OS Manuals

/usr/bin/help2man

Create simple man pages from --help output

From help2man 1.49.3-r9 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running help2man --help (exit 0). permalink

`help2man' generates a man page out of `--help' and `--version' output.

Usage: help2man [OPTION]... EXECUTABLE

 -n, --name=STRING       description for the NAME paragraph
 -s, --section=SECTION   section number for manual page (1, 6, 8)
 -m, --manual=TEXT       name of manual (User Commands, ...)
 -S, --source=TEXT       source of program (FSF, Debian, ...)
 -L, --locale=STRING     select locale (default "C")
 -i, --include=FILE      include material from `FILE'
 -I, --opt-include=FILE  include material from `FILE' if it exists
 -o, --output=FILE       send output to `FILE'
 -p, --info-page=TEXT    name of Texinfo manual
 -N, --no-info           suppress pointer to Texinfo manual
 -l, --libtool           exclude the `lt-' from the program name
     --help              print this help, then exit
     --version           print version number, then exit

EXECUTABLE should accept `--help' and `--version' options and produce output on
stdout although alternatives may be specified using:

 -h, --help-option=STRING     help option string
 -v, --version-option=STRING  version option string
 --version-string=STRING      version string
 --no-discard-stderr          include stderr when parsing option output

Report bugs to <bug-help2man@gnu.org>.
Options (17)
OptionDescriptionSource
-n, --name STRINGdescription for the NAME paragraphhelp + man
-s, --section SECTIONsection number for manual page (1, 6, 8)help + man
-m, --manual TEXTname of manual (User Commands, ...)help + man
-S, --source TEXTsource of program (FSF, Debian, ...)help + man
-L, --locale STRINGselect locale (default "C")help + man
-i, --include FILEinclude material from `FILE'help + man
-I, --opt-include FILEinclude material from `FILE' if it existshelp + man
-o, --output FILEsend output to `FILE'help + man
-p, --info-page TEXTname of Texinfo manualhelp + man
-N, --no-infosuppress pointer to Texinfo manualhelp + man
-l, --libtoolexclude the `lt-' from the program namehelp + man
--helpprint this help, then exithelp + man
--versionprint version number, then exithelp + man
-h, --help-option STRINGhelp option stringhelp + man
-v, --version-option STRINGversion option stringhelp + man
--version-string STRINGversion stringhelp + man
--no-discard-stderrinclude stderr when parsing option outputhelp + man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.