Vxworks Command Cheat Sheet !full! Jun 2026

| Command | Description | Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Lists all tasks (ID, Name, State, Priority, PC). | "Why is my system hanging?" | | ti "taskName" | Displays detailed Task Information (stack usage, registers). | Stack overflow debugging. | | version | Shows VxWorks version and build date. | "Are we on 6.9 or 7.0?" | | show | Generic show command (use with specific objects). | See below. | | devs | Lists all device drivers installed. | "Is my serial port registered?" | | memShow | Shows current heap memory usage (free/allocated). | Memory leak detection. | | sysSuspend | Suspends the system (debug only). | Forcing a crash dump. | | sysResume | Resumes after sysSuspend . | Recovery. |

– Displays the current Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table. Filesystem & Storage Operations

VxWorks supports standard POSIX-like directory and file manipulation commands directly from the shell interface. Command (C Shell) Command (cmd) Description ls or dir ls or dir Lists files and folders in the current working directory. cd "path" cd path Changes the current working directory. pwd pwd Prints the absolute path of the current directory. mkdir "name" mkdir name Creates a new directory. rm "filename" rm filename Deletes a file from the storage media. chkdsk "device" chkdsk device

Best practice: flush caches before handing buffers to DMA; prefer statically allocated buffers where possible in hard real-time paths. vxworks command cheat sheet

VxWorks includes an embedded network stack. Use these commands to configure interfaces and troubleshoot connectivity.

tickLib — Tick-related utilities.

: Displays stack usage for a task (0 for all tasks). 🔍 Memory and System Debugging Inspect memory, modify values, and check system health. | Command | Description | Use Case |

rtpTaskList – Lists all tasks owned exclusively by a specific RTP.

taskShow / taskInfo — Display task lists and details.

sp , [arg1], ..., [arg9] – Spawns a new kernel task executing the specified function. | | version | Shows VxWorks version and build date

VxWorks is a premier real-time operating system (RTOS) used in everything from Mars rovers to industrial controllers. Navigating its shell is a fundamental skill for any embedded engineer. This cheat sheet serves as a comprehensive reference for the most essential VxWorks commands, ranging from basic task management to advanced system debugging.

: Attaches an IP protocol stack to a low-level network interface hardware driver.

Best practice: always check stack usage with taskShow to prevent stack overruns; use meaningful names and consistent priorities to avoid priority inversion.

Deadlocks often occur around semaphores and message queues. These tools expose ownership issues. Semaphores