This module covered the origins of Unix, the architecture of Unix-based systems, and allowed users to perform the following in an online simulator:
The table below, also available as a printable take-away, lists all of the common information and commands that were covered in the module.
Command | Description | Usage or Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
Paths | |||
/ | root directory if first character, or sub-directory if any other character | cd / Changes directory to the filesystem root | |
. | current directory | ls . Lists the contents of the current directory | |
.. | directory one level up from current directory | cd .. Changes to one level above current directory | |
Navigation & Content Listing | |||
pwd | print working directory | pwd | |
ls | list working directory contents | ls option | |
ls -l | list working directory contents with a long-format listing | ls -l | |
cd | change directory | cd directory | |
File Management | |||
cp | Copy file1 from directory1 to directory2 optionally renaming the file in the process. | cp file1 file2 or cp directory1 directory2 | |
mv | Move file1 from directory1 to directory2, optionally renaming the file in the process. | mv file1 file2 or mv directory1 directory2 | |
rm | Remove a file from a directory | rm -option filename or rm -option directoryname | |
rmdir | remove a directory | rmdir directoryname | |
Search Commands | |||
find | Find files recursively by their file name and list them. | find -name search_string | |
grep | Find files by their contents and display the line from each file that contains that search string. | grep search_string file | |
Wildcards | |||
* | any non-zero number of characters, digits, punctuation marks, or whitespaces | ls *.jpg ls file* ls *in* | |
? | any single character, digit, punctuation mark, or whitespace | ls photo?.jpg find ???.c | |
[...] | A user-defined range of characters, digits, punctuation, or whitespace that takes up one space | ls file[0-9].jpg ls [a-z]ile.txt ls file[_, ,.]name.txt | |