes.

    Options:

            -l      count sizes many times if hard linked
            -s      display only a total for each argument
            -h      print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
            -m      print sizes in megabytes
            -x      skip directories on different filesystems
            -k      print sizes in kilobytes(default)
    Example:

            $ 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    .
    -------------------------------

dumpkmap
    dumpkmap > keymap

    Prints out a binary keyboard translation table to standard output.

    Example:

            $ dumpkmap > keymap
    -------------------------------

dutmp
    dutmp [FILE]

    Dump utmp file format (pipe delimited) from FILE or stdin to stdout. (i.e., 'dutmp /var/run/utmp')

    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
    echo [-neE] [ARG ...]

    Prints the specified ARGs to stdout

    Options:

            -n      suppress trailing newline
            -e      interpret backslash-escaped characters (i.e., \t=tab)
            -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
    -------------------------------

env env [-iu] [-] [name=value]... [command]

    Prints the current environment or runs a program after setting up the specified environment.

    Options:

            -, -i   start with an empty environment
            -u      remove variable from the environment
    -------------------------------

expr
    expr EXPRESSION

    Prints the value of EXPRESSION to standard output.

    EXPRESSION may be:

            ARG1 |  ARG2    ARG1 if it is neither null nor 0, otherwise ARG2
            ARG1 &  ARG2    ARG1 if neither argument is null or 0, otherwise 0
            ARG1 <  ARG2    ARG1 is less than ARG2
            ARG1 <= ARG2    ARG1 is less than or equal to ARG2
            ARG1 =  ARG2    ARG1 is equal to ARG2
            ARG1 != ARG2    ARG1 is unequal to ARG2
            ARG1 >= ARG2    ARG1 is greater than or equal to ARG2
            ARG1 >  ARG2    ARG1 is greater than ARG2
            ARG1 +  ARG2    arithmetic sum of ARG1 and ARG2
            ARG1 -  ARG2    arithmetic difference of ARG1 and ARG2
            ARG1 *  ARG2    arithmetic product of ARG1 and ARG2
            ARG1 /  ARG2    arithmetic quotient of ARG1 divided by ARG2
            ARG1 %  ARG2    arithmetic remainder of ARG1 divided by ARG2
            STRING : REGEXP             anchored pattern match of REGEXP in STRING
            match STRING REGEXP         same as STRING : REGEXP
            substr STRING POS LENGTH    substring of STRING, POS counted from 1
            index STRING CHARS          index in STRING where any CHARS is found,
                                        or 0
            length STRING               length of STRING
            quote TOKEN                 interpret TOKEN as a string, even if
                                        it is a keyword like `match' or an
                                        operator like `/'
            ( EXPRESSION )              value of EXPRESSION
    Beware that many operators need to be escaped or quoted for shells. Comparisons are arithmetic if both ARGs are numbers, else lexicographical. Pattern matches return the string matched between \( and \) or null; if \( and \) are not used, they return the number of characters matched or 0.

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

false
    false

    Return an exit code of FALSE (1).

    Example:

            $ false
            $ echo $?
            1
    -------------------------------

fbset
    fbset [options] [mode]

    Show and modify frame buffer settings

    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
    fdflush DEVICE

    Forces floppy disk drive to detect disk change

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

find
    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 (default and assumed).
            -type X         Filetype matches X (where X is one of: f,d,l,b,c,...)
            -perm PERMS     Permissions match any of (+NNN); all of (-NNN);
                            or exactly (NNN)
            -mtime TIME     Modified time is greater than (+N); less than (-N);
                            or exactly (N) days
            -newer FILE     Modified time is more recent than FILE's
    Example:

            $ find / -name /etc/passwd
            /etc/passwd
    -------------------------------

free
    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
    freeramdisk DEVICE

    Frees all memory used by the specified ramdisk.

    Example:

            $ freeramdisk /dev/ram2
    -------------------------------

fsck_minix
    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.
    -------------------------------

getopt
    getopt [OPTIONS]...

    Parse command options

            -a, --alternative               Allow long options starting with single -
            -l, --longoptions=longopts      Long options to be recognized
            -n, --name=progname             The name under which errors are reported
            -o, --options=optstring Short options to be recognized
            -q, --quiet                     Disable error reporting by getopt(3)
            -Q, --quiet-output              No normal output
            -s, --shell=shell               Set shell quoting conventions
            -T, --test                      Test for getopt(1) version
            -u, --unqote                    Do not quote the output
    Example:

            $ cat getopt.test
            #!/bin/sh
            GETOPT=`getopt -o ab:c:: --long a-long,b-long:,c-long:: \
                   -n 'example.busybox' -- "$@"`
            if [ $? != 0 ] ; then  exit 1 ; fi
            eval set -- "$GETOPT"
            while true ; do
             case $1 in
               -a|--a-long) echo "Option a" ; shift ;;
               -b|--b-long) echo "Option b, argument `$2'" ; shift 2 ;;
               -c|--c-long)
                 case "$2" in
                   "") echo "Option c, no argument"; shift 2 ;;
                   *)  echo "Option c, argument `$2'" ; shift 2 ;;
                 esac ;;
               --) shift ; break ;;
               *) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
             esac
            done
    -------------------------------

grep
    grep [-ihHnqvs] PATTERN [FILEs...]

    Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input.

    Options:

            -H      prefix output lines with filename where match was found
            -h      suppress the prefixing filename on output
            -i      ignore case distinctions
            -l      list names of files that match
            -n      print line number with output lines
            -q      be quiet. Returns 0 if result was found, 1 otherwise
            -v      select non-matching lines
            -s      suppress file open/read error messages
    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
    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
    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
            -d      decompress
    Example:

            $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
            -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen  1761280 Apr 14 17:47 /tmp/busybox.tar
            $ gzip /tmp/busybox.tar
            $ ls -la /tmp/busybox*
            -rw-rw-r--    1 andersen andersen   554058 Apr 14 17:49 /tmp/busybox.tar.gz
    -------------------------------

halt
    halt

    Halt the system.

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

head
    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
    hostid

    Print out a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine.

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

hostname
    hostname [OPTION] {hostname | -F FILE}

    Get or set the hostname or DNS domain name. If a hostname is given (or 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 FILE Use the contents of FILE to specify the hostname
    Example:

            $ hostname
            sage
    -------------------------------

id  id [OPTIONS]... [USERNAME]

    Print information for USERNAME or the current user

    Options:

            -g      prints only the group ID
            -u      prints only the user ID
            -n      print a name instead of a number (with for -ug)
            -r      prints the real user ID instead of the effective ID (with -ug)
    Example:

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

ifconfig
    ifconfig [-a] <interface> [<address>]

    configure a network interface

    Options:

            [[-]broadcast [<address>]]  [[-]pointopoint [<address>]]
            [netmask <address>]  [dstaddr <address>]
            [outfill <NN>] [keepalive <NN>]
            [hw ether <address>]  [metric <NN>]  [mtu <NN>]
            [[-]trailers]  [[-]arp]  [[-]allmulti]
            [multicast]  [[-]promisc]  [txqueuelen <NN>]  [[-]dynamic]
            [mem_start <NN>]  [io_addr <NN>]  [irq <NN>]
            [up|down] ...
    -------------------------------

init
    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
            ::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
            ::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
            ::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
            ::restart:/sbin/init
    if it detects that /dev/console is _not_ a serial console, it will also run:

            tty2::askfirst:/bin/sh
            tty3::askfirst:/bin/sh
            tty4::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, the controlling tty is set to the console.  Also
                    note that if BusyBox detects that a serial console is in use, then only
                    entries whose controlling tty is either the serial console or /dev/null
                    will 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, restart, ctrlaltdel, and shutdown.
                    The available actions can be classified into two groups: actions
                    that are run only once, and actions that are re-run when the specified
                    process exits.
                    Run only-once actions:
                            'sysinit' is the first item run on boot.  init waits until all
                            sysinit actions are completed before continuing.  Following the
                            completion of all sysinit actions, all 'wait' actions are run.
                            'wait' actions, like  'sysinit' actions, cause init to wait until
                            the specified task completes.  'once' actions are asynchronous,
                            therefore, init does not wait for them to complete.  'restart' is
                            the action taken to restart the init process.  By default this should
                            simply run /sbin/init, but can be a script which runs pivot_root or it
                            can do all sorts of other interesting things.  The 'ctrlaltdel' init
                            actions are run when the system detects that someone on the system
                           console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination.  Typically one
                           wants to run 'reboot' at this point to cause the system to reboot.
                            Finally the 'shutdown' action specifies the actions to taken when
                           init is told to reboot.  Unmounting filesystems and disabling swap
                           is a very good here
                    Run repeatedly actions:
                            'respawn' actions are run after the 'once' actions.  When a process
                            started with a 'respawn' action exits, init automatically restarts
                            it.  Unlike sysvinit, BusyBox init does not stop processes from
                            respawning out of control.  The 'askfirst' actions acts just like
                            respawn, except that 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.
                    Unrecognized actions (like initdefault) will cause init to emit an
                    error message, and then go along with its business.  All actions are
                    run in the order they appear in /etc/inittab.
            <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/tty2-4
            tty2::askfirst:-/bin/sh
            tty3::askfirst:-/bin/sh
            tty4::askfirst:-/bin/sh
            # /sbin/getty invocations for selected ttys
            #
            tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
            tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6
            # Example of how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
            #
            #::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
            #::respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
            #
            # Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
            #::respawn:/sbin/getty 57600 ttyS2
            # Stuff to do when restarting the init process
            ::restart:/sbin/init
            # Stuff to do before rebooting
            ::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/reboot
            ::shutdown:/bin/umount -a -r
            ::shutdown:/sbin/swapoff -a
    -------------------------------

insmod
    insmod [OPTION]... MODULE [symbol=value]...

    Loads the specified kernel modules into the kernel.

    Options:

            -f      Force module to load into the wrong kernel version.
            -k      Make module autoclean-able.
            -v      verbose output
            -L      Lock to prevent simultaneous loads of a module
            -x      do not export externs
    -------------------------------

kill
    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
    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
    -------------------------------

klogd
    klogd -n

    Kernel logger. Options:

            -n      Run as a foreground process.
    -------------------------------

lash
    lash [FILE]... or: sh -c command [args]...

    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, 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.

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

length
    length STRING

    Prints out the length of the specified STRING.

    Example:

            $ length Hello
            5
    -------------------------------

ln  ln [OPTION] TARGET... LINK_NAME|DIRECTORY

    Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET

    You may use '--' to indicate that all following arguments are non-options.

    Options:

            -s      make symbolic links instead of hard links
            -f      remove existing destination files
            -n      no dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
    Example:

            $ ln -s BusyBox /tmp/ls
            $ ls -l /tmp/ls
            lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            7 Apr 12 18:39 ls -> BusyBox*
    -------------------------------

loadacm
    loadacm < mapfile

    Loads an acm from standard input.

    Example:

            $ loadacm < /etc/i18n/acmname
    -------------------------------

loadfont
    loadfont < font

    Loads a console font from standard input.

    Example:

            $ loadfont < /etc/i18n/fontname
    -------------------------------

loadkmap
    loadkmap < keymap

    Loads a binary keyboard translation table from standard input.

    Example:

            $ loadkmap < /etc/i18n/lang-keymap
    -------------------------------

logger
    logger [OPTION]... [MESSAGE]

    Write MESSAGE to the system log. If MESSAGE is omitted, 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
    logname

    Print the name of the current user.

    Example:

            $ logname
            root
    -------------------------------

logread
    logread

    Shows the messages from syslogd (using circular buffer).

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

losetup
    losetup [OPTION]... LOOPDEVICE [FILE]

    Associate LOOPDEVICE with FILE.

    Options:

            -d              Disassociate LOOPDEVICE.
            -o OFFSET       Start OFFSET bytes into FILE.
    -------------------------------

ls  ls [-1AacCdeFilnpLRrSsTtuvwxXhk] [filenames...]

    List directory contents

    Options:

            -1      list files in a single column
            -A      do not list implied . and ..
            -a      do not hide entries starting with .
            -C      list entries by columns
            -c      with -l: show ctime
            -d      list directory entries instead of contents
            -e      list both full date and full time
            -F      append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries
            -i      list the i-node for each file
            -l      use a long listing format
            -n      list numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
            -p      append indicator (one of /=@|) to entries
            -L      list entries pointed to by symbolic links
            -R      list subdirectories recursively
            -r      sort the listing in reverse order
            -S      sort the listing by file size
            -s      list the size of each file, in blocks
            -T NUM  assume Tabstop every NUM columns
            -t      with -l: show modification time
            -u      with -l: show access time
            -v      sort the listing by version
            -w NUM  assume the terminal is NUM columns wide
            -x      list entries by lines instead of by columns
            -X      sort the listing by extension
            -h      print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
            -k      print sizes in kilobytes(default)
    -------------------------------

lsmod
    lsmod

    List the currently loaded kernel modules.

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

makedevs
    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.

    For example:

            makedevs /dev/ttyS c 4 66 2 63   ->  ttyS2-ttyS63
            makedevs /dev/hda b 3 0 0 8 s    ->  hda,hda1-hda8
    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]
    -------------------------------

md5sum
    md5sum [OPTION] [FILE]... or: md5sum [OPTION] -c [FILE]

    Print or check MD5 checksums.

    Options: With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

            -b      read files in binary mode
            -c      check MD5 sums against given list
            -t      read files in text mode (default)
            -g      read a string
    The following two options are useful only when verifying checksums:

            -s      don't output anything, status code shows success
            -w      warn about improperly formated MD5 checksum lines
    Example:

            $ md5sum < busybox
            6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003
            $ md5sum busybox
            6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003  busybox
            $ md5sum -c -
            6fd11e98b98a58f64ff3398d7b324003  busybox
            busybox: OK
            ^D
    -------------------------------

mkdir
    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
    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
    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
    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 INODES       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
    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
    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
    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
    -------------------------------

modprobe
    modprobe modprobe     [  -adnqv  ] [ -C config ] module [ symbol=value ... ]
    modprobe [ -adnqv ] [ -C config ] [ -t type ] pattern modprobe -l [ -C config ] [ -t type ] pattern modprobe -c [ -C config ] modprobe -r [ -dnv ] [ -C config ] [ module ...] modprobe -V

    Used to load kernel modules and automatically load their dependancies.USAGE:

            modprobe         [  -adnqv  ] [ -C config ] module [ symbol=value ... ]
            modprobe [ -adnqv ] [ -C config ] [ -t type ] pattern
            modprobe -l [ -C config ] [ -t type ] pattern
            modprobe -c [ -C config ]
            modprobe -r [ -dnv ] [ -C config ] [ module ...]
            modprobe -V
    OPTIONS

            -a (*** not supported ***)
               Load all matching modules instead of stopping after
               the first successful loading.
            -c (*** not supported ***)
               Show the currently used configuration.
            -d
               Show  information about the internal representation
               of the stack of modules.
            -k
               Set 'autoclean' on loaded     modules.   Used  by  the
               kernel  when it calls on modprobe to satify a miss­
               ing feature (supplied as a module).  The -q  option
               is implied by -k.     These options will automatically
               be sent to insmod.
            -l (*** not supported ***)
               List matching modules.
            -n
               Don't actually perform the action, just  show  what
               would be done.
            -q
               Do  not  complain about insmod failing to install a
               module.  Continue as  normal,  but  silently,  with
               other  possibilities  for     modprobe  to test.  This
               option will automatically be sent to insmod.
            -r
               Remove module (stacks) or do  autoclean,     depending
               on  whether  there are any modules mentioned on the
               command line.
            -s
               Report via syslog instead of stderr.  This  options
               will automatically be sent to insmod.
            -t type (*** not supported ***)
               Only consider modules of this type (tag).
            -v
               Print all commands as they are executed.
            -V
               Show the release version of modprobe.
            -C configfile (*** not supported ***)
               Use  the     file configfile instead of (the optional)
               /etc/modules.conf     to  specify  the  configuration.
               The  environment     variable  MODULECONF  can also be
               used to select (and override) a different     configu­
               ration  file from the default /etc/modules.conf (or
               /etc/conf.modules (depreciated)).
    Example:

            $ modprobe pcnet_cs
            $ modprobe -r pcnet_cs
    -------------------------------

more
    more [FILE ...]

    More is a filter for viewing FILE one screenful at a time.

    Example:

            $ dmesg | more
    -------------------------------

mount
    mount [flags] DEVICE NODE [-o options,more-options]

    Mount a filesystem

    Flags:

            -a:             Mount all filesystems in fstab.
            -f:             "Fake" Add entry to mount table but don't mount it.
            -n:             Don't write a mount table entry.
            -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 mounted filesystem, changing its flags.
            ro/rw:          Mount for read-only / read-write.
            bind:           Use the linux 2.4.x "bind" feature.
    There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem. You'll have to see the written documentation for those filesystems.

    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  mt [-f device] opcode value

    Control magnetic tape drive operation

    Available Opcodes:

    bsf bsfm bsr bss datacompression drvbuffer eof eom erase fsf fsfm fsr fss load lock mkpart nop offline ras1 ras2 ras3 reset retension rew rewoffline seek setblk setdensity setpart tell unload unlock weof wset

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

mv  mv SOURCE DEST or: mv SOURCE... DIRECTORY

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

    Example:

            $ mv /tmp/foo /bin/bar
    -------------------------------

nc  nc [OPTIONS] [IP] [port]

    Netcat opens a pipe to IP:port

    Options:

            -l              listen mode, for inbound connects
            -p PORT         local port number
            -e PROG         program to exec after connect (dangerous!)
    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
    -------------------------------

nslookup
    nslookup [HOST] [SERVER]

    Queries the nameserver for the IP address of the given HOST optionally using a specified DNS server

    Example:

            $ nslookup localhost
            Server:     default
            Address:    default
            Name:       debian
            Address:    127.0.0.1
    -------------------------------

pidof
    pidof process-name [process-name ...]

    Lists the PIDs of all processes with names that match the names on the command line

    Example:

            $ pidof init
            1
    -------------------------------

ping
    ping [OPTION]... host

    Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts.

    Options:

            -c COUNT        Send only COUNT pings.
            -s SIZE         Send SIZE data bytes in packets (default=56).
            -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
    -------------------------------

pivot_root
    pivot_root NEW_ROOT PUT_OLD

    Move the current root file system to PUT_OLD and make NEW_ROOT the new root file system.

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

poweroff
    poweroff

    Halt the system and request that the kernel shut off the power.

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

printf
    printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT...]

    Formats and prints ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, Where FORMAT controls the output exactly as in C printf.

    Example:

            $ printf "Val=%d\n" 5
            Val=5
    -------------------------------

ps  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 pwd

    Print the full filename of the current working directory.

    Example:

            $ pwd
            /root
    -------------------------------

rdate
    rdate [OPTION] HOST

    Get and possibly set the system date and time from a remote HOST.

    Options:

            -s      Set the system date and time (default).
            -p      Print the date and time.
    -------------------------------

readlink
    readlink

    Read a symbolic link.

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

reboot
    reboot

    Reboot the system.

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

renice
    renice priority pid [pid ...]

    Changes priority of running processes. Allowed priorities range from 20 (the process runs only when nothing else is running) to 0 (default priority) to -20 (almost nothing else ever gets to run).

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

reset
    reset

    Resets the screen.

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

rm  rm [OPTION]... FILE...

    Remove (unlink) the FILE(s). You may use '--' to indicate that all following arguments are non-options.

    Options:

            -i              always prompt before removing each destination  -f              remove existing destinations, never prompt
            -r or -R        remove the contents of directories recursively
    Example:

            $ rm -rf /tmp/foo
    -------------------------------

rmdir
    rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...

    Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.

    Example:

            # rmdir /tmp/foo
    -------------------------------

rmmod
    rmmod [OPTION]... [MODULE]...

    Unloads the specified kernel modules from the kernel.

    Options:

            -a      Try to remove all unused kernel modules.
    Example:

            $ rmmod tulip
    -------------------------------

route
    route [{add|del|flush}]

    Edit the kernel's routing tables

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

rpm2cpio
    rpm2cpio package.rpm

    Outputs a cpio archive of the rpm file.

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

sed sed [-nef] pattern [files...]

    Options:

            -n              suppress automatic printing of pattern space
            -e script       add the script to the commands to be executed
            -f scriptfile   add the contents of script-file to the commands to be executed
    If no -e or -f is given, the first non-option argument is taken as the sed script to interpret. All remaining arguments are names of input files; if no input files are specified, then the standard input is read.

    Example:

            $ echo "foo" | sed -e 's/f[a-zA-Z]o/bar/g'
            bar
    -------------------------------

setkeycodes
    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
    -------------------------------

sleep
    sleep N

    Pause for N seconds.

    Example:

            $ sleep 2
            [2 second delay results]
    -------------------------------

sort
    sort [-nru] [FILE]...

    Sorts lines of text in the specified files

    Options:

            -u      suppress duplicate lines
            -r      sort in reverse order
            -n      sort numerics
    Example:

            $ echo -e "e\nf\nb\nd\nc\na" | sort
            a
            b
            c
            d
            e
            f
    -------------------------------

stty
    stty [-a|g] [-F DEVICE] [SETTING]...

    Without arguments, prints baud rate, line discipline, and deviations from stty sane.

    Options:

            -F DEVICE       open device instead of stdin
            -a              print all current settings in human-readable form
            -g              print in stty-readable form
            [SETTING]       see manpage
    -------------------------------

swapoff
    swapoff [OPTION] [DEVICE]

    Stop swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.

    Options:

            -a      Stop swapping on all swap devices
    -------------------------------

swapon
    swapon [OPTION] [DEVICE]

    Start swapping virtual memory pages on DEVICE.

    Options:

            -a      Start swapping on all swap devices
    -------------------------------

sync
    sync

    Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.

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

syslogd
    syslogd [OPTION]...

    Linux system and kernel logging utility. Note that this version of syslogd ignores /etc/syslog.conf.

    Options:

            -m NUM          Interval between MARK lines (default=20min, 0=off)
            -n              Run as a foreground process
            -O FILE         Use an alternate log file (default=/var/log/messages)
            -R HOST[:PORT]  Log to IP or hostname on PORT (default PORT=514/UDP)
            -L              Log locally and via network logging (default is network only)
    Example:

            $ syslogd -R masterlog:514
            $ syslogd -R 192.168.1.1:601
    -------------------------------

tail
    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:

            -c N[kbm]       output the last N bytes
            -n N[kbm]       print last N lines instead of last 10
            -f              output data as the file grows
            -q              never output headers giving file names
            -s SEC          wait SEC seconds between reads with -f
            -v              always output headers giving file names
    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).

    Example:

            $ tail -n 1 /etc/resolv.conf
            nameserver 10.0.0.1
    -------------------------------

tar tar -[cxtvO] [--exclude FILE] [-X FILE][-f TARFILE] [-C DIR] [FILE(s)] ...

    Create, extract, or list files from a tar file.

    Options:

            c               create
            x               extract
            t               list
    File selection:

            f               name of TARFILE or "-" for stdin
            O               extract to stdout
            exclude         file to exclude
            X               file with names to exclude
            C               change to directory DIR before operation
            v               verbosely list files processed
    Example:

            $ zcat /tmp/tarball.tar.gz | tar -xf -
            $ tar -cf /tmp/tarball.tar /usr/local
    -------------------------------

tee 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
    -------------------------------

telnet
    telnet HOST [PORT]

    Telnet is used to establish interactive communication with another computer over a network using the TELNET protocol.

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

test
    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
    -------------------------------

tftp
    tftp [OPTION]... HOST [PORT]

    Transfers a file from/to a tftp server using "octet" mode.

    Options:

            -b SIZE Transfer blocks of SIZE octets.
            -g      Get file.
            -l FILE Transfer local FILE.
            -p      Put file.
            -r FILE Transfer remote FILE.
    -------------------------------

time
    time [OPTION]... COMMAND [ARGS...]

    Runs the program COMMAND with arguments ARGS. When COMMAND finishes,

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

top top [-d <seconds>]

    top provides an view of processor activity in real time. This utility reads the status for all processes in /proc each <seconds> and shows the status for however many processes will fit on the screen. This utility will not show processes that are started after program startup, but it will show the EXIT status for and PIDs that exit while it is running.

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

touch
    touch [-c] FILE [FILE ...]

    Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s].

    Options:

            -c      Do not create any files
    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  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
    -------------------------------

traceroute
    traceroute [-dnrv] [-m max_ttl] [-p port#] [-q nqueries]
        [-s src_addr] [-t tos] [-w wait] host [data size]

    trace the route ip packets follow going to "host" Options:

            -d      set SO_DEBUG options to socket
            -n      Print hop addresses numerically rather than symbolically
            -r      Bypass the normal routing tables and send directly to a host
            -v      Verbose output
            -m max_ttl      Set the max time-to-live (max number of hops)
            -p port#        Set the base UDP port number used in probes
                    (default is 33434)
            -q nqueries     Set the number of probes per ``ttl'' to nqueries
                    (default is 3)
            -s src_addr     Use the following IP address as the source address
            -t tos  Set the type-of-service in probe packets to the following value
                    (default 0)
            -w wait Set the time (in seconds) to wait for a response to a probe
                    (default 3 sec.).
    -------------------------------

true
    true

    Return an exit code of TRUE (0).

    Example:

            $ true
            $ echo $?
            0
    -------------------------------

tty 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
    umount [flags] FILESYSTEM|DIRECTORY

    Unmount file systems

    Flags:

            -a      Unmount all file systems in /etc/mtab
            -n      Don't erase /etc/mtab entries
            -r      Try to remount devices as read-only if mount is busy
            -f      Force umount (i.e., unreachable NFS server)
            -l      Do not free loop device (if a loop device has been used)
    Example:

            $ umount /dev/hdc1
    -------------------------------

uname
    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
    uniq [OPTION]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]

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

    Options:

            -c      prefix lines by the number of occurrences
            -d      only print duplicate lines
            -u      only print unique lines
    Example:

            $ echo -e "a\na\nb\nc\nc\na" | sort | uniq
            a
            b
            c
    -------------------------------

unix2dos
    unix2dos [option] [FILE]

    Converts FILE from unix format to dos format. When no option is given, the input is converted to the opposite output format. When no file is given, uses stdin for input and stdout for output. Options:

            -u      output will be in UNIX format
            -d      output will be in DOS format
    -------------------------------

update
    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
    uptime

    Display the time since the last boot.

    Example:

            $ uptime
              1:55pm  up  2:30, load average: 0.09, 0.04, 0.00
    -------------------------------

usleep
    usleep N

    Pause for N microseconds.

    Example:

            $ usleep 1000000
            [pauses for 1 second]
    -------------------------------

uudecode
    uudecode [FILE]...

    Uudecode a file that is uuencoded.

    Options:

            -o FILE direct output to FILE
    Example:

            $ uudecode -o busybox busybox.uu
            $ ls -l busybox
            -rwxr-xr-x   1 ams      ams        245264 Jun  7 21:35 busybox
    -------------------------------

uuencode
    uuencode [OPTION] [INFILE] REMOTEFILE

    Uuencode a file.

    Options:

            -m      use base64 encoding per RFC1521
    Example:

            $ uuencode busybox busybox
            begin 755 busybox
            <encoded file snipped>
            $ uudecode busybox busybox > busybox.uu
            $
    -------------------------------

vi  vi [OPTION] [FILE]...

    edit FILE.

    Options:

            -R      Read-only- do not write to the file.
    -------------------------------

watchdog
    watchdog DEV

    Periodically write to watchdog device DEV

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

wc  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
    -------------------------------

wget
    wget [-c|--continue] [-q|--quiet] [-O|--output-document file]
        [--header 'header: value'] [-P DIR] url

    wget retrieves files via HTTP or FTP

    Options:

            -c      continue retrieval of aborted transfers
            -q      quiet mode - do not print
            -P      Set directory prefix to DIR
            -O      save to filename ('-' for stdout)
    -------------------------------

which
    which [COMMAND ...]

    Locates a COMMAND.

    Example:

            $ which login
            /bin/login
    -------------------------------

whoami
    whoami

    Prints the user name associated with the current effective user id.

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

xargs
    xargs [COMMAND] [ARGS...]

    Executes COMMAND on every item given by standard input.

    Example:

            $ ls | xargs gzip
            $ find . -name '*.c' -print | xargs rm
    -------------------------------

yes yes [OPTION]... [STRING]...

    Repeatedly outputs a line with all specified STRING(s), or 'y'.

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

zcat
    zcat FILE

    Uncompress 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@codepoet.org>

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

Erik Andersen <andersee@debian.org> <andersen@codepoet.org>

    Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
    core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
John Beppu <beppu@codepoet.org>

    du, head, nslookup, sort, tee, uniq (so Kraai could rewrite them ;-),
    documentation
Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>

    expr, hostid, logname, tty, wc, whoami, yes
Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>

    tiny-ls(ls)
Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>

    fbset, ping, hostname, and mkfifo
Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>

    more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
    various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance
Larry Doolittle <ldoolitt@recycle.lbl.gov>

    various fixes, shell rewrite
Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>

    cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.
Sterling Huxley <sterling@europa.com>

    vi (!!!)
Daniel Jacobowitz <dan@debian.org>

    mktemp.c
Matt Kraai <kraai@alumni.carnegiemellon.edu>

    documentation, bugfixes
John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>

    dirname, tr
Glenn McGrath <bug1@netconnect.com.au>

    ar.c
Vladimir Oleynik <dzo@simtreas.ru>

    cmdedit, stty-port, locale, various fixes
    and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.
Bruce Perens <bruce@pixar.com>

    Original author of BusyBox. His code is still in many apps.
Chip Rosenthal <chip@unicom.com>, <crosenth@covad.com>

    wget - Contributed by permission of Covad Communications
Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>

    Lots of bugs fixes and patches.
Gyepi Sam <gyepi@praxis-sw.com>

    Remote logging feature for syslogd
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>

    mkswap, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix
Mark Whitley <markw@codepoet.org>

    sed remix, bug fixes, style-guide, etc.
Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>

    gzip, mini-netcat(nc)
Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>

    tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance