BusyBox - The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux
busybox <applet> [arguments...] # or
<applet> [arguments...] # if symlinked
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 GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc. 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 /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or embedded system.
BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or 'make menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable. Then run 'make' to compile BusyBox using your configuration.
After the compile has finished, you should use 'make install' to install BusyBox. This will install the 'bin/busybox' binary, in the target directory specified by CONFIG_PREFIX. CONFIG_PREFIX can be set when configuring BusyBox, or you can specify an alternative location at install time (i.e., with a command line like 'make CONFIG_PREFIX=/tmp/foo install'). If you enabled any applet installation scheme (either as symlinks or hardlinks), these will also be installed in the location pointed to by CONFIG_PREFIX.
BusyBox is a multi-call binary. A multi-call binary is an executable program that performs the same job as more than one utility program. That means there is just a single BusyBox binary, but that single binary acts like a large number of utilities. This allows BusyBox to be smaller since all the built-in utility programs (we call them applets) can share code for many common operations.
You can also invoke BusyBox by issuing a command as an argument on the command line. For example, entering
/bin/busybox ls
will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.
Of course, adding '/bin/busybox' into every command would be painful. So most people will invoke BusyBox using links to the BusyBox binary.
For example, entering
ln -s /bin/busybox ls
./ls
will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled into BusyBox). Generally speaking, you should never need to make all these links yourself, as the BusyBox build system will do this for you when you run the 'make install' command.
If you invoke BusyBox with no arguments, it will provide you with a list of the applets that have been compiled into your BusyBox binary.
Most BusyBox applets support the --help argument to provide a terse runtime description of their behavior. If the CONFIG_FEATURE_VERBOSE_USAGE option has been enabled, more detailed usage information will also be available.
Currently available applets include:
[, [[, addgroup, ar, ash, awk, basename, bunzip2, bzcat, bzip2, cal,
cat, catv, chattr, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, chrt, cksum, clear,
cmp, comm, cp, cpio, crontab, cut, dc, dd, delgroup, diff, dirname,
dnsd, dnsdomainname, dos2unix, du, echo, ed, egrep, env, expand,
expr, fakeidentd, false, fgrep, find, flock, fold, fsync, ftpd,
ftpget, ftpput, getopt, grep, groups, gunzip, gzip, hd, head,
hexdump, hostid, hostname, httpd, id, install, iostat, ipcalc, kill,
killall, killall5, less, ln, logger, logname, logread, lpq, lpr, ls,
lspci, lsusb, lzcat, lzma, lzop, lzopcat, md5sum, microcom, mkdir,
mkfifo, mktemp, more, mpstat, mv, nc, nice, nohup, od, patch, pgrep,
pipe_progress, pkill, pmap, powertop, printenv, printf, ps, pscan,
pstree, pwd, pwdx, readlink, readprofile, realpath, renice, reset,
resize, rev, rm, rmdir, rpm, rpm2cpio, run-parts, scriptreplay, sed,
seq, setsid, sh, sha1sum, sha256sum, sha512sum, sleep, smemcap,
sort, split, strings, sum, sync, sysctl, syslogd, tail, tar, tee,
telnet, telnetd, test, tftp, tftpd, timeout, touch, tr, true, tty,
ttysize, uname, uncompress, unexpand, uniq, unix2dos, unlzma,
unlzop, unxz, unzip, usleep, uudecode, uuencode, vi, volname, watch,
wc, wget, which, whoami, xargs, xz, xzcat, yes, zcat
addgroup [-g GID] [USER] GROUP
Add a group or add a user to a group
-g GID Group id
-S Create a system group
ar [-o] [-v] [-p] [-t] [-x] ARCHIVE FILES
Extract or list FILES from an ar archive
-o Preserve original dates
-p Extract to stdout
-t List
-x Extract
-v Verbose
ash [-/+OPTIONS] [-/+o OPT]... [-c 'SCRIPT' [ARG0 [ARGS]] / FILE [ARGS]]
Unix shell interpreter
awk [OPTIONS] [AWK_PROGRAM] [FILE]...
-v VAR=VAL Set variable
-F SEP Use SEP as field separator
-f FILE Read program from FILE
basename FILE [SUFFIX]
Strip directory path and .SUFFIX from FILE
bunzip2 [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress FILEs (or stdin)
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
bzcat FILE
Decompress to stdout
bzip2 [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Compress FILEs (or stdin) with bzip2 algorithm
-1..9 Compression level
-d Decompress
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
cal [-jy] [[MONTH] YEAR]
Display a calendar
-j Use julian dates
-y Display the entire year
cat [FILE]...
Concatenate FILEs and print them to stdout
catv [-etv] [FILE]...
Display nonprinting characters as ^x or M-x
-e End each line with $
-t Show tabs as ^I
-v Don't use ^x or M-x escapes
chattr [-R] [-+=AacDdijsStTu] [-v VERSION] [FILE]...
Change file attributes on an ext2 fs
Modifiers:n - Remove attributes + Add attributes = Set attributes Attributes:n A Don't track atime a Append mode only c Enable compress D Write dir contents synchronously d Don't backup with dump i Cannot be modified (immutable) j Write all data to journal first s Zero disk storage when deleted S Write file contents synchronously t Disable tail-merging of partial blocks with other files u Allow file to be undeleted -R Recurse -v Set the file's version/generation number
chgrp [-RhLHP]... GROUP FILE...
Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP
-R Recurse
-h Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-L Traverse all symlinks to directories
-H Traverse symlinks on command line only
-P Don't traverse symlinks (default)
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
-R Recurse
chown [-RhLHP]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP
-R Recurse
-h Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-L Traverse all symlinks to directories
-H Traverse symlinks on command line only
-P Don't traverse symlinks (default)
chroot NEWROOT [PROG ARGS]
Run PROG with root directory set to NEWROOT
chrt [-prfom] [PRIO] [PID | PROG ARGS]
Change scheduling priority and class for a process
-p Operate on PID
-r Set SCHED_RR class
-f Set SCHED_FIFO class
-o Set SCHED_OTHER class
-m Show min/max priorities
cksum FILES...
Calculate the CRC32 checksums of FILES
clear
Clear screen
cmp [-l] [-s] FILE1 [FILE2]
Compare FILE1 with FILE2 (or stdin)
-l Write the byte numbers (decimal) and values (octal)
for all differing bytes
-s Quiet
comm [-123] FILE1 FILE2
Compare FILE1 with FILE2
-1 Suppress lines unique to FILE1
-2 Suppress lines unique to FILE2
-3 Suppress lines common to both files
cp [OPTIONS] SOURCE DEST
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
-a Same as -dpR
-R,-r Recurse
-d,-P Preserve symlinks (default if -R)
-L Follow all symlinks
-H Follow symlinks on command line
-p Preserve file attributes if possible
-f Overwrite
-i Prompt before overwrite
-l,-s Create (sym)links
cpio [-dmvu] [-F FILE] [-ti] [EXTR_FILE]...
Extract or list files from a cpio archive
| Main operation mode:n | ||
| -t | List | |
| -i | Extract EXTR_FILEs (or all) | |
| -d | Make leading directories | |
| -m | Preserve mtime | |
| -v | Verbose | |
| -u | Overwrite | |
| -F FILE | Input (-t,-i,-p) or output (-o) file |
crontab [-c DIR] [-u USER] [-ler]|[FILE]
-c Crontab directory
-u User
-l List crontab
-e Edit crontab
-r Delete crontab
FILE Replace crontab by FILE ('-': stdin)
cut [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print selected fields from each input FILE to stdout
-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
dc EXPRESSION...
Tiny RPN calculator. Operations: +, add, -, sub, *, mul, /, div, %, mod, **, exp, and, or, not, eor, p - print top of the stack (without popping), f - print entire stack, o - pop the value and set output radix (must be 10, 16, 8 or 2). Examples: 'dc 2 2 add p' -> 4, 'dc 8 8 * 2 2 + / p' -> 16
| dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [ibs=N] [obs=N] [bs=N] [count=N] [skip=N] | |
| [seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync|fsync] |
Copy a file with converting and formatting
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
ibs=N Read N bytes at a time
obs=N 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
conv=fsync Physically write data out before finishing
Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k (x1024), MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G (x1073741824)
delgroup [USER] GROUP
Delete group GROUP from the system or user USER from group GROUP
diff [-abBdiNqrTstw] [-L LABEL] [-S FILE] [-U LINES] FILE1 FILE2
Compare files line by line and output the differences between them. This implementation supports unified diffs only.
-a Treat all files as text
-b Ignore changes in the amount of whitespace
-B Ignore changes whose lines are all blank
-d Try hard to find a smaller set of changes
-i Ignore case differences
-L Use LABEL instead of the filename in the unified header
-N Treat absent files as empty
-q Output only whether files differ
-r Recurse
-S Start with FILE when comparing directories
-T Make tabs line up by prefixing a tab when necessary
-s Report when two files are the same
-t Expand tabs to spaces in output
-U Output LINES lines of context
-w Ignore all whitespace
dirname FILENAME
Strip non-directory suffix from FILENAME
dnsd [-dvs] [-c CONFFILE] [-t TTL_SEC] [-p PORT] [-i ADDR]
Small static DNS server daemon
-c FILE Config file
-t SEC TTL
-p PORT Listen on PORT
-i ADDR Listen on ADDR
-d Daemonize
-v Verbose
-s Send successful replies only. Use this if you want
to use /etc/resolv.conf with two nameserver lines:
nameserver DNSD_SERVER
nameserver NORMAL_DNS_SERVER
dos2unix [-ud] [FILE]
Convert FILE in-place from DOS to Unix format. When no file is given, use stdin/stdout.
-u dos2unix
-d unix2dos
du [-aHLdclsxhmk] [FILE]...
Summarize disk space used for each FILE and/or directory. Disk space is printed in units of 1024 bytes.
-a Show file sizes too
-L Follow all symlinks
-H Follow symlinks on command line
-d N Limit output to directories (and files with -a) of depth < N
-c Show grand total
-l Count sizes many times if hard linked
-s Display only a total for each argument
-x Skip directories on different filesystems
-h Sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 243M 2G )
-m Sizes in megabytes
-k Sizes in kilobytes (default)
echo [-neE] [ARG]...
Print the specified ARGs to stdout
-n Suppress trailing newline
-e Interpret backslash escapes (i.e., \t=tab)
-E Don't interpret backslash escapes (default)
ed
env [-iu] [-] [name=value]... [PROG ARGS]
Print the current environment or run PROG after setting up the specified environment
-, -i Start with an empty environment
-u Remove variable from the environment
expand [-i] [-t N] [FILE]...
Convert tabs to spaces, writing to stdout
-i,--initial Don't convert tabs after non blanks
-t,--tabs=N Tabstops every N chars
expr EXPRESSION
Print the value of EXPRESSION to stdout
| EXPRESSION may be:n | ||
| 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 | 1 if ARG1 is less than ARG2, else 0. Similarly: | |
| ARG1 <= ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 = ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 != ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 >= ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 > ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 + ARG2 | Sum of ARG1 and ARG2. Similarly: | |
| ARG1 - ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 * ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 / ARG2 | ||
| ARG1 % 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.
fakeidentd [-fiw] [-b ADDR] [STRING]
Provide fake ident (auth) service
-f Run in foreground
-i Inetd mode
-w Inetd 'wait' mode
-b ADDR Bind to specified address
STRING Ident answer string (default: nobody)
false
Return an exit code of FALSE (1)
find [PATH]... [OPTIONS] [ACTIONS]
Search for files and perform actions on them. First failed action stops processing of current file. Defaults: PATH is current directory, action is '-print'
-follow Follow symlinks
-xdev Don't descend directories on other filesystems
-maxdepth N Descend at most N levels. -maxdepth 0 applies
actions to command line arguments only
-mindepth N Don't act on first N levels
-depth Act on directory *after* traversing it
Actions:n ( ACTIONS ) Group actions for -o / -a ! ACT Invert ACT's success/failure ACT1 [-a] ACT2 If ACT1 fails, stop, else do ACT2 ACT1 -o ACT2 If ACT1 succeeds, stop, else do ACT2 Note: -a has higher priority than -o -name PATTERN Match file name (w/o directory name) to PATTERN -iname PATTERN Case insensitive -name -path PATTERN Match path to PATTERN -ipath PATTERN Case insensitive -path -regex PATTERN Match path to regex PATTERN -type X File type is X (one of: f,d,l,b,c,...) -perm MASK At least one mask bit (+MASK), all bits (-MASK), or exactly MASK bits are set in file's mode -mtime DAYS mtime is greater than (+N), less than (-N), or exactly N days in the past -mmin MINS mtime is greater than (+N), less than (-N), or exactly N minutes in the past -newer FILE mtime is more recent than FILE's -inum N File has inode number N -user NAME/ID File is owned by given user -group NAME/ID File is owned by given group -size N[bck] File size is N (c:bytes,k:kbytes,b:512 bytes(def.)) +/-N: file size is bigger/smaller than N -links N Number of links is greater than (+N), less than (-N), or exactly N -prune If current file is directory, don't descend into it If none of the following actions is specified, -print is assumed -print Print file name -print0 Print file name, NUL terminated -exec CMD ARG ; Run CMD with all instances of {} replaced by file name. Fails if CMD exits with nonzero -delete Delete current file/directory. Turns on -depth option
flock [-sxun] FD|{FILE [-c] PROG ARGS}
[Un]lock file descriptor, or lock FILE, run PROG
-s Shared lock
-x Exclusive lock (default)
-u Unlock FD
-n Fail rather than wait
fold [-bs] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]...
Wrap input lines in each FILE (or stdin), writing to stdout
-b Count bytes rather than columns
-s Break at spaces
-w Use WIDTH columns instead of 80
fsync [-d] FILE...
Write files' buffered blocks to disk
-d Avoid syncing metadata
ftpd [-wvS] [-t N] [-T N] [DIR]
Anonymous FTP server
ftpd should be used as an inetd service. ftpd's line for inetd.conf: 21 stream tcp nowait root ftpd ftpd /files/to/serve It also can be ran from tcpsvd:n tcpsvd -vE 0.0.0.0 21 ftpd /files/to/serve
-w Allow upload
-v Log errors to stderr. -vv: verbose log
-S Log errors to syslog. -SS: verbose log
-t,-T Idle and absolute timeouts
DIR Change root to this directory
ftpget [OPTIONS] HOST [LOCAL_FILE] REMOTE_FILE
Retrieve a remote file via FTP
-c,--continue Continue previous transfer
-v,--verbose Verbose
-u,--username Username
-p,--password Password
-P,--port Port number
ftpput [OPTIONS] HOST [REMOTE_FILE] LOCAL_FILE
Store a local file on a remote machine via FTP
-v,--verbose Verbose
-u,--username Username
-p,--password Password
-P,--port Port number
getopt [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,--unquoted Don't quote the output
grep [-HhnlLoqvsriwFE] [-m N] [-A/B/C N] PATTERN/-e PATTERN.../-f FILE [FILE]...
Search for PATTERN in FILEs (or stdin)
-H Add 'filename:' prefix
-h Do not add 'filename:' prefix
-n Add 'line_no:' prefix
-l Show only names of files that match
-L Show only names of files that don't match
-c Show only count of matching lines
-o Show only the matching part of line
-q Quiet. Return 0 if PATTERN is found, 1 otherwise
-v Select non-matching lines
-s Suppress open and read errors
-r Recurse
-i Ignore case
-w Match whole words only
-F PATTERN is a literal (not regexp)
-E PATTERN is an extended regexp
-m N Match up to N times per file
-A N Print N lines of trailing context
-B N Print N lines of leading context
-C N Same as '-A N -B N'
-e PTRN Pattern to match
-f FILE Read pattern from file
groups [USER]
Print the group memberships of USER or for the current process
gunzip [-cft] [FILE]...
Decompress FILEs (or stdin)
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
-t Test file integrity
gzip [-cfd] [FILE]...
Compress FILEs (or stdin)
-d Decompress
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
hd FILE...
hd is an alias for hexdump -C
head [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print first 10 lines of each FILE (or stdin) to stdout. With more than one FILE, precede each with a filename header.
-n N[kbm] Print first N lines
-c N[kbm] Print first N bytes
-q Never print headers
-v Always print headers
N may be suffixed by k (x1024), b (x512), or m (x1024^2).
hexdump [-bcCdefnosvx] [FILE]...
Display FILEs (or stdin) in a user specified format
-b One-byte octal display
-c One-byte character display
-C Canonical hex+ASCII, 16 bytes per line
-d Two-byte decimal display
-e FORMAT_STRING
-f FORMAT_FILE
-n LENGTH Interpret only LENGTH bytes of input
-o Two-byte octal display
-s OFFSET Skip OFFSET bytes
-v Display all input data
-x Two-byte hexadecimal display
hostid
Print out a unique 32-bit identifier for the machine
hostname [OPTIONS] [HOSTNAME | -F FILE]
Get or set hostname or DNS domain name
-s Short
-i Addresses for the hostname
-d DNS domain name
-f Fully qualified domain name
-F FILE Use FILE's content as hostname
httpd [-ifv[v]] [-c CONFFILE] [-p [IP:]PORT] [-r REALM] [-h HOME] or httpd -d/-e/-m STRING
Listen for incoming HTTP requests
-i Inetd mode
-f Don't daemonize
-v[v] Verbose
-p [IP:]PORT Bind to IP:PORT (default *:80)
-r REALM Authentication Realm for Basic Authentication
-h HOME Home directory (default .)
-c FILE Configuration file (default {/etc,HOME}/httpd.conf)
-m STRING MD5 crypt STRING
-e STRING HTML encode STRING
-d STRING URL decode STRING
id [OPTIONS] [USER]
Print information about USER or the current user
-u User ID
-g Group ID
-G Supplementary group IDs
-n Print names instead of numbers
-r Print real ID instead of effective ID
install [-cdDsp] [-o USER] [-g GRP] [-m MODE] [SOURCE]... DEST
Copy files and set attributes
-c Just copy (default)
-d Create directories
-D Create leading target directories
-s Strip symbol table
-p Preserve date
-o USER Set ownership
-g GRP Set group ownership
-m MODE Set permissions
iostat [-c] [-d] [-t] [-z] [-k|-m] [ALL|BLOCKDEV...] [INTERVAL [COUNT]]
Report CPU and I/O statistics
-c Show CPU utilization
-d Show device utilization
-t Print current time
-z Omit devices with no activity
-k Use kb/s
-m Use Mb/s
ipcalc [OPTIONS] ADDRESS[[/]NETMASK] [NETMASK]
Calculate IP network settings from a IP address
-b,--broadcast Display calculated broadcast address
-n,--network Display calculated network address
-m,--netmask Display default netmask for IP
-p,--prefix Display the prefix for IP/NETMASK
-h,--hostname Display first resolved host name
-s,--silent Don't ever display error messages
kill [-l] [-SIG] PID...
Send a signal (default: TERM) to given PIDs
-l List all signal names and numbers
killall [-l] [-q] [-SIG] PROCESS_NAME...
Send a signal (default: TERM) to given processes
-l List all signal names and numbers
-q Don't complain if no processes were killed
killall5 [-l] [-SIG] [-o PID]...
Send a signal (default: TERM) to all processes outside current session
-l List all signal names and numbers
-o PID Don't signal this PID
less [-EMNmh~I?] [FILE]...
View FILE (or stdin) one screenful at a time
-E Quit once the end of a file is reached
-M,-m Display status line with line numbers
and percentage through the file
-N Prefix line number to each line
-I Ignore case in all searches
-~ Suppress ~s displayed past the end of the file
ln [OPTIONS] TARGET... LINK|DIR
Create a link LINK or DIR/TARGET to the specified TARGET(s)
-s Make symlinks instead of hardlinks
-f Remove existing destinations
-n Don't dereference symlinks - treat like normal file
-b Make a backup of the target (if exists) before link operation
-S suf Use suffix instead of ~ when making backup files
logger [OPTIONS] [MESSAGE]
Write MESSAGE (or stdin) to syslog
-s Log to stderr as well as the system log
-t TAG Log using the specified tag (defaults to user name)
-p PRIO Priority (numeric or facility.level pair)
logname
Print the name of the current user
logread [-f]
Show messages in syslogd's circular buffer
-f Output data as log grows
lpq [-P queue[@host[:port]]] [-U USERNAME] [-d JOBID]... [-fs]
-P lp service to connect to (else uses $PRINTER)
-d Delete jobs
-f Force any waiting job to be printed
-s Short display
lpr -P queue[@host[:port]] -U USERNAME -J TITLE -Vmh [FILE]...
-P lp service to connect to (else uses $PRINTER)
-m Send mail on completion
-h Print banner page too
-V Verbose
ls [-1AaCxdLHRFplinsehrSXvctu] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]...
List directory contents
-1 One column output
-a Include entries which start with .
-A Like -a, but exclude . and ..
-C List by columns
-x List by lines
-d List directory entries instead of contents
-L Follow symlinks
-H Follow symlinks on command line
-R Recurse
-p Append / to dir entries
-F Append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries
-l Long listing format
-i List inode numbers
-n List numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
-s List allocated blocks
-e List full date and time
-h List sizes in human readable format (1K 243M 2G)
-r Sort in reverse order
-S Sort by size
-X Sort by extension
-v Sort by version
-c With -l: sort by ctime
-t With -l: sort by mtime
-u With -l: sort by atime
-w N Assume the terminal is N columns wide
--color[={always,never,auto}] Control coloring
lspci [-mk]
List all PCI devices
-m Parsable output
-k Show driver
lzcat FILE
Decompress to stdout
lzma -d [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress FILE (or stdin)
-d Decompress
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
lzop [-cfvd123456789CF] [FILE]...
-1..9 Compression level
-d Decompress
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
-v Verbose
-F Don't store or verify checksum
-C Also write checksum of compressed block
lzopcat [-vCF] [FILE]...
-v Verbose
-F Don't store or verify checksum
md5sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...
Print or check MD5 checksums
-c Check sums against list in FILEs
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
microcom [-d DELAY] [-t TIMEOUT] [-s SPEED] [-X] TTY
Copy bytes for stdin to TTY and from TTY to stdout
-d Wait up to DELAY ms for TTY output before sending every
next byte to it
-t Exit if both stdin and TTY are silent for TIMEOUT ms
-s Set serial line to SPEED
-X Disable special meaning of NUL and Ctrl-X from stdin
mkdir [OPTIONS] DIRECTORY...
Create DIRECTORY
-m MODE Mode
-p No error if exists; make parent directories as needed
mkfifo [-m MODE] NAME
Create named pipe
-m MODE Mode (default a=rw)
mktemp [-dt] [-p DIR] [TEMPLATE]
Create a temporary file with name based on TEMPLATE and print its name. TEMPLATE must end with XXXXXX (e.g. [/dir/]nameXXXXXX). Without TEMPLATE, -t tmp.XXXXXX is assumed.
-d Make directory, not file
-t Prepend base directory name to TEMPLATE
-p DIR Use DIR as a base directory (implies -t)
Base directory is: -p DIR, else $TMPDIR, else /tmp
more [FILE]...
View FILE (or stdin) one screenful at a time
mpstat [-A] [-I SUM|CPU|ALL|SCPU] [-u] [-P num|ALL] [INTERVAL [COUNT]]
Per-processor statistics
-A Same as -I ALL -u -P ALL
-I SUM|CPU|ALL|SCPU Report interrupt statistics
-P num|ALL Processor to monitor
-u Report CPU utilization
mv [-fin] SOURCE DEST or: mv [-fin] SOURCE... DIRECTORY
Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY
-f Don't prompt before overwriting
-i Interactive, prompt before overwrite
-n Don't overwrite an existing file
nc [IPADDR PORT]
Open a pipe to IP:PORT
nice [-n ADJUST] [PROG ARGS]
Change scheduling priority, run PROG
-n ADJUST Adjust priority by ADJUST
nohup PROG ARGS
Run PROG immune to hangups, with output to a non-tty
od [-aBbcDdeFfHhIiLlOovXx] [FILE]
Print FILE (or stdin) unambiguously, as octal bytes by default
patch [OPTIONS] [ORIGFILE [PATCHFILE]]
-p,--strip N Strip N leading components from file names
-i,--input DIFF Read DIFF instead of stdin
-R,--reverse Reverse patch
-N,--forward Ignore already applied patches
-E,--remove-empty-files Remove output files if they become empty
pgrep [-flnovx] [-s SID|-P PPID|PATTERN]
Display process(es) selected by regex PATTERN
-l Show command name too
-f Match against entire command line
-n Show the newest process only
-o Show the oldest process only
-v Negate the match
-x Match whole name (not substring)
-s Match session ID (0 for current)
-P Match parent process ID
pkill [-l|-SIGNAL] [-fnovx] [-s SID|-P PPID|PATTERN]
Send a signal to process(es) selected by regex PATTERN
-l List all signals
-f Match against entire command line
-n Signal the newest process only
-o Signal the oldest process only
-v Negate the match
-x Match whole name (not substring)
-s Match session ID (0 for current)
-P Match parent process ID
pmap [-xq] PID
Display detailed process memory usage
-x Show details
-q Quiet
powertop
Analyze power consumption on Intel-based laptops
printenv [VARIABLE]...
Print environment VARIABLEs. If no VARIABLE specified, print all.
printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
Format and print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, where FORMAT controls the output exactly as in C printf
ps
Show list of processes
w Wide output
pscan [-cb] [-p MIN_PORT] [-P MAX_PORT] [-t TIMEOUT] [-T MIN_RTT] HOST
Scan a host, print all open ports
-c Show closed ports too
-b Show blocked ports too
-p Scan from this port (default 1)
-P Scan up to this port (default 1024)
-t Timeout (default 5000 ms)
-T Minimum rtt (default 5 ms, increase for congested hosts)
pstree [-p] [PID|USER]
Display process tree, optionally start from USER or PID
-p Show pids
pwd
Print the full filename of the current working directory
pwdx PID...
Show current directory for PIDs
readlink [-fnv] FILE
Display the value of a symlink
-f Canonicalize by following all symlinks
-n Don't add newline
-v Verbose
readprofile [OPTIONS]
-m mapfile (Default: /boot/System.map)
-p profile (Default: /proc/profile)
-M NUM Set the profiling multiplier to NUM
-i Print only info about the sampling step
-v Verbose
-a Print all symbols, even if count is 0
-b Print individual histogram-bin counts
-s Print individual counters within functions
-r Reset all the counters (root only)
-n Disable byte order auto-detection
realpath FILE...
Return the absolute pathnames of given FILE
renice {{-n INCREMENT} | PRIORITY} [[-p | -g | -u] ID...]
Change scheduling priority for a running process
-n Adjust current nice value (smaller is faster)
-p Process id(s) (default)
-g Process group id(s)
-u Process user name(s) and/or id(s)
reset
Reset the screen
resize
Resize the screen
rev [FILE]...
Reverse lines of FILE
rm [-irf] FILE...
Remove (unlink) FILEs
-i Always prompt before removing
-f Never prompt
-R,-r Recurse
rmdir [OPTIONS] DIRECTORY...
Remove DIRECTORY if it is empty
-p Include parents
rpm -i PACKAGE.rpm; rpm -qp[ildc] PACKAGE.rpm
Manipulate RPM packages
| Commands:n | ||
| -i | Install package | |
| -qp | Query package | |
| -i | Show information | |
| -l | List contents | |
| -d | List documents | |
| -c | List config files |
rpm2cpio package.rpm
Output a cpio archive of the rpm file
run-parts [-t] [-l] [-a ARG] [-u MASK] DIRECTORY
Run a bunch of scripts in DIRECTORY
-t Print what would be run, but don't actually run anything
-a ARG Pass ARG as argument for every program
-u MASK Set the umask to MASK before running every program
-l Print names of all matching files even if they are not executable
scriptreplay timingfile [typescript [divisor]]
Play back typescripts, using timing information
sed [-efinr] SED_CMD [FILE]...
-e CMD Add CMD to sed commands to be executed
-f FILE Add FILE contents to sed commands to be executed
-i Edit files in-place (else sends result to stdout)
-n Suppress automatic printing of pattern space
-r Use extended regex syntax
If no -e or -f, the first non-option argument is the sed command string. Remaining arguments are input files (stdin if none).
seq [-w] [-s SEP] [FIRST [INC]] LAST
Print numbers from FIRST to LAST, in steps of INC. FIRST, INC default to 1.
-w Pad to last with leading zeros
-s SEP String separator
setsid PROG ARGS
Run PROG in a new session. PROG will have no controlling terminal
and will not be affected by keyboard signals (Ctrl-C etc).
See setsid(2) for details.
sh [-/+OPTIONS] [-/+o OPT]... [-c 'SCRIPT' [ARG0 [ARGS]] / FILE [ARGS]]
Unix shell interpreter
sha1sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...
Print or check SHA1 checksums
-c Check sums against list in FILEs
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
sha256sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...
Print or check SHA256 checksums
-c Check sums against list in FILEs
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
sha512sum [-c[sw]] [FILE]...
Print or check SHA512 checksums
-c Check sums against list in FILEs
-s Don't output anything, status code shows success
-w Warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
sleep [N]...
Pause for a time equal to the total of the args given, where each arg can have an optional suffix of (s)econds, (m)inutes, (h)ours, or (d)ays
smemcap >SMEMDATA.TAR
Collect memory usage data in /proc and write it to stdout
sort [-nrugMcszbdfimSTokt] [-o FILE] [-k start[.offset][opts][,end[.offset][opts]] [-t CHAR] [FILE]...
Sort lines of text
-b Ignore leading blanks
-c Check whether input is sorted
-d Dictionary order (blank or alphanumeric only)
-f Ignore case
-g General numerical sort
-i Ignore unprintable characters
-k Sort key
-M Sort month
-n Sort numbers
-o Output to file
-k Sort by key
-t CHAR Key separator
-r Reverse sort order
-s Stable (don't sort ties alphabetically)
-u Suppress duplicate lines
-z Lines are terminated by NUL, not newline
-mST Ignored for GNU compatibility
split [OPTIONS] [INPUT [PREFIX]]
-b N[k|m] Split by N (kilo|mega)bytes
-l N Split by N lines
-a N Use N letters as suffix
strings [-afo] [-n LEN] [FILE]...
Display printable strings in a binary file
-a Scan whole file (default)
-f Precede strings with filenames
-n LEN At least LEN characters form a string (default 4)
-o Precede strings with decimal offsets
sum [-rs] [FILE]...
Checksum and count the blocks in a file
-r Use BSD sum algorithm (1K blocks)
-s Use System V sum algorithm (512byte blocks)
sync
Write all buffered blocks to disk
sysctl [OPTIONS] [VALUE]...
Configure kernel parameters at runtime
-n Don't print key names
-e Don't warn about unknown keys
-w Change sysctl setting
-p FILE Load sysctl settings from FILE (default /etc/sysctl.conf)
-a Display all values
-A Display all values in table form
syslogd [OPTIONS]
System logging utility
-n Run in foreground
-O FILE Log to FILE (default:/var/log/messages)
-l N Log only messages more urgent than prio N (1-8)
-S Smaller output
-s SIZE Max size (KB) before rotation (default:200KB, 0=off)
-b N N rotated logs to keep (default:1, max=99, 0=purge)
-R HOST[:PORT] Log to IP or hostname on PORT (default PORT=514/UDP)
-L Log locally and via network (default is network only if -R)
-C[size_kb] Log to shared mem buffer (use logread to read it)
-f FILE Use FILE as config (default:/etc/syslog.conf)
tail [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Print last 10 lines of each FILE (or stdin) to stdout. With more than one FILE, precede each with a filename header.
-f Print data as file grows
-s SECONDS Wait SECONDS between reads with -f
-n N[kbm] Print last N lines
-c N[kbm] Print last N bytes
-q Never print headers
-v Always print headers
N may be suffixed by k (x1024), b (x512), or m (x1024^2). If N starts with a '+', output begins with the Nth item from the start of each file, not from the end.
tar -[cxtZzjahmvO] [-X FILE] [-T FILE] [-f TARFILE] [-C DIR] [FILE]...
Create, extract, or list files from a tar file
| Operation:n | ||
| c | Create | |
| x | Extract | |
| t | List | |
| f | Name of TARFILE ('-' for stdin/out) | |
| C | Change to DIR before operation | |
| v | Verbose | |
| Z | (De)compress using compress | |
| z | (De)compress using gzip | |
| j | (De)compress using bzip2 | |
| a | (De)compress using lzma | |
| O | Extract to stdout | |
| h | Follow symlinks | |
| m | Don't restore mtime | |
| exclude | File to exclude | |
| X | File with names to exclude | |
| T | File with names to include |
tee [-ai] [FILE]...
Copy stdin to each FILE, and also to stdout
-a Append to the given FILEs, don't overwrite
-i Ignore interrupt signals (SIGINT)
telnet [-a] [-l USER] HOST [PORT]
Connect to telnet server
-a Automatic login with $USER variable
-l USER Automatic login as USER
telnetd [OPTIONS]
Handle incoming telnet connections
-l LOGIN Exec LOGIN on connect
-f ISSUE_FILE Display ISSUE_FILE instead of /etc/issue
-K Close connection as soon as login exits
(normally wait until all programs close slave pty)
-p PORT Port to listen on
-b ADDR[:PORT] Address to bind to
-F Run in foreground
-i Inetd mode
-w SEC Inetd 'wait' mode, linger time SEC
-S Log to syslog (implied by -i or without -F and -w)
test EXPRESSION ]
Check file types, compare values etc. Return a 0/1 exit code depending on logical value of EXPRESSION
tftp [OPTIONS] HOST [PORT]
Transfer a file from/to tftp server
-l FILE Local FILE
-r FILE Remote FILE
-g Get file
-p Put file
-b SIZE Transfer blocks of SIZE octets
tftpd [-cr] [-u USER] [DIR]
Transfer a file on tftp client's request
tftpd should be used as an inetd service. tftpd's line for inetd.conf: 69 dgram udp nowait root tftpd tftpd -l /files/to/serve It also can be ran from udpsvd:n udpsvd -vE 0.0.0.0 69 tftpd /files/to/serve
-r Prohibit upload
-c Allow file creation via upload
-u Access files as USER
-l Log to syslog (inetd mode requires this)
timeout [-t SECS] [-s SIG] PROG ARGS
Runs PROG. Sends SIG to it if it is not gone in SECS seconds. Defaults: SECS: 10, SIG: TERM.
touch [-c] FILE [FILE]...
Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s]
-c Don't create files
tr [-cds] STRING1 [STRING2]
Translate, squeeze, or delete characters from stdin, writing to stdout
-c Take complement of STRING1
-d Delete input characters coded STRING1
-s Squeeze multiple output characters of STRING2 into one character
true
Return an exit code of TRUE (0)
tty
Print file name of stdin's terminal
-s Print nothing, only return exit status
ttysize [w] [h]
Print dimension(s) of stdin's terminal, on error return 80x25
uname [-amnrspv]
Print system information
-a Print all
-m The machine (hardware) type
-n Hostname
-r OS release
-s OS name (default)
-p Processor type
-v OS version
uncompress [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress .Z file[s]
-c Write to stdout
-f Overwrite
unexpand [-fa][-t N] [FILE]...
Convert spaces to tabs, writing to stdout
-a,--all Convert all blanks
-f,--first-only Convert only leading blanks
-t,--tabs=N Tabstops every N chars
uniq [-cdu][-f,s,w N] [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
Discard duplicate lines
-c Prefix lines by the number of occurrences
-d Only print duplicate lines
-u Only print unique lines
-f N Skip first N fields
-s N Skip first N chars (after any skipped fields)
-w N Compare N characters in line
unix2dos [-ud] [FILE]
Convert FILE in-place from Unix to DOS format. When no file is given, use stdin/stdout.
-u dos2unix
-d unix2dos
unlzma [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress FILE (or stdin)
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
unlzop [-cfvCF] [FILE]...
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
-v Verbose
-F Don't store or verify checksum
unxz [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress FILE (or stdin)
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
unzip [-opts[modifiers]] FILE[.zip] [LIST] [-x XLIST] [-d DIR]
Extract files from ZIP archives
-l List archive contents (with -q for short form)
-n Never overwrite files (default)
-o Overwrite
-p Send output to stdout
-q Quiet
-x XLST Exclude these files
-d DIR Extract files into DIR
usleep N
Pause for N microseconds
uudecode [-o OUTFILE] [INFILE]
Uudecode a file Finds outfile name in uuencoded source unless -o is given
uuencode [-m] [INFILE] STORED_FILENAME
Uuencode a file to stdout
-m Use base64 encoding per RFC1521
vi [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
Edit FILE
-c Initial command to run ($EXINIT also available)
-R Read-only
-H Short help regarding available features
volname [DEVICE]
Show CD volume name of the DEVICE (default /dev/cdrom)
watch [-n SEC] [-t] PROG ARGS
Run PROG periodically
-n Loop period in seconds (default 2)
-t Don't print header
wc [-cmlwL] [FILE]...
Count lines, words, and bytes for each FILE (or stdin)
-c Count bytes
-m Count characters
-l Count newlines
-w Count words
-L Print longest line length
| wget [-c|--continue] [-s|--spider] [-q|--quiet] [-O|--output-document FILE] | |
| [--header 'header: value'] [-Y|--proxy on/off] [-P DIR] | |
| [--no-check-certificate] [-U|--user-agent AGENT] [-T SEC] URL... |
Retrieve files via HTTP or FTP
-s Spider mode - only check file existence
-c Continue retrieval of aborted transfer
-q Quiet
-P DIR Save to DIR (default .)
-T SEC Network read timeout is SEC seconds
-O FILE Save to FILE ('-' for stdout)
-U STR Use STR for User-Agent header
-Y Use proxy ('on' or 'off')
which [COMMAND]...
Locate a COMMAND
whoami
Print the user name associated with the current effective user id
xargs [OPTIONS] [PROG ARGS]
Run PROG on every item given by stdin
-p Ask user whether to run each command
-r Don't run command if input is empty
-0 Input is separated by NUL characters
-t Print the command on stderr before execution
-e[STR] STR stops input processing
-n N Pass no more than N args to PROG
-s N Pass command line of no more than N bytes
-x Exit if size is exceeded
xz -d [-cf] [FILE]...
Decompress FILE (or stdin)
-d Decompress
-c Write to stdout
-f Force
xzcat FILE
Decompress to stdout
yes [STRING]
Repeatedly output a line with STRING, or 'y'
zcat FILE
Decompress to stdout
GNU Libc (glibc) 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. This is implemented using an /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file, and using one or more of the /lib/libnss_* libraries. BusyBox tries to avoid using any libc calls that make use of NSS. Some applets however, such as login and su, will use libc functions that require NSS.
If you enable CONFIG_USE_BB_PWD_GRP, BusyBox will use internal functions to directly access the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and /etc/shadow files without using NSS. This may allow you to run your system without the need for installing any of the NSS configuration files and libraries.
When used with glibc, the BusyBox 'networking' applets will similarly require that you install at least some of the glibc NSS stuff (in particular, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /lib/libnss_dns*, /lib/libnss_files*, and /lib/libresolv*).
Shameless Plug: As an alternative, one could use a C library such as uClibc. In addition to making your system significantly smaller, uClibc does not require the use of any NSS support files or libraries.
Denis Vlasenko <vda.linux@googlemail.com>
The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether they know it or not. If you have written code included in BusyBox, you should probably be listed here so you can obtain your bit of eternal glory. If you should be listed here, or the description of what you have done needs more detail, or is incorrect, please send in an update.
Emanuele Aina <emanuele.aina@tiscali.it> run-parts
Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>
Tons of new stuff, major rewrite of most of the
core apps, tons of new apps as noted in header files.
Lots of tedious effort writing these boring docs that
nobody is going to actually read.
Laurence Anderson <l.d.anderson@warwick.ac.uk>
rpm2cpio, unzip, get_header_cpio, read_gz interface, rpm
Jeff Angielski <jeff@theptrgroup.com>
ftpput, ftpget
Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>
expr, hostid, logname, whoami
John Beppu <beppu@codepoet.org>
du, nslookup, sort
Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>
tiny-ls(ls)
Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>
fbset, ping, hostname
Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>
more(v2), makedevs, dutmp, modularization, auto links file,
various fixes, Linux Router Project maintenance
Jordan Crouse <jordan@cosmicpenguin.net>
ipcalc
Magnus Damm <damm@opensource.se>
tftp client insmod powerpc support
Larry Doolittle <ldoolitt@recycle.lbl.gov>
pristine source directory compilation, lots of patches and fixes.
Glenn Engel <glenne@engel.org>
httpd
Gennady Feldman <gfeldman@gena01.com>
Sysklogd (single threaded syslogd, IPC Circular buffer support,
logread), various fixes.
Karl M. Hegbloom <karlheg@debian.org>
cp_mv.c, the test suite, various fixes to utility.c, &c.
Daniel Jacobowitz <dan@debian.org>
mktemp.c
Matt Kraai <kraai@alumni.cmu.edu>
documentation, bugfixes, test suite
Stephan Linz <linz@li-pro.net>
ipcalc, Red Hat equivalence
John Lombardo <john@deltanet.com>
tr
Glenn McGrath <bug1@iinet.net.au>
Common unarchiving code and unarchiving applets, ifupdown, ftpgetput,
nameif, sed, patch, fold, install, uudecode.
Various bugfixes, review and apply numerous patches.
Manuel Novoa III <mjn3@codepoet.org>
cat, head, mkfifo, mknod, rmdir, sleep, tee, tty, uniq, usleep, wc, yes,
mesg, vconfig, make_directory, parse_mode, dirname, mode_string,
get_last_path_component, simplify_path, and a number trivial libbb routines
also bug fixes, partial rewrites, and size optimizations in
ash, basename, cal, cmp, cp, df, du, echo, env, ln, logname, md5sum, mkdir,
mv, realpath, rm, sort, tail, touch, uname, watch, arith, human_readable,
interface, dutmp, ifconfig, route
Vladimir Oleynik <dzo@simtreas.ru>
cmdedit; xargs(current), httpd(current);
ports: ash, crond, fdisk, inetd, stty, traceroute, top;
locale, various fixes
and irreconcilable critic of everything not perfect.
Bruce Perens <bruce@pixar.com>
Original author of BusyBox in 1995, 1996. Some of his code can
still be found hiding here and there...
Tim Riker <Tim@Rikers.org>
bug fixes, member of fan club
Kent Robotti <robotti@metconnect.com>
reset, tons and tons of bug reports and patches.
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>
grep, sed, cut, xargs(previous),
style-guide, new-applet-HOWTO, bug fixes, etc.
Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>
gzip, mini-netcat(nc)
Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>
tarcat (since removed), loadkmap, various fixes, Debian maintenance
Tito Ragusa <farmatito@tiscali.it>
devfsd and size optimizations in strings, openvt and deallocvt.
Paul Fox <pgf@foxharp.boston.ma.us>
vi editing mode for ash, various other patches/fixes
Roberto A. Foglietta <me@roberto.foglietta.name>
port: dnsd
Bernhard Reutner-Fischer <rep.dot.nop@gmail.com>
misc
Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
initial e2fsprogs, printenv, setarch, sum, misc
Jie Zhang <jie.zhang@analog.com>
fixed two bugs in msh and hush (exitcode of killed processes)