The Command Line Interface

Owned by TLBrewer
Last updated: Apr 25, 2024 by Lisa Stafford
2 min read

This page discusses finding and using the Command Line Interface (CLI) in the three OS families: Linux, OSX, and Windows.

A CLI is a text based interface in which the user can manually type commands to do various things, as opposed to a Graphical User Interface (GUI; gooey) where the user uses a mouse to navigate various options. In HPC, where raw processing power is valued over a sleek interface, the CLI is used primarily. A more in depth discussion: Command Line Interface.

Linux and OSX Terminal Window

Generally speaking, the Terminal app in Unix based OSes like MacOS and Linux will look like this:

and can be found by simply searching for ‘Terminal’.

Windows Command Prompt

In Windows 10 and 11, the Command Prompt looks like this and you may find the command prompt by searching for ‘cmd’ or 'command prompt' in your start menu search:

Command Prompt

There are various apps, such as MobaXterm that provide more feature rich terminals for Windows. Directions on logging into MobaXterm on a Windows device can be found here. A more in depth exploration of the Windows CLI is here.