A Brief Linux Reference Guide
Working with directories
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mkdir <name>- make subdirectory with specified name
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rmdir <name>- remove specified subdirectory
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cd <name>- move down to specified subdirectory
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cd ..- move up one directory level
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ls- get a directory listing
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ls -l- directory listing, long format (letter l)
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ls -al- directory listing, including hidden files
Working with files
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more <filename>- display the contents of the file, a page at a time (press <space> to go to next page, or <b> to back up to the previous page)
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chmod <permissions> <file>- set the permissions on <file>
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chown <UID>.<GID> <file>- change the user.group owner of <file>
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cp <source> .- copy specified file to current directory
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cp <source> <dest>- copy file <source> to the destination
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mv <old> <new>- rename the file from <old> to <new>
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mv <old> <dest>- move the file <old> to the destination
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rm <file>- remove the specified file
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rm *- remove all files in current directory
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head <file>- display the first 10 lines of <file>
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head -20 <file>- display the first 20 lines of <file>
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tail <file>- display the last 10 lines of <file>
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tail -20 <file>- display the last 20 lines of <file>
Administration
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man <command>- display the manual for <command>
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passwd- change your account's password
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chfn- change your account's full name
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top- display all running processes
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kill <pid>- kill one of your processes
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ps -u <user>- display all running processes for <user>
Special files
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public_html- directory in which all web pages should reside
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.profile- account setup file (similar to autoexec.bat)
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.forward- used to forward email to another email address