3 busybox - I am BusyBox of Borg. Unix will be assimilated.
7 busybox <function> [arguments...] # or
9 <function> [arguments...] # if symlinked
13 BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix utilities into a
14 single executable. Most people will create a link to busybox for each function
15 they wish to use, and BusyBox will act like whatever it was invoked as. For
21 will cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls' (if the 'ls' command has been compiled
22 into busybox). You can also invoke BusyBox by providing it the command to run
23 on the command line. For example,
27 will also cause BusyBox to behave as 'ls'.
29 BusyBox has been written with size-optimization in mind. It is very easy to
30 include or exclude the commands (or features) you want installed. BusyBox
31 tries to make itself useful to small systems with limited resources.
35 Currently defined functions include:
37 basename, cat, chmod, chown, chgrp, chroot, clear, chvt, cp, mv, date,
38 dd, df, dirname, dmesg, du, dutmp, echo, fbset, fdflush, find, free,
39 freeramdisk, deallocvt, fsck.minix, mkfs.minix, grep, gunzip, gzip,
40 halt, head, hostid, hostname, init, kill, killall, length, ln, loadacm,
41 loadfont, loadkmap, ls, lsmod, makedevs, math, mkdir, mkfifo, mknod,
42 mkswap, mnc, more, mount, mt, nslookup, poweroff, ping, printf, ps,
43 pwd, reboot, rm, rmdir, rmmod, sed, sh, fdisk, sfdisk, sleep, sort,
44 sync, syslogd, logger, logname, swapon, swapoff, tail, tar, [, test,
45 tee, touch, tr, true, false, tty, umount, uname, uptime, uniq, update,
46 usleep, wc, whoami, yes, zcat
52 Most BusyBox commands support the "--help" option to provide a
53 terse runtime description of their behavior.
59 Usage: basename [file ...]
61 Strips directory and suffix from filenames.
65 $ basename /usr/local/bin/foo
67 $ basename /usr/local/bin/
74 Concatenates files and prints them to the standard output.
83 Usage: chmod [-R] MODE[,MODE]... FILE...
85 Changes file access permissions for the specified file(s) or directory(s).
86 Each MODE is defined by combining the letters for WHO has access to the file,
87 an OPERATOR for selecting how the permissions should be changed, and a
88 PERISSION for the file(s) or directory(s).
90 WHO may be chosen from:
92 u the User who owns the file
93 g users in the file's Group
94 o Other users not in the file's group
97 OPERATOR may be chosen from:
100 - remove a permission
101 = assign a permission
103 PERMISSION may be chosen from:
107 x eXecute (or access for directories)
108 s Set user (or group) ID bit
109 t sTickey bit (for directories prevents removing files by non-owners)
111 Alternately, permissions may be set numerically where the first three
112 numbers are calculated by adding the octal values:
118 An optional fourth digit may also be used to specify
126 -R change files and directories recursively.
131 -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
134 -rwxrw-r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo*
137 -r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
141 Usage: chown [OPTION]... OWNER[.[GROUP] FILE...
143 Changes the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.
147 -R change files and directories recursively
152 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
153 $ chown root /tmp/foo
155 -r--r--r-- 1 root andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
156 $ chown root.root /tmp/foo
158 -r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
162 Usage: chgrp [OPTION]... GROUP FILE...
164 Change the group membership of each FILE to GROUP.
168 -R change files and directories recursively
173 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen andersen 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
174 $ chgrp root /tmp/foo
176 -r--r--r-- 1 andersen root 0 Apr 12 18:25 /tmp/foo
180 Usage: chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND...]
182 Run COMMAND with root directory set to NEWROOT.
187 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Apr 13 00:46 /bin/ls -> /bin/busybox
188 $ mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt -t minix
191 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40816 Feb 5 07:45 /bin/ls*
201 Change foreground virtual terminal to /dev/ttyN
206 Usage: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
208 or: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
210 Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
214 -p preserve file attributes if possable
215 -R copy directories recursively
219 Usage: date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
221 or: date [OPTION] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]
223 Display the current time in the given FORMAT, or set the system date.
226 -R output RFC-822 compliant date string
227 -s set time described by STRING
228 -u print or set Coordinated Universal Time
233 Wed Apr 12 18:52:41 MDT 2000
237 Usage: dd [if=name] [of=name] [bs=n] [count=n] [skip=n] [seek=n]
239 Copy a file, converting and formatting according to options
241 if=FILE read from FILE instead of stdin
242 of=FILE write to FILE instead of stdout
243 bs=n read and write n bytes at a time
244 count=n copy only n input blocks
245 skip=n skip n input blocks
246 seek=n skip n output blocks
248 Numbers may be suffixed by w (x2), k (x1024), b (x512), or M (x1024^2)
253 $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram1 bs=1M count=4
259 Usage: df [filesystem ...]
261 Prints the filesystem space used and space available.
266 Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
267 /dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
268 /dev/sda1 64216 36364 27852 57% /boot
270 Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
271 /dev/sda3 8690864 8553540 137324 98% /
275 Usage: dmesg [-c] [-n level] [-s bufsize]
277 Print or controls the kernel ring buffer.
281 Usage: du [OPTION]... [FILE]...
283 Summarize disk space used for each FILE and/or directory.
284 Disk space is printed in units of 1k (i.e. 1024 bytes).
287 -l count sizes many times if hard linked
288 -s display only a total for each argument
294 12 ./kernel-patches/CVS
307 Usage: fbset [options] [mode]
309 Show and modify frame buffer device settings
329 Usage: find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION]
331 Search for files in a directory hierarchy. The default PATH is
332 the current directory; default EXPRESSION is '-print'
335 EXPRESSION may consist of:
337 Dereference symbolic links.
339 File name (with leading directories removed) matches PATTERN.
341 print the full file name followed by a newline to stdout.
345 $ find / -name /etc/passwd
352 Displays the amount of free and used memory in the system.
357 total used free shared buffers
358 Mem: 257628 248724 8904 59644 93124
359 Swap: 128516 8404 120112
360 Total: 386144 257128 129016
367 Deallocates unused virtual terminal /dev/ttyN
372 Usage: fsck.minix [-larvsmf] /dev/name
374 Performs a consistency check for MINIX filesystems.
377 -l Lists all filenames
378 -r Perform interactive repairs
379 -a Perform automatic repairs
381 -s Outputs super-block information
382 -m Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings
383 -f Force file system check.
388 Usage: mkfs.minix [-c | -l filename] [-nXX] [-iXX] /dev/name [blocks]
390 Make a MINIX filesystem.
393 -c Check the device for bad blocks
394 -n [14|30] Specify the maximum length of filenames
395 -i Specify the number of inodes for the filesystem
396 -l FILENAME Read the bad blocks list from FILENAME
397 -v Make a Minix version 2 filesystem
402 Usage: grep [OPTIONS]... PATTERN [FILE]...
404 Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input.
407 -h suppress the prefixing filename on output
408 -i ignore case distinctions
409 -n print line number with output lines
410 -q be quiet. Returns 0 if result was found, 1 otherwise
412 This version of grep matches full regular expresions.
417 $ grep root /etc/passwd
418 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
419 $ grep ^[rR]oo. /etc/passwd
420 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
424 Usage: head [OPTION] [FILE]...
426 Print first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output.
427 With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the
428 file name. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
431 -n NUM Print first NUM lines instead of first 10
435 $ head -n 2 /etc/passwd
436 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
437 daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
441 Usage: hostname [OPTION] {hostname | -F file}
443 Get or set the hostname or DNS domain name. If a hostname is given
444 (or a file with the -F parameter), the host name will be set.
448 -i Addresses for the hostname
450 -F FILE Use the contents of FILE to specify the hostname
459 Usage: kill [-signal] process-id [process-id ...]
461 Send a signal (default is SIGTERM) to the specified process(es).
464 -l List all signal names and numbers.
469 252 root root S [apache]
470 263 www-data www-data S [apache]
471 264 www-data www-data S [apache]
472 265 www-data www-data S [apache]
473 266 www-data www-data S [apache]
474 267 www-data www-data S [apache]
479 Usage: ln [OPTION] TARGET... LINK_NAME|DIRECTORY
480 Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET
484 -s make symbolic links instead of hard links
485 -f remove existing destination files
490 Usage: ls [-1acdelnpuxACF] [filenames...]
499 Usage: Usage: mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY...
500 Create the DIRECTORY(ies), if they do not already exist
504 -m set permission mode (as in chmod), not rwxrwxrwx - umask
505 -p no error if existing, make parent directories as needed
510 Usage: mknod NAME TYPE MAJOR MINOR
511 Make block or character special files.
515 b: Make a block (buffered) device.
516 c or u: Make a character (un-buffered) device.
517 p: Make a named pipe. Major and minor are ignored for named pipes.
522 Usage: mkswap [-c] [-v0|-v1] device [block-count]
523 Prepare a disk partition to be used as a swap partition.
527 -c Check for read-ability.
528 -v0 Make version 0 swap [max 128 Megs].
529 -v1 Make version 1 swap [big!] (default for kernels > 2.1.117).
530 block-count Number of block to use (default is entire partition).
535 Usage: more [file ...]
542 mount [flags] device directory [-o options,more-options]
545 -a: Mount all file systems in fstab.
546 -o option: One of many filesystem options, listed below.
547 -r: Mount the filesystem read-only.
548 -t filesystem-type: Specify the filesystem type.
549 -w: Mount for reading and writing (default).
550 Options for use with the "-o" flag:
551 async / sync: Writes are asynchronous / synchronous.
552 dev / nodev: Allow use of special device files / disallow them.
553 exec / noexec: Allow use of executable files / disallow them.
554 loop: Mounts a file via loop device.
555 suid / nosuid: Allow set-user-id-root programs / disallow them.
556 remount: Re-mount a currently-mounted filesystem, changing its flags.
557 ro / rw: Mount for read-only / read-write.
559 There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem.
560 You'll have to see the written documentation for those.
565 Usage: mv SOURCE DEST
567 or: mv SOURCE... DIRECTORY
569 Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
584 Report process status.
585 This version of ps accepts no options.
598 Usage: rm [OPTION]... FILE...
599 Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).
603 -f remove existing destinations, never prompt
604 -r or -R remove the contents of directories recursively
609 Usage: rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
610 Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.
615 Usage: sed [-n] -e script [file...]
616 Allowed sed scripts come in the following form:
619 where address ADDR can be:
620 NUMBER Match specified line number
622 /REGEXP/ Match specified regexp
623 (! inverts the meaning of the match)
625 s/regexp/replacement/[igp]
626 which attempt to match regexp against the pattern space
627 and if successful replaces the matched portion with replacement.
629 which appends TEXT after the pattern space
633 -e add the script to the commands to be executed
634 -n suppress automatic printing of pattern space
636 This version of sed matches full regular expresions.
648 Usage: Usage: sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
655 Write all buffered filesystem blocks to disk.
660 Usage: syslogd [OPTION]...
662 Linux system and kernel (provides klogd) logging utility.
663 Note that this version of syslogd/klogd ignores /etc/syslog.conf.
667 -m Change the mark timestamp interval. default=20min. 0=off
668 -n Do not fork into the background (for when run by init)
669 -K Do not start up the klogd process (by default syslogd spawns klogd).
670 -O Specify an alternate log file. default=/var/log/messages
677 Start swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.
682 Usage: swapoff device
684 Stop swapping virtual memory pages on the given device.
689 Usage: tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
691 Print last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output.
692 With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.
693 With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
695 -c=N[kbm] output the last N bytes
696 -f output appended data as the file grows
697 -n=N output the last N lines, instead of last 10
698 -q never output headers giving file names
699 -v always output headers giving file names
700 --help display this help and exit
702 If the first character of N (bytes or lines) is a `+', output begins with
703 the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise, print the last N items
704 in the file. N bytes may be suffixed by k (x1024), b (x512), or m (1024^2).
713 Usage: tee [OPTION]... [FILE]...
714 Copy standard input to each FILE, and also to standard output.
718 -a append to the given FILEs, do not overwrite
723 Usage: touch [-c] file [file ...]
724 Update the last-modified date on the given file[s].
737 Usage: uname [OPTION]...
738 Print certain system information. With no OPTION, same as -s.
742 -a print all information
743 -m the machine (hardware) type
744 -n print the machine's network node hostname
745 -r print the operating system release
746 -s print the operating system name
747 -p print the host processor type
748 -v print the operating system version
753 Usage: Usage: umount [flags] filesystem|directory
755 -a: Unmount all file systems
760 Usage: Usage: uniq [OPTION]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
762 Discard all but one of successive identical lines from INPUT (or
763 standard input), writing to OUTPUT (or standard output).
765 -h display this help and exit
767 A field is a run of whitespace, then non-whitespace characters.
768 Fields are skipped before chars.
773 Usage: gunzip [OPTION]... FILE
775 Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-').
779 -c Write output to standard output
780 -t Test compressed file integrity
785 Usage: gunzip [OPTION]... FILE
787 Uncompress FILE (or standard input if FILE is '-').
791 -c Write output to standard output
792 -t Test compressed file integrity
797 Usage: gzip [OPTION]... FILE
799 Compress FILE with maximum compression.
800 When FILE is -, reads standard input. Implies -c.
804 -c Write output to standard output instead of FILE.gz
812 textutils(1), shellutils(1), etc...
816 Erik Andersen <erik@lineo.com>
820 The following people have contributed code to BusyBox whether
823 Erik Andersen <erik@lineo.com>
827 John Beppu <beppu@lineo.com>
831 Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com>
835 Randolph Chung <tausq@debian.org>
839 Dave Cinege <dcinege@psychosis.com>
843 Bruce Perens <bruce@perens.com>
847 Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com>
851 Charles P. Wright <cpwright@villagenet.com>
855 Enrique Zanardi <ezanardi@ull.es>