Developer Blog

In this post I will write the main commands of the linux terminal for you to learn in a simple way.

The main objective here is to enable you to take the first steps in the Unix environment, ok?

Let's Go !

Getting started

To start we'll open the terminal. You have two ways to do this :

• Search for Terminal
• Press CTRL + ALT + T

That done, let's go to the main commands used for navigation in the terminal!

Commands

1. ls (lists the contents of the current directory)

$ ls 

2. ls -a (lists all content, including hidden files and executable files)

$ ls -a

3. ls -l (lists all detailed content)

$ ls -l

4. pwd (informs the current directory)

$ pwd

5. cd (change to directory)

$ cd Downloads

6. cd - (go back to the previous directory)

$ cd -

7. cd .. (go back to the directory above)

$ cd ..

9. mkdir [name to new folder] (create a folder)

$ mkdir my_new_folder

10. mkdir [name to folder 1] [name to folder 2] (creates two folders at the same time)

$ mkdir folder1 folder2

11. mkdir -p [name to folder]/[name to sub-folder] (create a directory and sub-directory)

$ mkdir -p Photos/Sweet_pictures

Extra commands

13. mv [old_name] [new_name] (rename a directory or file)

$ mv Photos_folder Pictures

$ mv code_01.txt code.c

14. mv [old_directory] [new_directory] (change a folder/file directory)

$ mv main.c codes/main.c

$ mv Downloads/Vacation_Photos Images/Vacation_Photos

15. cp [file/folder] [new_directory] (copy a folder/file to other directory)

$ cp main.c Codes/

16. clear or CTRL + C (clear the window)

$ clear

17. cat > [file_name] (create and write in new file)

$ cat > test.txt

18. touch [file_name] (create a file)

$ touch test

19. locate [file_name] (locate a file)

$ locate image.jpg

Some shortcuts in the terminal

20. CTRL C (ENDS a command/process)
21. CTRL Z (STOPS a command/process)
22. CTRL A (back to beginning of the command line)
23. CTRL U (erase the typed line)

From these tips you are ready to start your Linux journey!

Don't give up and continue!

Until nex time, bye !