https://wikis.ch.cam.ac.uk/ro-walesdocs/wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Basic_linux_commands_everyone_should_know%21Basic linux commands everyone should know! - Revision history2026-04-13T10:57:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.39.7https://wikis.ch.cam.ac.uk/ro-walesdocs/wiki/index.php?title=Basic_linux_commands_everyone_should_know!&diff=1328&oldid=prevAdk44: Created page with "Here are a few simple linux commands that should make life a bit easier for you. Please everyone, add anything you think would be useful! You may want to read the computer of..."2019-05-13T12:35:34Z<p>Created page with "Here are a few simple linux commands that should make life a bit easier for you. Please everyone, add anything you think would be useful! You may want to read the computer of..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>Here are a few simple linux commands that should make life a bit easier for you. Please everyone, add anything you think would be useful!<br />
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You may want to read the computer office's [http://www-co.ch.cam.ac.uk/software/unix/booklet/ introduction to Unix booklet] .<br />
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Also, here is a really useful guide to [http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/ bash scripting].<br />
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'''NOTE''': You can always look up a command using ''man<br />
man ls<br />
This will display info on the options associated with the ''ls'' command. To exit the info page, press ''q''.<br />
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==ls==<br />
ls<br />
This lists the contents of the current directory<br />
ls -lrth<br />
This will list the contents of the current directory showing more information and sorting them so the most recently modified file will be displayed last. The ''h'' flag makes the file sizes more human friendly!<br />
ls -a<br />
This will list '''a'''ll files i.e. the normal ''ls'' command will not display files beginning with a ''.'' i.e. ''.bashrc''<br />
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== cd ==<br />
The ''''c'''hange '''d'''irectory' command<br />
cd<br />
cd ~ <br />
cd /home/username<br />
These all take you to your home directory<br />
cd ../..<br />
This takes you up two levels of the directory tree<br />
cd newdir<br />
This takes you into the directory called ''newdir''<br />
cd ~/Documents<br />
This takes you into you Documents folder (actually located at ''/home/username/Documents'')<br />
cd ~csw34<br />
This takes you into the home directory of user ''csw34''<br />
cd /sharedscratch/username<br />
This takes you to your ''sharedscratch'' directory (only on clusters)<br />
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== cp ==<br />
cp file1 file2 newdir/<br />
Copies ''file1'' and ''file2'' to the directory ''newdir''<br />
cp -r newdir /home/csw34<br />
Recursively copies the directory ''newdir'' and all its subdirectories to ''csw34'''s home directory. <br />
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'''WARNING''': you can overwrite files using ''cp'' i.e. if in the first example ''file2'' already exists, you will replace its contents with those of ''file1''! <br />
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For information on copying files between machines see the guide for ''scp'' linked from the [[Wales Group]] page.<br />
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== mv ==<br />
mv oldfilename newfilename<br />
This effectively renames the file ''oldfilename'' to ''newfilename''<br />
mv test ../<br />
This '''m'''o'''v'''es the file ''test'' one level up the directory tree. <br />
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'''WARNING''': you can overwrite files using ''mv'' just like when you use ''cp'' so be careful!<br />
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== mkdir ==<br />
mkdir newdir newdir2<br />
This will create two new directories, ''newdir'' and ''newdir2''<br />
mkdir -p newdir/newdir2<br />
This will create ''newdir'' and ''newdir/newdir2'', even if the former doesn't exist.<br />
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== grep ==<br />
grep 'pattern' filename<br />
This will search the file ''filename'' for the pattern ''pattern'' and displays the line on which it occurs<br />
grep 'pattern' *<br />
This searched for ''pattern'' in all files in the current directory. Very useful for looking through lots of code!<br />
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== xxdiff ==<br />
xxdiff file1 file2<br />
Much clearer than regular ''diff'' (graphical output).<br />
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== svn ==<br />
The subversion version control program. Detailed info is available on the [[SVN Page]]<br />
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== find ==<br />
Can do so much, in a somewhat idiosyncratic manner! See this [http://www.hccfl.edu/pollock/Unix/FindCmd.htm guide].<br />
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== rename ==<br />
Renames multiple files according to the patterns provided. A little care must be taken as there are two commonly used versions that have wildly different syntax. The sector machines all use the C version, some others (including arwen) use the Perl version. To check, run ''man rename''. If the first line contains LINUX PROGRAMMER'S MANUAL, then use the C syntax, otherwise use the Perl syntax.<br />
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To rename all files foo1.txt foo2.txt ... foon.txt to bar1.txt bar2.txt ... barn.txt:<br />
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rename foo bar foo* (C)<br />
rename 's/foo/bar/' foo* (Perl)<br />
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The Perl version uses a Perl expression: typically search and replace. For more details see the excellent guide in ''man perlrequick'' and the references therein.</div>Adk44