Master the Linux ‘man’ Command: Options, Parameters, and Quick Tips

man: View command help information

Function description

The man command is the Linux help utility that displays manual pages for commands, configuration files, and programming interfaces. Manual page files are stored in /usr/share/man.

Command syntax

man [options] [arguments]

Option meanings

-a

: Search across all manual pages. -w: Show the file location of the manual. -f: Equivalent to the whatis command, showing a brief description of the given keyword. -P: Specify the pager program to use. -M: Specify the search path for manual pages.

Parameter meanings

number

: Indicates which manual section to search. keyword: The keyword to look up.

Section numbers meaning

1: User commands and executable files.

2: System kernel functions and tools.

3: Functions and libraries, mainly the C library (libc).

4: Device file descriptions, usually under /dev.

5: Configuration files or file formats.

6: Games.

7: Conventions and protocols such as file systems, network protocols, ASCII code.

8: System administrator commands.

9: Kernel-related files.

10: Tcl or Tk commands.

Shortcut keys

q

: Quit. Enter: Scroll down one line. Space: Scroll down one page. b: Scroll up one page. /string: Search for a string within the manual page.

Reference examples

Running man pwd displays “PWD(1)”, where “PWD” is the manual name and “(1)” indicates section 1. Similarly, man shutdown shows “SHUTDOWN(8)”. You can also specify the section explicitly, e.g., man 5 passwd .

Example 1

View help for the mkdir command:

# man mkdir

Example 2

Find the location of the ifconfig manual:

# man -w ifconfig
/usr/share/man/man8/ifconfig.8.gz