Search for a Command Based on What It Does
man -kWith just a little training, you find that you can zoom around man pages and find exactly what you need...assuming you know which man page to read. What if you know a little about what a command does, but you don't know the actual name of the command? Try using the -k option (or --apropos) and search for a word or phrase that describes the kind of command you want to discover. You'll get back a list of all commands whose name or synopsis matches your search term. $ man list No manual entry for list $ man -k list last (1) - show listing of last logged in users ls (1) - list directory contents lshal (1) - List devices and their properties lshw (1) - list hardware lsof (8) - list open files [Listing condensed due to length] Be careful with the -k option, as it can produce a long list of results, and you might miss what you were looking for. Don't be afraid to try a different search term if you think it might help you find the command you need. Tip The -k option, also represented by --apropos, is exactly the same as the apropos command. |
