Linux (BASH) sample commands

Question 1

/

Answer 1

root directory

Question 2

ls

Answer 2

list directories

ex. ls/ lists directories in main directory

Question 3

ls -help

Answer 3

tells what command flags are and what they do

Question 4

man -ls

Answer 4

same information as “-help” but with a little more detail

Question 5

ls -long

Answer 5

extra information about directories and files and folders in them

• this is like windows “show properties”

Question 6

ls -a

Answer 6

all files in the directory including hidden files

Question 7

History (or ctrl+r)

Answer 7

show previous commands and navigate up and down to execute them again

Question 8

clear

Answer 8

clear screen that is cluttered

Question 9

mv

Answer 9

renames or moves files to a different directory

to change name just type mv and the original name and then the new name right after it

Question 10

rm

Answer 10

remove files and directories

Question 11

cat

Answer 11

gets contents of a file and outputs the contents to the screen

Question 12

less

Answer 12

=more in windows

gets the contents of the file (especially a larger one and displays it to the terminal window until it fills it. You can then advance content at your own pace)

Question 13

up and down keys

Answer 13

advances contents of the screen by one line after “less” command

Question 14

page up and page down keys

Answer 14

advances contents of the screen by one page after less command

Question 15

lowercase g

Answer 15

moves to the beginning of a file after less command

Question 16

capital G

Answer 16

moves to the end of a file after the less command

Question 17

/[word}

Answer 17

/word-search - allows you to search for a word or phrase

Question 18

q

Answer 18

quit out of the less command and return to the shell

Question 19

cat -head

Answer 19

displays first few lines of a file (by default 10 lines)

Question 20

cat -tail

Answer 20

displays the last few lines of a file (by default 10)

Question 21

nano [file name]

Answer 21

text editor like notepad++ in windows

Answer 22

ctrl key

Question 23

grep

Answer 23

searches for a string in a group of files

like the select-string in powershell

Question 24

(pipe character)

Answer 24

send command

it sends or “pipes” output to next location

Question 25

cp

Answer 25

copy files

Question 26

-r

Answer 26

recursive copy

Question 27

>

Answer 27

redirect command for standard output

Question 28

> >

Answer 28

append (add) to a file

Question 29

<

Answer 29

standard input operator (redirector)

Question 30

/dev/null

Answer 30

sends unwanted output to the netherworld

like $null in windows powershell

Question 31

2>

Answer 31

redirector for standard error (stderr)