Man pages are an essential part of any Linux system. They explain the usage of a command and all available options and parameters. Man pages can be accessed with man followed by the name of the command, for example, man ls.
Man pages are displayed directly in the shell. To navigate them, move up and down with Page ↑ and Page ↓. Move between the beginning and the end of a document with Home and End. End this viewing mode by pressing Q. Learn more about the man command itself with man man. Man pages are sorted in categories as shown in Table 35.1, “Man Pages—Categories and Descriptions” (taken from the man page for man itself).
Table 35.1. Man Pages—Categories and Descriptions
|
Number |
Description |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Executable programs or shell commands |
|
2 |
System calls (functions provided by the kernel) |
|
3 |
Library calls (functions within program libraries) |
|
4 |
Special files (usually found in |
|
5 |
File formats and conventions ( |
|
6 |
Games |
|
7 |
Miscellaneous (including macro packages and conventions), for example, man(7), groff(7) |
|
8 |
System administration commands (usually only for |
|
9 |
Kernel routines (nonstandard) |
Each man page consists of several parts labeled NAME , SYNOPSIS , DESCRIPTION , SEE ALSO , LICENSING , and AUTHOR . There may be additional sections available depending on the type of command.