There are many commands that are used in linux on a daily basis, ones that everyone should know just to get by. Like back in the days of DOS, you had to know how to work with the command line and how to navigate around. Learning new commands is always hard, especially when there are so many new ones that don't always seem to make sense in their names.
cd
Change directory - this command is essential for traversing folders and moving about your linux computer. Its quite straight forward, cd /where/you/want/togo or cd .. to go up a level. It's pretty basic, but be aware of absolute and relative paths. If you are currently in the folder /home/puppy/pictures then you can type cd .. to move up to /home/puppy/ or you could type cd /home/puppy/ not to mention cd ~/puppy/. You must learn how to traverse folders effectively before you can use the operating system.
ls
The ls command gives you a directory listing. This command has many options, but basically provides you with the same information as the "dir" command in DOS. The most common use of ls is probably "ls -la" infact many people have an alias setup, so whenever they type "ls" it actually runs "ls -la".
du
The disk usage command gives you a summary of how much space a program or some piece of data is using. Normally this command uses the -h feature, which simply means it will tell you if the number it gives you is in bytes, kilobytes, etc. -h gives you the human readable output.
mv
Move! The mv command is the move command, but it is far more powerful than the old DOS commands. You must be very careful when using the mv command, if you tell it to move a program to a new location, it will overwrite the stuff that was there, if the same file name exists. In addition the mv command is also the rename command! If I type: mv file1 file2 I just moved or effectively renamed file1 to file2!
date
The date command displays the current date and time of your server to the screen, and can be formatted in many ways, but date by itself will display something similar to: Sat Apr 30 23:58:41 EDT 2005
cp
The copy command is a great program, and is very powerful. Often used with the -R (recursive) option, it can be used to copy single files, or entire paths around with ease.
rmdir
Remove directory is a command that I personally don't use very often. To remove a directory it must be empty, rarely do I take the time to empty a directory before I delete it. Instead I use a variation of the rm command.
rm
This is the mother of all linux commands. Remove. You must always be very careful when you use this program. There aren't too many options with this program, its quite straight forward, you use it to delete things. -R is recursive and -f is force. If you want to clear a big folder and you are 100% sure you want it gone in a hurry, type: rm -Rf /directoryname
chgrp
Change group - this command is used to change the group ownership on a file. For the most part this is more of an administrative thing, and end users don't typically have to worry too often about this. You must know about the design of the linux file system before you worry about the chgrp command.
chown
Change owner - this command very similar to the chgrp command, and changes the owner instead of the group. Again you must really understand the design of the linux file system before this becomes really important. File ownership is an important part of security and permissions in linux.
mkdir
Make directory - this is a very straight forward command in linux, easy to use, just mkdir newfoldername
vi
This is a text editor in linux, its extremely powerful, but not exactly user friendly. I highly suggest that you take the time to learn this program, or at least the most common features. If you want to play with this program, you might get stuck inside it, remember these words. Escape, Colon, q, ! ( escape key, :q! ) That gets you out of interactive or insert mode, then gets you to the menu, then quit without saving!
su
Switch user - the su command lets you login from your account to another account. If you are root, you can type su - username and jump to any account without a password. If you are a normal user account and want to go to root then type su - root. If you do not put the hyphen then you will not use that users environment. Generally if you are logging in as a user it's a good idea to be in their working environment!
pwd
Print working directory - this command gives you the current directory you are working in.
$ pwd - me running command
/home/username/my_pics - this is the output from that command
As I mentioned earlier, there are so many different commands to learn, it really just takes time and effort to play with them and learn their options. The manual (MAN) pages in linux are really great and full of information. Many of the most common commands are located in the /bin folder, check it out!
Ken Dennis http://KenDennis-RSS.homeip.net/
Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is... Read More
FTP stands for "file transfer protocol". FTP is basically a... Read More
Just the thought of a duel-boot scares many people away,... Read More
Document Manager and Version HistoryIn previous articles I have discussed... Read More
If someone entered your home, uninvited and installed numerous cameras... Read More
Around the same time Microsoft made its move with .Net... Read More
In this small article we will be looking at the... Read More
Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here... Read More
Fundraising software lets you connect with donors in a way... Read More
When you think... Read More
The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains might be considered as ERP... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has several options to enable... Read More
If you look back to the history, you will see... Read More
Which Type of Shop Can Rely On A Home Built... Read More
Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More
Introduction to C++Why Learn C++?C++ may at first seem like... Read More
Programming Help for BeginnersWe write programs to instruct computers. When... Read More
This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More
With thousands of web pages added to the Net every... Read More
Great Plains Software Dynamics, Dynamics C/S+, eEnterprise were written on... Read More
If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More
What is Software?Software is a set of instruction written to... Read More
Are you ready? SQL Server 2005, the next-generation data management... Read More
Well, even if the combination might look very unusual, we... Read More
Logistics automation is often considered as barcoding extension to Sales... Read More
Spyware is like the new technological nuclear weapon on the... Read More
As we could imagine, if you are reading this article... Read More
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most widely used software... Read More
The major reason I recommend getting your hands on real... Read More
Since Version 8.0 Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains & Great... Read More
Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software... Read More
Traditionally we were considering functionally rich systems, such as SAP,... Read More
"Pfishing", sometimes spelled "Phishing", is a word that's used to... Read More
Three highly respected names in Human Resources have joined forces... Read More
We've all seen the ads on TV for Netzero 3G.... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM become more and more... Read More
Logistics automation is often considered as barcoding extension to Sales... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager is scaled down Great... Read More
Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves multiple industries in the... Read More
If your company has regional and worldwide operations, you might... Read More
We live in a post-industrial age where information is the... Read More
Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software... Read More
If you company is small or mid-size special products or... Read More
If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions is emerging as very attractive vendor for... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
eStore Advantage allows front-office applications to communicate with back-office business... Read More
Microsoft CRM is CRM answer from Microsoft Business Solutions.The whole... Read More
After seeing many people complain about their weak Internet security... Read More
Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of... Read More
Configuring PPP PAP AuthenticationNow we know how the ISDN link... Read More
In 2004 Oracle, Inc. made its new step toward J2EE... Read More
All of us know that Microsoft bought former Great Plains... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
Case study: A secretary using Corel WordPerfect 7 is often... Read More
If you have been running Windows XP for a couple... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share among... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is main mid-market application from Microsoft Business... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is web-based CRM application, deploying all... Read More
This is the tutorial where we really get into programming.... Read More
Anyone who has ever used Microsoft Word knows that it... Read More
Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete... Read More
Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More
Software |