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Command syntax

Review the guidelines in this topic to understand how to enter commands in the CLI.

Read the following guidelines before you use the commands:

  • Each command has the following format:
    command [arguments] [-options]
  • The command syntax is case sensitive.
  • The command name is all lowercase.
  • All arguments must immediately follow the command. The options immediately follow the arguments.
  • Each option is always preceded by a hyphen (-). An option can be a short option (single letter) or a long option (multiple letters).
  • If an option has an argument, the argument is mandatory, for example:
    ifconfig eth0 -i 192.168.70.34 -g 192.168.70.29 -s 255.255.255.0

    where ifconfig is the command, eth0 is an argument, and -i, -g, and -s are options. In this example, all three options have arguments.

  • Brackets indicate that an argument or option is optional. Brackets are not part of the command that you type.