Unix Fundamentals: VI

VI is a barebone text editor. It’s older than most system admins are, so pay it some respect. VI has two modes, edit mode and read mode. Unless mapped properly (and it’s likely not) arrow keys are not available in edit mode.

COMMANDS

h,l,j,k	Move cursor left, right,up,down
i	Enter edit mode
dd(#)	Delete # lines
:wq or :x or ZZ	Write, quit and exit
:#	Jump to line number #
:q!	Quit without saving
dw	Delete word
yw	Yank (copy) word
yy	Yank (copy) line
p	Put yanked text
:w name.txt	Write new file called name.txt
ESC	Enter read mode

I keep this table printed and taped to the bottom of my monitor. It saves time.