CLI Keybindings¶

Writing CLI commands by hand is very tedious. To make things easier the CLI has several keybindings, most significant first:

Key	Cmd/Key	Description
TAB		Complete current command, see below for example
?		Show available commands, or arguments, with help
Ctrl-c		Cancel everything on current line
Ctrl-d	`abort`/`exit`	Delete character, or abort/exit on empty line
Ctrl-z	`leave`	Leave and activate changes in configure context
Ctrl-f	Right arrow	Move cursor forward one character
Ctrl-b	Left arrow	Move cursor back one character
Meta-f	Ctrl-Right	Move cursor forward one word
Meta-b	Ctrl-Left	Move cursor back one word
Ctrl-e	End	Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl-a	Home	Move cursor to beginning of line
Ctrl-k		Kill (cut) text from cursor to end of line
Ctrl-u		Delete (cut) entire line
Ctrl-y		Yank (paste) from kill buffer to cursor
Meta-.		Yank (paste) last argument from previous line
Ctrl-w	Meta-Backspace	Delete (cut) word to the left
	Meta-Delete	Delete (cut) word to the right
Ctrl-l		Clear screen and refresh current line
Ctrl-p	Up arrow	History, previous command
Ctrl-n	Down arrow	History, next command
Ctrl-r		History, reversed interactive search (i-search)

What is Meta?¶

The Meta key is called Alt on most modern keyboards. If you have neither, first tap the Esc key instead of holding down Alt/Meta.

Complete a word. Start by typing a few characters, then tap the TAB key on your keyboard:

conf<TAB> --> configure

See possible arguments, with brief help text, to a command:

show ?
bridge          Show bridge (ports/fdb/mdb/vlans)
datetime        Show current date and time, default RFC2822 format
...

Type the command, then tap the ? key.