GNU Core Utilities

GNU Core Utilities

Developer(s)	GNU Project
Stable release	9.7 [1]   / 9 April 2025
Repository	git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git
Written in	C, shell script [2]
Operating system	Unix-like
Type	Miscellaneous utilities
License	2007, GPL 3.0 or later since version 6.10 2002, GPL 2.0 or later until version 6.9
Website	www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/

The GNU Core Utilities or coreutils is a collection of GNU software that implements many standard, Unix-based shell commands. The utilities generally provide POSIX compliant interface when the POSIXLY_CORRECT environment variable is set, but otherwise offers a superset to the standard interface. For example, the utilities support long options and options after parameters. This environment variable enables a different functionality in BSD.

Similar collections are available in the FOSS ecosystem, with a slightly different scope and focus (less functionality), or license. For example, BusyBox which is licensed under GPL-2.0-only, and Toybox which is licensed under 0BSD.

Commands

The commands implemented by coreutils are listed below. Throughout this article and customary for Unix-based systems, the term file refers to all file system items including regular files and special files such as directories.

File utilities

• chcon– Changes file security context (SELinux)
• chgrp – Changes file group ownership
• chown – Changes file user ownership
• chmod – Changes file permissions
• cp – Copies files
• dd – Copies and converts file data
• df – Reports file system free space
• dir – Like ls -C -b; by default lists files in columns, sorted vertically
• dircolors– Configures colors used for ls output
• install – Copies files and sets file attributes
• ln – Creates a link to a file
• ls – Lists files
• mkdir – Creates directories
• mkfifo – Creates named pipes (FIFOs)
• mknod – Creates block or character special files
• mktemp – Creates temporary regular files or directories
• mv – Moves and renames files
• realpath– Reports the absolute or relative path of a file
• rm – Deletes files
• rmdir – Deletes empty directories
• shred – Overwrites a file to hide its contents and optionally deletes it
• sync – Flushes file system buffers
• touch – Changes file timestamps; creating files if they do not exist
• truncate– Sets the size of a file via truncation or extension
• vdir – Like ls -l -b; by default lists files in long format

Text utilities

• b2sum– Computes and checks BLAKE2b message digest
• base32– Encodes or decodes base32
• base64– Encodes or decodes base64
• basenc– Encodes or decodes various encodings including hexadecimal, base32, base64, and Z85
• cat – Concatenates files
• cksum – Report or compute the checksum of files
• comm – Compares two sorted files line by line
• csplit – Splits a file into sections determined by context lines
• cut – Removes sections from each line of files
• expand – Converts tabs to spaces
• fmt – Formats text
• fold – Wraps each input line to fit in specified width
• head – Outputs the first part of files
• join – Joins lines of two files on a common field
• md5sum – Computes and checks MD5 message digest
• nl – Numbers lines of files
• numfmt– Formats numbers
• od – Dumps files in octal and other formats
• paste – Merges lines of files
• ptx – Produces a permuted index of file contents
• pr – Paginates or columnates files
• sha1sum , sha224sum, sha256sum, sha384sum, sha512sum– Computes and checks SHA-1/SHA-2 message digests
• shuf – Generates random permutations
• sort – Sorts lines of text files
• split – Splits a file into pieces
• sum – Checksums and counts the blocks in a file
• tac– Concatenates files in reverse order; line by line
• tail – Outputs the last part of files
• tr – Translates or deletes characters
• tsort – Performs a topological sort
• unexpand – Converts spaces to tabs
• uniq – Removes duplicate lines from a sorted file
• wc – Reports the number of bytes, words, and lines in files

Shell utilities

• arch – Reports machine hardware name; same as uname -m
• basename – Removes the path prefix from a given pathname
• chroot – Changes the root directory
• date – Reports or sets the system date and time
• dirname – Strips non-directory suffix from file name
• du – Shows disk usage on file systems
• echo – Outputs text
• env – Reports and modifies environment variables
• expr – Evaluates expressions
• factor – Factors numbers
• false – Does nothing but exit with unsuccessful status
• groups – Reports the groups of which the user is a member
• hostid– Reports the numeric identifier for the current host
• id – Reports the real or effective UID and GID
• link – Creates a link to a file
• logname – Reports the user's login name
• nice – Modifies scheduling priority
• nohup – Allows a command to continue running after logging out
• nproc– Queries the number of (active) processors
• pathchk– Checks whether file names are valid or portable
• pinky– A lightweight version of finger
• printenv – Reports environment variables
• printf – Formats text
• pwd – Reports the current working directory
• readlink – Reports the value of a symbolic link
• runcon– Run command with specified security context
• seq – Reports a sequence of numbers
• sleep – Blocks (delays, waits) for a specified amount of time
• stat – Reports information about an inode
• stdbuf– Runs a command with custom standard streams configuration
• stty – Changes and reports terminal line settings
• tee – Sends output to multiple files
• test – Evaluates an expression
• timeout– Runs a command with a time limit
• true – Does nothing but exit with success status
• tty– Reports the terminal name
• uname – Reports system information
• unlink – Removes files via unlink() function
• uptime – Reports how long the system has been running
• users – Reports the user names of users currently logged into the current host
• who – Reports logged-in users
• whoami – Reports the effective userid
• yes – Outputs a string repeatedly
• [– Synonym for test that enables expressions like [ expression ]

History

In 1990, David MacKenzie announced GNU fileutils. ^[3]

In 1991, MacKenzie announced GNU shellutils and GNU textutils. ^{[4] [5]} Moreover, Jim Meyering became the maintainer of the packages (known now as coreutils) and has remained so since. ^[6]

In September 2002, the GNU coreutils were created by merging the earlier packages textutils, shellutils, and fileutils, along with some other miscellaneous utilities. ^[7]

In July 2007, the license of the GNU coreutils was updated from GPL-2.0-or-later to GPL-3.0-or-later. ^[8]

See also

• Free and open-source software portal

• GNOME Core Applications  – Software applications built with the GNOME philosophy in mind
• GNU Binutils  – GNU software development tools for executable code
• List of GNU packages
• List of KDE applications  – Set of applications and supporting librariesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• List of POSIX commands
• List of Unix daemons
• List of web browsers for Unix and Unix-like operating systems
• Toybox  – Collection of Unix tools in single executable file
• Unix philosophy  – Software development philosophy
• util-linux  – Package of Linux utilities from the Linux Kernel Organization

References

1. Pádraig Brady (9 April 2025). "coreutils-9.7 released [stable]" . Retrieved 9 April 2025.
2. "The GNU Core Utilities Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page". Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
3. "GNU file utilities release 1.0". groups.google.com.
4. "GNU shell programming utilities released". groups.google.com.
5. "new GNU file and text utilities released". groups.google.com.
6. "GNU's Who".
7. Meyering, Jim (2003-01-13). "README-package-renamed-to-coreutils". Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
8. Meyering, Jim (2007-07-23). "COPYING: Update to Version 3". Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2018-08-15.

External links

• Official website
• Manual
• README
• The Heirloom Toolchest - An alternative set of utilities
• opensource.com article: gnu-core-utilities on 4 Apr 2018 by David Both (Correspondent)
• Rosetta Stone For *Nix – configurable list of equivalent programs for *nix systems.
• The Unix Acronym List – explains the names of many Unix commands.
• The UNIX System Homepage