Basic Commands

1.ls

 Purpose: Lists the files and directories in the current directory.

 Example:

ls

Output:

file1 file2 dir1 dir2

2. ls -a

 Purpose: Lists all files, including hidden files (those starting with a dot .).
 Example:

ls -a

Output:

. .. .hidden_file file1 file2 dir1 dir2

3. ls -l

 Purpose: Displays detailed information about files and directories (permissions,

owner, size, modification date).
 Example:

ls -l

Output:

-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 1024 Jan 24 file1

drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Jan 24 dir1

4. ls -l collection/

 Purpose: Displays detailed information about the contents of the collection/

directory.
 Example:

ls -l collection/

Output:
 -rw-r--r-- 1 user user 512 Jan 24 doc1.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Jan 24 images

5. ls -ld collection/

 Purpose: Displays detailed information about the collection/ directory itself, not
its contents.
 Example:

ls -ld collection/

Output:

drwxr-xr-x 5 user user 4096 Jan 24 collection/

6. ls -i

 Purpose: Displays the inode number of each file and directory.

 Example:

ls -i

Output:

12345 file1 12346 file2 12347 dir1

7. ls -lt /home/student/

 Purpose: Lists the contents of /home/student/ sorted by modification time (newest

first).
 Example:

bash
ls -lt /home/student/

Output:

-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 2048 Jan 24 report.pdf

drwxr-xr-x 3 user user 4096 Jan 20 projects

8. ls -ltr /home/student/

 Purpose: Lists the contents of /home/student/ sorted by modification time (oldest

first).
 Example:
 ls -ltr /home/student/

Output:

drwxr-xr-x 3 user user 4096 Jan 20 projects

-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 2048 Jan 24 report.pdf

9. ls -sh /home/student/

 Purpose: Displays the sizes of files in a human-readable format.

 Example:

ls -sh /home/student/

Output:

4.0K report.pdf 8.0K projects

10. ls -s /boot

 Purpose: Displays the size of each file in blocks (default block size).
 Example:

ls -s /boot

Output:

32 config-5.11.0 64 initrd.img

11. ls -R /boot

 Purpose: Recursively lists all files and subdirectories in /boot.

 Example:

ls -R /boot

Output:

/boot:
config-5.11.0 initrd.img
/boot/grub:
menu.lst

12. ls -R /home/

 Purpose: Recursively lists all files and subdirectories in /home.

 Example:
 ls -R /home/

Output:

/home/user:
documents downloads

/home/user/documents:
file1.txt file2.pdf

13. tree /home

 Purpose: Displays the directory structure in a tree-like format. (You may need to
install tree first.)
 Example:

tree /home

Output:

/home
├── documents
├── downloads
└── pictures

14. history

 Purpose: Displays the history of all previously executed commands.

 Example:

history

Output:

1 ls
2 cd /home
3 pwd

2. Change Directory (cd)

 Change to /etc directory:

Example:

cd /etc
pwd
 Output:

/etc

 Go back to the parent directory using cd ..:

Example:

cd ..
pwd

Output:

 Return to the home directory with cd ~:

Example:

cd ~
pwd

Output:

/root

 Using relative path to navigate to a subdirectory:

Example:

cd collection
pwd

Output:

/root/collection

3. Paths

 Absolute Path:
Example:

cd /root/collection
pwd

Output:

/root/collection

 Relative Path:
Example:

cd collection
pwd
 Output:

/root/collection

4. File Creation (touch)

 Create a single file:

Example:

touch app
ls

Output:

app

 Create multiple files at once:

Example:

touch data apple grapes orange

ls

Output:

app apple data grapes orange

 Using filename extensions:

Example:

touch app{1..5}.txt
ls

Output:

app1.txt app2.txt app3.txt app4.txt app5.txt

5. Creating a Directory (mkdir)

 Create a single directory:

Example:

mkdir project
ls

Output:

project
  Create multiple directories at once:
Example:

mkdir dir1 dir2 dir3

ls

Output:

dir1 dir2 dir3

 Create nested directories:

Example:

mkdir -p office/departments/{Sales,Marketing,Accounts}
ls office/departments

Output:

Accounts Marketing Sales

6. Copy, Move, and Delete

6.1 Copy Commands

 Copy a single file:

Example:

cp app1.txt dir1/
ls dir1

Output:

app1.txt

 Copy multiple files:

Example:

cp app2.txt app3.txt dir2/

ls dir2

Output:

app2.txt app3.txt

 Copy a directory (recursively):

Example:

cp -r dir1 dir3/
ls dir3
 Output:

dir1

6.2 Move Commands

 Move a file to another directory:

Example:

mv app4.txt dir2/
ls dir2

Output:

app2.txt app3.txt app4.txt

 Rename a file:
Example:

mv app5.txt renamed_app5.txt
ls

Output:

renamed_app5.txt

6.3 Delete Commands

 Delete a file:
Example:

rm app1.txt
ls

Output:

app2.txt app3.txt

 Delete multiple files:

Example:

rm app2.txt app3.txt
ls

Output:

dir1 dir2
 Delete a directory and its contents:
Example:

rm -r dir1
ls

Output:

dir2