VI Essentials

Sometimes you visit a client and you have got only access to the vi editor. While this editor can be frustrating to learn especially for Windows and Mac users I believe that learning or referring to the below commands might become handy to any IT professional.

Starting/Saving
vi [+n] <file_name>	Open filename positioning the cursor at line number n
:wq	Save the file to disk and quit
:q!	Quit without saving any changes

Moving Cursor
h (or Left arrow key)	Left
l  (or Right arrow key)	Right
k (or Up arrow key)	Up
j  (or Down arrow key)	Down
G	End of file
^	Beginning of current line
$	End of current line

Searching Text
/string	Search down for string
?string	Search up for string
n	Repeat last search
:%s/old-string/new-string/g	Search and replace old-string with new-string

Copying and Pasting Text
[n]yy	Copying n lines into buffer
p	Paste the buffer after the current line

Inserting and Deleting Text
i	Insert starting left of cursor
x	Delete single character
[n]dd	Delete n lines
u	Undo last change

Directives
:set nu / :set nonu	Turn on line numbering / Turn off line numbering
:set ic / :set noic	Ignore case when searching / Ignore case off