apropos Command Cheat Sheet

apropos [OPTIONS] keyword ...

apropos copy

apropos file copy

apropos "copy files"

apropos copy
apropos move
apropos delete
apropos rename
apropos compress

apropos network
apropos socket
apropos tcp
apropos wireless

apropos user
apropos group
apropos permission
apropos service
apropos process

apropos search
apropos replace
apropos pattern
apropos filter

apropos -s 1 passwd
apropos --section 1 network

apropos -a copy file

apropos -e cp

apropos -w 'net*'

apropos -r '^net'
apropos --regex 'copy|move'

apropos -i NETWORK

apropos -l network

apropos -C /path/to/man.conf keyword

apropos copy

cp (1) - copy files and directories
scp (1) - secure copy (remote file copy program)
rsync (1) - fast incremental file transfer

apropos editor
apropos edit

apropos compress
apropos archive

apropos -a network test
apropos ping
apropos trace

apropos -a user add
apropos password

apropos -s 5 config

apropos process
apropos kill
apropos signal

apropos network | grep wireless
apropos compress | grep -i tar

apropos -s 1,8 network

# Commands starting with 'net'
apropos -r '^net'

# Commands ending with 'stat'
ap ropos -r 'stat$'

# Commands containing numbers
apropos -r '[0-9]'

apropos -s 2 file
apropos -s 2 socket

apropos -s 3 string
apropos -s 3 printf

# Want to download files?
apropos download

# Need to monitor system?
apropos monitor

# Want to schedule tasks?
apropos schedule
apropos cron

# Network issues
apropos network | grep -E 'test|debug|trace'

# Disk problems
apropos disk | grep -E 'check|repair|scan'

# Performance
apropos performance
apropos benchmark

# What can I do with files?
apropos file | less

# What networking tools exist?
apropos network | wc -l  # Count them
apropos network | sort   # Sort alphabetically

sudo mandb

manpath

apropos copy
man -k copy

# apropos: searches descriptions
apropos copy

# whatis: searches exact command names only
whatis cp
whatis copy  # Won't find "cp"

# apropos: finds commands by description
apropos editor

# which: shows path of executable
which vim

# Just started with Docker?
apropos docker

# Learning about filesystems?
apropos filesystem
apropos mount

# Want alternatives to ps?
apropos process | grep list

# Other compression tools besides gzip?
apropos compress

# "What was that network tool again?"
apropos -a network interface

# "How do I change permissions?"
apropos permission
apropos chmod

cp (1) - copy files and directories
cpan (1) - easily interact with CPAN from the command line
cpio (1) - copy files to and from archives

# Rebuild database
sudo mandb

# Check if manual pages exist
ls /usr/share/man/man1/

# Try exact match
apropos -e ls

# Use AND logic
apropos -a file copy

# Use exact match
apropos -e tar

# Grep for specific term
apropos file | grep compress

# Update database
sudo mandb

# Check manual path
manpath

# Try different keywords
apropos archive  # instead of "compress"

# What user management commands exist?
apropos user
apropos group
apropos password

# Service management?
apropos service
apropos systemd

# Debugging tools?
apropos debug
apropos trace

# Build tools?
apropos compile
apropos make

# Network diagnostics?
apropos -a network test
apropos -a network monitor

# Firewalls?
apropos firewall
apropos iptables

export MANPATH=/custom/man:/usr/share/man
apropos command

export PAGER=less
apropos network | $PAGER

apropos '' | fzf

apropos '' | rofi -dmenu -p "Man pages"

#!/bin/bash
# Find all network-related commands
commands=$(apropos -a network interface | awk '{print $1}')
for cmd in $commands; do
    echo "=== $cmd ==="
    man "$cmd" | head -n 20
done