Linux® Desk Reference, Second Edition

Command History

One shell feature that I do get a lot of use out of is the command history. Command history is also a shell built-in. The basic idea is that the shell keeps track of every command line you have submitted to it and the system time when you hit enter. By default the list is stored in your home directory in a file called .history. This list may be accessed in a variety of ways, most of which are presented next.

If you're not familiar with the tcsh history mechanism, you might want to take a moment and try out some of the options described next. Many of them are worth remembering.

<Up Arrow>	Display older command in the history list. Note that the up and down arrows can be used to shuffle through the entire history list.
<Down Arrow> ...