Windows OS Basic CLI Commands Cheat Sheet

Commands

Help or /?	gets available commands, or displays help info for commands	`echo /?`
echo	prints following info to STDOUT	`echo hello world`
type	prints file contents to STDOUT	`type helloWorld.txt`
>	redirect; sends output to file	`command > filename`
>>	append	`command >> filename`
<	type's filename and sends text to command	`command < filename`
2>	sends error message to file	`echpo 2> error.txt`
\|	pipes output from left to right	`command1 \| command 2`
hostname	displays hostname of system	`hostname`
ver	displays windows version	`ver`
vol	displays disk volume label and serial number	`vol`
systeminfo	config information for local or remote machine; includes service pack levels	`systeminfo`
set	used to manage variables	`set mySweetVariable=whatItEquals`
cd	"change directory"; displays the name of current or changes directory	`cd c:\`
dir	"directory"; used to display contents of files and sub directories of current working directory	`dir c:\myDirectory`
mkdir/md	make directory	`md c:\myDirectory\childDirectory`
rmdir/rd	remove directory	`rd c:\myDirectory\childDirectory`
more	prints to STDOUT, but one screen at a time	`more reallyLongText.txt`
copy	copies one or more files to another location	`copy file.txt c:\newLocation\file.txt`
xcopy	copies files and filders	`xcopy c:\misplacedDirectory c:\correct\rightSpotDirectory`
move	moves files from one folder till another	`move .\document.txt c:\document.txt`
ren/rename	rename a file or files	`ren monday.txt Tuesday`
del	deletes one or more files	`del basura.txt`
find	search for a text string in a file & display all the lines where it is found	`find \I "hard to find text`
findstr	search for a text string in a file & display all the lines where it is found; supports regular expressions	`findstr /r "^[1-9][0-9]" sales.txt`
attrib	displays or changes files attributes if a file has the System or Hidden attribute set, you must clear that attribute before you can change any other attributes	`attrib +H +S makeMeHiddenAndSystem.txt`
icacls	change file and folder permissions - display or modify Access Control Lists (ACLs) for files and folders RTFM (Read The F@#$ing Manual)	Read the Damned Help File
fc	compare the contents of two files or sets of files; display any lines which do NOT match	`fc fileOne.txt fileTwo.txt`
comp	compare two files (or sets of files) ; display items that do not match	`comp fileOne fileTwo`
shutdown	shutdown or restart a computer	`shutdown /t 120`
tasklist	displays all running applications and services with their Process ID (PID) This can be run on either a local or a remote computer	`tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Calculator.exe"`
sc	Service Control - Create, Start, Stop, Query or Delete any Windows SERVICE. The command options for SC are case sensitive	`sc query type= driver` RTFM
net	manage network resources	`net group "administrators' /domain` RTFM
ipconfig	displays network adaptor information	`ipconfig /all`
ping	test a network connection - if successful, ping returns the ip address	`ping -n 1 8.8.8.8`
tracert	"tracer route" tracks path to destination and counts hops (can also resolve ip addresses if used on domain names)	`tracert WRKST002`
netstat	display current TCP/IP network connections and protocol statistics	`netstat -a` RTFM
time	displays time	`time /T`
date	displays date	`date /T`

Success and failures for commands are based on the Exit Code of the command.
In most cases the Exit Code is the same as the ErrorLevel
Numeric handles:

STDIN = 0 Keyboard input
STDOUT = 1 Text output
STDERR = 2 Error text output
UNDEFINED = 3-9

Make Macro For Answer Sheet Creation

doskey banner=(echo. ^& echo *** Step $* *** ^& echo.) ^>^> c:\location\answers.txt

MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR ANSWER FILE IN THE RIGHT PLACE

Windows OS Basic CLI Commands Cheat Sheet by steps

Commands

Created By

Metadata

Comments

Add a Comment

Related Cheat Sheets

Latest Cheat Sheet

Random Cheat Sheet

About Cheatography

Behind the Scenes

Recent Cheat Sheet Activity

Please Disable Your Ad Blocker