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Tuesday, May 26, 2026

1d ago

nano — Friendly Terminal Text Editor

GNU's small, on-screen-hinted terminal text editor — the default modal-free alternative to vi/emacs that you can drive without ever learning a command vocabulary.

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nano editor cli text terminal

caffeinate — Keep macOS Awake on Demand

Prevent display, idle, system, or user-active sleep for the duration of a command, a fixed time, or a process — without permanently changing pmset.

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macos caffeinate cli power scripting

codesign — macOS Code Signing, Notarization & Stapling

End-to-end macOS distribution pipeline — sign binaries and app bundles with codesign, notarize with notarytool, staple tickets with stapler, and verify Gatekeeper acceptance with spctl.

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codesign macos security signing notarization

defaults — macOS Preferences From the Command Line

Read, write, search, and delete macOS preference plists with the `defaults` CLI: data types, domains, current-host scope, the killall dance, finding undocumented keys via plist diffing, and a curated bootstrap recipe.

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macos customization prefs web-researched

diskutil — macOS Disk & APFS Management

Command-line front-end to Disk Utility on macOS — list, partition, format, repair, encrypt, and snapshot APFS containers, plus build and tear down software RAID volumes.

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diskutil macos disk apfs sysadmin

duti — Set Default Applications on macOS

Drive macOS Launch Services from the command line — assign default apps for UTIs, file extensions, and URL schemes; understand the viewer/editor/all/shell/none roles; bulk-load file associations from a settings file; rebuild the Launch Services database when changes refuse to stick.

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duti macos cli launch-services default-apps

Homebrew — The Missing Package Manager for macOS

Install, search, upgrade, pin, tap, bottle, and bundle packages with Homebrew on macOS: formulae vs casks, brew services, Brewfile-driven machine bootstrap, Apple-Silicon vs Intel prefixes, brew doctor, brew cleanup, and recovery recipes.

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macos package-manager cli web-researched

launchctl — Managing launchd Agents and Daemons

Bootstrap, bootout, kickstart, print, and enable/disable services with launchctl on macOS: agents vs daemons, plist anatomy, user/system domains, RunAtLoad vs KeepAlive vs StartInterval vs StartCalendarInterval, and recipes for periodic scripts and on-demand workers.

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macos sysadmin services web-researched

macOS CLI — Command Line Reference

Comprehensive macOS terminal reference covering file management, processes, networking, Homebrew, defaults, diskutil, launchctl, pbcopy/pbpaste, open, say, and power-user recipes.

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macos osx terminal shell cli

mdfind — Spotlight Search From the Terminal

Query macOS's Spotlight index from the shell — fast name, content, and metadata search across the whole filesystem, with scope, attributes, and live-update modes.

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mdfind macos search cli spotlight

networksetup — macOS Network Configuration

Script every aspect of macOS network configuration — Wi-Fi joining, DNS servers, proxies, locations, and service order — from a single first-party command-line tool.

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networksetup macos networking wifi dns

osascript — Run AppleScript and JXA From the Shell

Drive macOS GUI apps, system events, dialogs, notifications, and Finder from the terminal using AppleScript or JavaScript for Automation (JXA).

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osascript applescript jxa macos automation

pbcopy & pbpaste — macOS Clipboard CLI

Pipe data into and out of the macOS pasteboard from the shell — multi-pasteboard targets, newline handling, shell aliases, and real-world copy-paste recipes.

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pbcopy pbpaste macos cli clipboard

pmset — macOS Power Management

Inspect and configure sleep, wake, hibernate, and battery behaviour on macOS. Covers per-source profiles, scheduled wake, sleep-prevention diagnostics, battery reports, and hibernate modes.

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macos pmset cli power sysadmin

sips — Scriptable Image Processing

macOS built-in image processor covering format conversion, resizing, cropping, rotation, color profiles, metadata inspection, and batch processing recipes.

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sips macos osx images convert

softwareupdate — macOS Updates From the Terminal

Deep-dive on softwareupdate(8), Apple's CLI for macOS system updates — listing pending updates, installing recommended-only or specific items, scheduling, ignoring updates, installing Rosetta and Command Line Tools, and pairing with mas and brew for full system update automation.

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softwareupdate macos sysadmin updates rosetta

system_profiler — macOS Hardware & Software Inventory

Deep-dive on system_profiler(8) — macOS's built-in inventory tool. Covers data types, text/XML/JSON output, piping into jq and plutil, common SP* probes (hardware, displays, memory, storage, USB, network, software), detail levels, and fleet inventory recipes.

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system_profiler macos sysadmin inventory hardware

tmutil — Time Machine from the Command Line

Drive Time Machine backups, destinations, exclusions, local APFS snapshots, restores, and verification entirely from the terminal — without opening System Settings.

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macos tmutil cli backup time-machine

xattr — Extended Attributes on macOS

Deep-dive on macOS extended attributes — listing, reading, writing, and removing xattrs with xattr(1); the Gatekeeper com.apple.quarantine flag; Spotlight metadata attributes; ACLs via ls -le and chmod +a; preserving attributes on copy with cp -p and rsync -X.

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xattr macos cli filesystem security

arp — ARP Cache Viewer and Editor

Display, add, and delete entries in the Windows ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) cache — map IP addresses to MAC addresses, detect IP conflicts, and diagnose Layer 2 connectivity issues.

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arp windows cli scripting sysadmin

attrib — File Attribute Manager

View and modify Windows file attributes (hidden, read-only, system, archive) from the command line. Covers all attribute flags, recursive operations, and practical recipes for unhiding malware-hidden files and managing backups.

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attrib windows cli filesystem scripting

bcdedit — Boot Configuration Data Editor

View and modify the Windows Boot Configuration Data store — manage boot entries, set default OS, change timeouts, enable debugging, and configure boot options from an elevated command prompt.

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bcdedit windows cli scripting sysadmin

beets Music Organizer

Importing, tagging, querying, and organizing a music library with beets — config, plugins, queries, and common workflows on Windows.
beets windows music audio tagging

cd — Change Directory

Navigate the Windows command prompt's current working directory. Covers drive switching, absolute and relative paths, UNC paths, and path-with-spaces quoting.

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cd windows cli filesystem scripting

certutil — Certificates, Hashing and Encoding

The dual-purpose Windows CLI for certificate-store management and as the most reliable built-in tool for file hashing, base64 encoding, and CRL/CTL handling — no install required.

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certutil certificates security hashing encoding

chkdsk — Check Disk

Scan a FAT or NTFS volume for file system errors and bad sectors, optionally repairing them — the built-in Windows disk health and integrity tool for drives and volumes.

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chkdsk windows cli scripting sysadmin

Chocolatey — Windows Package Manager

Install, upgrade, pin, and script software installs on Windows with the choco CLI, packages.config files, and custom sources.

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chocolatey choco package-manager install cli

cls — Clear Console Screen

Clear all text from the cmd.exe or PowerShell console window and reset the cursor to the top-left — the single command for resetting a terminal session's visible output.

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cls windows cli scripting batch

copy — Copy Files

Copy one or more files to a new location in the Windows command prompt. Covers single-file copy, wildcard batches, file concatenation, and binary vs ASCII modes.

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copy windows cli filesystem scripting

defrag — Disk Defragmenter CLI

Analyze, defragment, and optimize volumes from the command line — consolidate free space on HDDs, issue TRIM on SSDs, and schedule or review optimization tasks.

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defrag windows cli scripting sysadmin

del — Delete Files

Delete one or more files from the Windows command prompt. Covers wildcards, quiet mode, attribute overrides, recursive deletion patterns, and the distinction from rmdir.

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del windows cli filesystem scripting

dir — List Directory Contents

Display files and folders in a directory with filtering, sorting, formatting, and recursive traversal options. The Windows cmd.exe equivalent of Unix ls.

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dir windows cli filesystem scripting

diskpart — Disk Partition Manager

Create, delete, format, extend, shrink, and assign drive letters to disk partitions from the Windows command prompt using an interactive or scripted REPL interface.

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diskpart windows cli scripting sysadmin

dism — Deployment Image Servicing and Management

Service Windows images and the running OS — enable/disable optional features, repair the component store, mount and edit WIM/ESD images, add drivers, and manage editions from an elevated command prompt.

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dism windows cli sysadmin imaging

driverquery — List Installed Drivers

Display all installed device drivers on a local or remote Windows machine — module name, type, link date, and driver file path — for hardware audits and troubleshooting.

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driverquery windows cli scripting sysadmin

echo — Output Text and Control Command Echo

Print text to stdout, expand environment variables, write blank lines, redirect output to files, and toggle command-echoing in cmd.exe batch scripts.

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echo windows cli scripting batch

fc — File Compare

Compare two text or binary files line-by-line or byte-by-byte and report their differences — the built-in Windows equivalent of Unix diff for quick file audits in cmd.exe.

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fc windows cli scripting comparison

findstr — Search Text in Files

Search for string patterns inside files or piped input on Windows — the built-in grep equivalent for cmd.exe, with support for regular expressions, case-insensitive matching, and recursive directory searches.

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findstr windows cli scripting regex

fsutil — File System Utility

Inspect and manage NTFS file system internals — query volume info, manage hard links, sparse files, reparse points, the USN journal, and the dirty bit — from an elevated command prompt.

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fsutil windows cli scripting sysadmin

getmac — MAC Address Query

Display the MAC (hardware) addresses and associated transport names for all network adapters on a local or remote Windows machine — useful for asset inventory, DHCP reservation setup, and network access control.

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getmac windows cli scripting sysadmin

gpresult & gpupdate — Group Policy Diagnostics and Refresh

Inspect the Resultant Set of Policy that applied to a user and computer with gpresult, then force a refresh with gpupdate — including HTML reports, scope filtering, and the classic 'why didn't my GPO take effect?' workflow.

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gpresult gpupdate windows cli sysadmin

hostname — Print Machine Name

Display the DNS hostname of the local Windows machine from the command prompt — useful in scripts to identify the machine without parsing systeminfo output.

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hostname windows cli scripting networking

icacls — ACL Editor

Display and modify NTFS access control lists on files and directories — grant, deny, or remove permissions for users and groups, manage inheritance, and save or restore full ACL sets.

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icacls windows cli scripting sysadmin

ipconfig — IP Configuration

Display and manage TCP/IP network configuration for all adapters on a Windows machine — covers full adapter details, DNS cache operations, and DHCP lease management.

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ipconfig windows cli networking scripting

logman — Performance Monitor CLI

Create, start, stop, and manage Data Collector Sets for performance counters, event traces, and configuration data — the command-line interface to Windows Performance Monitor for scripted monitoring and automated log collection.

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logman windows cli scripting sysadmin

mkdir / md — Make Directory

Create one or more directories from the Windows command prompt. Covers single and nested directory creation, batch patterns, and common scripting idioms.

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mkdir windows cli filesystem scripting

mountvol — Volume Mount Point Manager

List, create, and remove NTFS volume mount points and display the unique volume GUID path for any drive letter or directory junction from the command prompt.

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mountvol windows cli scripting sysadmin

move — Move and Rename Files

Move files to a new location or rename them within the Windows command prompt. Covers single files, wildcards, directory renames, overwrite control, and cross-drive behaviour.

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move windows cli filesystem scripting

net localgroup — Local Group Manager

Create, delete, and modify local security groups on a Windows machine — add or remove members, list group memberships, and manage built-in groups from the command prompt.

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net-localgroup windows cli scripting sysadmin

net user — Local User Account Manager

Create, modify, delete, and list local Windows user accounts from the command prompt — set passwords, manage account expiry, lock/unlock accounts, and control logon hours.

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net-user windows cli scripting sysadmin