Common network commands

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Use the following commands to display basic information about the users, systems, and logging.

Table 1. Commonly used communication commands
Command Description
whoami Displays your login name.
uname Displays the name of your system if your system is on a network.
host system_name Determines whether your local system has access to the specified system. 
# host system_name
If your system has the proper information, a display similar to the following is returned:
<system_name> is 192.9.200.4 (300,11,310,4)
You can then send a message to the system. The address 192.9.200.4 is used by the system to route the mail. If your system does not have the information, a display similar to the following is returned:
<system_name>: unknown host
finger system_name|user_name Displays the logged-on users on a specific system or host or information about a specific user.
# finger system_name
A display similar to the following is returned:
brown  Console Mar 15 13:19
smith  pts0    Mar 15 13:01
jones  tty0    Mar 15 13:01
finger brown@<system_name>
or
finger brown
A display similar to the following is returned:
Login name: brown
In real life: Marta Brown
Directory:/home/brown  Shell: /bin/ksh
On since May 8 07:13:49 on console
No Plan.

Several applications are available to allow your system to emulate other types of terminals.