Lesson 7 - Chapter 2: Mastering Fundamental Commands

Question 1

What command in Windows and macOS/Linux show you the contents of the working directory? (2)

Answer 1

1. Windows = dir
2. macOS/Linux = ls

(DIRectory, Let’s See)

Question 2

What does the “dir” command do? For what OS? (2)

Answer 2

1. dir = shows the contents of the working directory
2. for Windows

Question 3

What does the “ls” command do? For what OS? (2)

Answer 3

1. ls = shows the contents of the working directory
2. For macOS and Linux

Question 4

What does the command and syntax look like when trying to view another directory’s contents (Documents) from the root directory in Windows?

Answer 4

C:>dir C:\Users\vanes\Documents

(we include the desired location as an argument)

Question 5

The default prompts in ____ don’t show the full path

Answer 5

Linux

scott@server:~$ ls
Desktop Downloads Public Videos
Documents photo.jpg timmy.doc

Question 6

When you enter “dir” and a lot of text scrolls quickly down the screen, how can you pause it? (command)

Answer 6

type
dir /p

(notice that it’s a forward slash for Windows in this instance)

Question 7

When you use dir /p to pause, how do you display the next screen?

Answer 7

spacebar

Question 8

What command and short-form switch do you use when there are a lot of files and you don’t care about the details you just want to see the filenames arranged in 5 columns? (Windows)

(wide list format)

Answer 8

dir /w

(wide list format)

Question 9

What short-form switch in Windows lets you see all the possible switches for the “dir” command?

Answer 9

dir /?

Question 10

How do you use the switches /p and /w for the dir command simultaneously?

Answer 10

dir /w /p

Question 11

What’s one of the most important switches that the ls command uses out of its more than 50 different switches? (Linux)

Answer 11

-l

Question 12

What does the -l switch stand for?

Answer 12

long listing (gives detailed information about the files)

Question 13

In what OS does the pipe command work in?

Answer 13

All 3

It’s incredibly powerful

Question 14

When would you use the pipe command?

Answer 14

when telling the OS to take the output of one command and pipe it through a second command

Question 15

What’s the Linux/macOS equivalent of Window’s dir /p?

Answer 15

ls | more

Question 16

What’s the main help switch and command to learn for Windows? (2)

Answer 16

1. /?
2. help (by itself to show what commands you can use)

Question 17

What’s the main help commands to learn for Linux? (2)

Answer 17

1. help (by itself to show what commands you can use)
2. man (followed by a command to view syntax documentation)

Question 18

The “cd” command works in which OS?

Answer 18

All 3

Question 19

To change to a directory that is beneath the current one in the hierarchy, you don’t have to do what?

Answer 19

specify the full path to it just its name (shorthand)

Question 20

Since you can move more than one level of hierarchy at a time that’s below in hierarchy, how do you go from a C: root directory to C:\Obiwan\my\hope? (Type out prompt)

Answer 20

C:>cd obiwan\my\hope

(notice there is NO backslash in front of obiwan, if going in deeper in the current subdirectory don’t need a backslash in front)

Question 21

In order to change to a directory that’s NOT below the current working directory, what do you include before the name?

Example:
C:\Users current working directory
Change to:
C:\Windows\System32

Answer 21

a \ in front (of Windows in this example)

backslash

C:\Users>cd \Windows\System32

Question 22

How do you return to the root directory?

Answer 22

type cd \

Question 23

How do you return to the root directory in Linux or macOS?

Answer 23

cd ~

Question 24

In Linux/macOS and Windows, what types of slashes do they use? (2)

Answer 24

1. Linux/macOS forward slash
2. Windows backslash

Question 25

On a Linux system, what directory should you not create files and directories in?

Answer 25

the root / directory

(so a user can’t break the OS)

Question 26

Do you use the cd command to move between drives on Windows?

Answer 26

No

Question 27

How do you move between Windows’ drive letters?

Answer 27

you type the drive letter and a colon

from C:\
to E:
it would look like C:>E:

to go back you just do the same and it returns you to the same directory you left

Question 28

All media in macOS and Linux is mounted as…?

Answer 28

directories

Question 29

In macOS, where is media mounted to?

Answer 29

/Volumes directory

Question 30

In Linux Ubuntu, where are drives mounted to and where is removable media mounted to? (2)

Answer 30

1. Drives = /mnt directory
2. Removable Media = /media/username

Question 31

What command do you use to make a directory in Windows? (2 options)

Answer 31

1. md
2. mkdir

Question 32

What’s the difference between md and mkdir commands?

Answer 32

md has 1 required argument: the name of the directory to create and mkdir works on all 3 OS

Question 33

How do you create multiple directory layers at once to make a files directory and a games directory inside the files directory under Scott? (Windows)

Working directory: C:\Users\scott

Answer 33

C:\Users\scott>md files\games

Question 34

What command do you use to make a directory in macOS/Linux?

Answer 34

mkdir

(only)

Question 35

What command do you use to remove an empty directory? 3 options. Which OS do they work on?

Answer 35

1. rmdir = all 3 OS
2. rd or rmdir = Windows

Question 36

Can the rmdir or rd delete a directory that contains files/sub-directories?

Answer 36

No, it needs to be an empty directory

Question 37

On Windows, what switch can you use to delete a directory with all its files and sub-directories?

Answer 37

rd /s

(remember files deleted from command line don’t go to the recycling bin)

Question 38

What command and switch do you use to delete a directory with all its files and sub-directories in Linux/macOS?

Answer 38

rm -r

Question 39

How do you run a program from the command line in Windows? (2 options)

Answer 39

1. Change to the working directory it’s in, type the filename (like mmc), ENTER
2. Type the complete path to the executable file from the current working directory

Question 40

All files with extensions .exe and .com are…?

Answer 40

programs

Question 41

How are macOS/Linux executable programs from the command line different from Windows? (2)

Answer 41

1. Don’t rely on any kind of extension (like .exe)
2. Any file (code, text file, etc) can be given the property of executable

Question 42

Almost all versions of Linux come with what kind of coded command lines?

Answer 42

color-coded

Question 43

What color might executable files be in Linux?

Answer 43

green

Question 44

What are the 2 types of executable file types that Linux has?

Answer 44

1. Built-in
2. Executables

Question 45

What’s the difference between built-in programs and executable programs in Linux? (2)

(2 different types of executable file types in Linux)

Answer 45

1. built-in programs = like built-in commands [mkdir, ls, rm] or built-in programs you type the name in
2. executable programs = not built-in, unzip program and add ./ to executable name to run it from command line

Question 46

In Linux, can you type the name of the executable program in the command line to run it if you’re in the directory that holds it after unzipping it?

Answer 46

No, it needs more syntax to run the executable

Question 47

What happens when you run a program from the Linux command line? What does Linux look through first?

Answer 47

A series of directories called the path (not like a command prompt path)

(it won’t run yet without additional syntax)

Question 48

What do you add in front of an executable in Linux to make it run?

Answer 48

a dot and a slash ./

scott@server:~/$./runme

Question 49

To create a directory in either Windows or Linux, use the command….?

Answer 49

mkdir

Question 50

For a listing of the working directory’s content, use the ___ command in Linux or the ____ command in Windows.

Answer 50

1. ls
2. dir

Question 51

To remove a directory in either Windows or Linux, use the ___ command.

Answer 51

rmdir

Question 52

To change the working directory, use the ____ command in Linux or the ____ command in Windows.

Answer 52

1. cd
2. cd

Question 53

To remove a directory in Windows without first deleting its content, use the ___ switch. (But be careful!)

Answer 53

/s