Skip to content

Terminal Quick Reference

Terminal code snippets in the documentation assume a BASH shell, but many commands are supported in a Unix shell and even Windows PowerShell.

Common Symbols

  • ~ refers to the user's home directory. This is usually equivalent to /home/$USER and most shells will automatically fill in the real path.
  • $ at the beginning of a line indicates the command is expected to be run as a regular non-root user
  • # at the beginning of a line indicates the command is expected to be run as the root user

Common Shell Short-keys

  • ctrl+c will kill the current process in a terminal. This can break some scripts, so be careful when interrupting processes
  • ctrl+d will exit a shell; if you have an open ssh connection, it will close the connection or if you're just in a regular shell, it will exit.

FAQ

Typed input isn't showing up in the terminal

  • First, make sure the window you're trying to type into has focus (click or tap on it). Usually, you'll see a blinking line or square where you're typing
  • If you're entering a password, input is often not printed to the terminal for security. Type your password and press Enter; Backspace should work normally too.

There's an authenticity warning or error when I try to SSH to my device

  • When you try to connect to a new device via SSH, your computer will ask you if this is a trusted connection; type yes to connect after making sure you have the correct IP address entered.
  • If a different device is found at an address you've used before, you'll have a different warning like the one below that the host device is changed. You can follow the directions to remove the old device key with: ssh-keygen -f "/home/d_mcknight/.ssh/known_hosts" -R "<device_ip>" @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY! Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)! It is also possible that a host key has just been changed. The fingerprint for the ED25519 key sent by the remote host is SHA256:A6cPMYCjIHujtDAp1uVrcMId+5416d8VOqdHIPu1Sl0. Please contact your system administrator. Add correct host key in /home/d_mcknight/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message. Offending ECDSA key in /home/d_mcknight/.ssh/known_hosts:12 remove with: ssh-keygen -f "/home/d_mcknight/.ssh/known_hosts" -R "192.168.1.142" Host key for 192.168.1.142 has changed and you have requested strict checking. Host key verification failed.