GETTING STARTED

WITH
FILES & DIRECTORIES
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

 MANAGING FILES & DIRECTORIES:

 We will explore various aspects of file management in Linux, including
listing files, creating new files, displaying file contents, and performing
essential file operations such as copying, moving, renaming, and deleting.

LS COMMAND:
 It lists directory contents of files and directories. It provides valuable
information about files, directories, and their attributes.

SYNTAX: $ls [options] <file-name>

 To List Files:
$ls
 To List reverse order:
$ls -r
 Long format that displays detailed information about files and
directories:
$ls -l
 To list specific file details:
$ls -l file-name
 Represent all files Include hidden files and directories:
$ls -a [ File start with “.” ]
 List files and directories recursively, including subdirectories:
$ls -R
 List inode which displays the index number of each file and directory:
$ls -i
 List directories themselves, rather than their contents:
$ls -d
 Sort files and directories by their sizes, listing the largest ones first:
$ls -s or $ls -S
 Print file sizes in human-readable format (e.g., 1K, 234M, 2G).
$ls -lh
 Sort files and directories by their last modification time, displaying the
most recently modified ones first:
$ls -t $ls -lhtr
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

IDENTIFYING LINUX FILE TYPES:

 In Linux everything considers as a file. The following are the file identifiers.

SYNTAX: $file [options] <file-name>

 To check the file version:
$file -v
 We can test a file type by typing the following command:
$file -f file.txt
 We can read the block or character special file.
$file -s /dev/sda
$file -s /dev/nvme0n1
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

 PATH:
 A path describes a location to a file in a file system of an OS.
 A path to a file is a combination of / and alpha numeric characters.
 There are two types.

ABSOLUTE PATH:
 Path is defined as the specifying the location of a file or directory from the
root directory (/).
Example: $ls /usr/share/doc
$ls /home/raju

RELATIVE PATH:
 Absolute paths are useful, but they're not always efficient.
 It is defined as path related to the present working directory (pwd).
Example: $cd /var/log
$ls

PWD COMMAND:
 Prints the current working directory.
 The pwd command is your Linux system's compass, in that it tells you where
you are.
 To print working directory
$pwd

STAT COMMAND:
 It displays file or file system status.
 To check file statistics:
$stat myfile
$stat -f myfile
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

CAT COMMAND (concatenates files):

 It is used to concatenate files and print on the standard output.

SYNTAX: $cat [options] <file>

 Create a new file:

$cat>filename
Hi….
This is a first text file.
Ctrl+D (To save)

 To Print a output:
$cat <filename>
(or)
$cat < filename

 To appending a content in a last line:

$cat >> filename
Hello…
Ctrl + D (To save)

 To setting Line Numbers:

$cat -n filename

 Concatenating (merging) files (as the name suggests):

$cat filename1 filename2 >filename12

 To View multiple files:

$cat filename1 filename2

 Cat command can display content in reverse order using tac

command:
$tac filename

 Cat command can highlight the end of line:

$cat -E filename
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

TOUCH COMMAND:
 The touch command is another one that serves a dual purpose.
 It is used to create a new empty (zero byte) file.
 Touch can create, change, and modify file timestamps.

SYNTAX: $touch [options] <filename>

 Create a new empty file:

$touch myfile
$ls -l myfile
$stat myfile

 Create multiple empty files:

$touch myfile1 myfile2 myfile3

 To change file access and modification time:

$touch -a myfile
$stat myfile

 To change file modification time:

$touch -m myfile

 Explicitly Set the Access and Modification times:

$touch -c -t YYMMDDHHMM filename
$touch -c -t 202307152359 myfile

 Create a File using a specified time:

$touch -t YYMMDDHHMM.SS filename
$touch -t 202307151159.59 myfile

 Use the time stamp of another File:

$touch -r myfile myfile1
$ls -l myfile
$ls -l myfile1
$stat myfile
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

MKDIR COMMAND:
 It is used to create a new directory.
SYNTAX: $mkdir [options] <Dir name>
$mkdir cloud

 To make multiple directories:

$mkdir cloud1 cloud2 cloud3
(or)
$mkdir cloud{1..3}

 Create a nested directory:

$mkdir -p world/asia/india/ap/vskp

 Verifying directory structure:

$ls -R world
$tree world

DIRECTORY NAVIGATION:
CD COMMAND:
 It is a change directory.
 Changing directories is easy as long as you know where you are (your
current directory) and how that relates to where you want to go.
SYNTAX: $cd <Dir name>
$cd cloud
$touch aws
$ls
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

 To change directory to the one above your current directory, use the
double period (dot) argument:
$cd ..
$pwd
 To get Users home directory:
$cd ~ (or) $cd
NOTE: SHORTCUTS:
 Single dot, or . : Represents current location.
 Double dot, or .. : To change one above directory
 Double dot, or ../.. : To change two above directory
 Hyphen or - : Previous Directory
 Tilde, or ~ : Users home directory

RM COMMAND:
 The rm command removes (deletes) files and directories.

SYNTAX: $rm [oprions] <file/dir name>

 To remove a file with interactive:

$rm -i filename
 To remove file forcefully:
$rm -f filename
 Remove a directory:
$rm -ri cloud
RMDIR COMMAND:
 It will remove only empty directories.
$rmdir dirname
$rmdir cloud1
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

CP COMMAND:
 cp command is used to copies files and directories.
 There's no great secret to its usage and you simply issue the copy (cp)
command, the file or directory source, and the destination.

SYNTAX: $cp [options] <source-file> <target-file>

 Copying file to file:

$cp -i file1 file2
$cat file2

 Copying file to directory:

$cp -i file1 cloud
$ls cloud

 Copy an entire directory and all its contents, including subdirectories:

$cp -ri cloud world
$ls world

MV COMMAND:
 The mv command moves files and directories from one directory to another
or renames a file or directory.
 When you use the mv command to rename a file or directory, the Target
Directory parameter can specify either a new file name or a new directory
path name.

 To rename a file or directory:

$mv existingfile newfile
$mv file1 file123

 To move a file into a directory:

$mv filename Dirname
$mv file1 cloud
$ls cloud
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

 META / WILD CARD CHARACTERS:

 Metacharacters are special characters that are used to represent something
other than themselves.

ASTERISK (*): It matches zero or more characters.

 List all files and directories:
$ls *
 List files and directories start with a:
$ls a*
 List files and directories ending with .cfg:
$ls *.cfg
 List all files and directories that have numbers after file:
$ls file[0-9]
 Copying all files ending with .py into cloud directory:
$cp -i *.py cloud
 Copying all files and directories starting with name aws into cloud
directory:
$cp -ri aws* cloud
 Removing all files .png:
$rm -i *.png

QUESTION MARK (?): It matches any single character.

 List all files and directories that have one character:
$ls ?
 List all files that have two characters after ‘file’.
$ls file??
 LINUX & SCRIPTING
Mr. RAM

SEMICOLON (;):
 A command line can consist of multiple commands. Each command is
separated by a semicolon.
 The exit status is that of the last command in the chain of commands.
 It is a command independent; meaning is not depending on first command.

SYNTAX: $command1 ; command2 ; …..commamdn

 Run commands who, date, and whoami command in a line:

$who ; date ; whoami
$who ; data; whoami

LOGICAL AND (&&):

 Run multiple commands in a line separated by &&.
 It is a command dependent; meaning is the second command will only
execute if the first command has executed successfully.

SYNTAX: $command1 && command2 && …. Commandn

 Run commands who, date, and whoami command in a line:

$who && date && whoami
$who && data && whoami