Commands for the Android terminal emulator

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Android operating system, even though originally based on Linux, does not have by default many of the classic items of this platform, like Terminal. Despite this, it is still feasible to use such software on the phone, including related commands, prepare and install a special emulator. In our post today we will try to see in sufficient detail all the related aspects and, decidedly, the main Terminal commands on Android.

Use Terminal on Android

As mentioned, there is no Terminal on the smartphone by default, so you will need to install the Android terminal emulator from the link below to apply the proper commands. Alternatively, you can also use the ADB utility, but this approach will require a mandatory connection to a PC and may not be convenient to use on a regular basis.

Download Android Terminal Emulator from Google Play Market

  1. The application installation procedure does not differ from any other Android software from the official application store, as well as the startup performed through the Terminal icon on the home screen. Whatever the case, after launch, a window will appear with a dark background and a blinking cursor.
  2. Since Terminal by default has a small and unreadable font size, it is better to use the “Settings”.selecting the respective option in the menu. The shortcomings are especially noticeable on a screen with a large number of dots (DPI).

    This is where you can change “Color combination”., “Letter size”., keyboard settings and much more. Therefore, the font should be easy to read.

  3. Due to the nature of the operating system, many commands will lag when using Terminal, so be patient. If a mistake is made during the consultation procedure, the execution will be rejected immediately with a notification. “lost”.
  4. With the badge. “+” In the top bar you can create additional windows and switch between them using the drop-down list. To go out, use the adjacent cross icon.
  5. When entering commands that require navigating to a specific folder or opening files, the full path must be specified as /system/etc/. At the same time, use paths without spaces and only in english; Terminal does not support other layouts.

We hope we have described the main features of Terminal, because there are many aspects of this application that deserve attention. If you have any doubts, feel free to contact us in the comments and we will try to help you.

Terminal commands.

Once the preparations are resolved, we can start to see the basic commands of the Terminal. At the same time, It is important to note that the vast majority of the alternatives are fully compatible with Linux and were discussed by us in the respective post on the web portal. At the same time, there is a separate command to see all available requests.

Read also: Linux Terminal Commands

System commands

  • date – Displays the current date set in the device settings;
  • -help – One of the fundamental commands that shows the properties of a certain query. Work strictly through space after specifying the desired command;
  • su – Command inaccessible by default that allows to obtain root access. It can be used to verify if root access is enabled and working on the phone;
  • reboot – Initialize device reboot, but only on behalf of the administrator (its);
  • exit – Exits Terminal without confirmation or disables administrator rights;

Active processes.

  • ps – shows all active processes in the system;
  • kill – forcibly close processes by PID number from ps list. For greater efficiency, it is better to use it in combination with admin rights (its).

File System.

  • cd – to navigate to a specific folder from Terminal. With this query it is possible to communicate with the files in the directory without specifying the full path;
  • cat – used to read a file, as an example, to open some document by default. In general, all uses of the command deserve a separate post;
  • cp – to create a duplicate of any selected file;
  • mv – enables you to move the selected file or directory to a new path;
  • rm – one of the most dangerous commands, which starts deleting a selected file without confirmation;
  • rmdir – a variant of the previous application, which deletes entire folders, including content;
  • mkdir – create a new directory in the path specified after the command;
  • touch – used to create files in the specified folder;
  • ls – displays the contents of the specified folder in a single list;
  • df – shows the size of each file in the directory;
  • du – show the size in the same way, but only from a particular file;
  • pwd – is to see the full path of the directory in use in the Terminal.

Work with applications

  • pm list packages – displays a list of installed application packages;
  • pm install – install the specified application from the APK file;
  • pm uninstall – Delete the application in the specified path. You can find out the path using the packages from the pm list;
  • am – used to open applications;
  • am start –n com.android.settings/.Settings – open a classic app “Settings”.. Can be used as an example for other am commands.

This concludes our review of the basic Terminal commands for Android, since listing all possible queries would take much longer for us, also while we study the list. You can always find descriptions of the necessary commands on the net or use the post mentioned above in the Linux Terminal.

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