man
displays manual pages
TLDR
View man page
$ man [command]
View specific section$ man [5 passwd]
Search descriptions$ man -k [keyword]
Show all sections$ man -a [command]
Show file path$ man -w [command]
Export as PDF via PostScript$ man -t [command] | ps2pdf - [output.pdf]
SYNOPSIS
man [options] [section] page
DESCRIPTION
man displays manual pages. Man pages document commands, system calls, and configuration.The tool is the primary Unix documentation system. Sections organize different types of documentation.
PARAMETERS
PAGE
Manual page name.SECTION
Section number (1-9).-k KEYWORD
Search by keyword.-a
Show all matching pages.-w
Show file location.-f NAME
Display short description (equivalent to whatis).-K STRING
Search all man pages for a string.-t
Format the man page using groff to PostScript for printing or PDF conversion.--help
Display help information.
INSTALL
sudo apt install man-db
sudo dnf install man-db
sudo pacman -S man-db
sudo apk add mandoc
sudo zypper install mandoc
brew install man-db
nix profile install nixpkgs#man-db
CAVEATS
Sections vary by system. Some commands lack man pages. Use info for GNU docs.
HISTORY
man dates back to the first Unix system at Bell Labs, remaining the standard documentation format.