Basic Linux BASH commands

Shell prompts:

• $ - Means you are a user. From the terminal you will see:
• user@host:~$
• # - Means you are root (superuser). From the terminal you will see:
• user@host:~#

Permitting administrative tasks:

• sudo - Within Ubuntu, gives administrative privileges, e.g:
• sudo mkdir /some-directory
• su - Within Debian, gives administrative privileges, e.g:
• su mkdir /some-directory

Directories and files:

• cd - Changes the directory you are in, e.g. to go to the mnt directory:
• cd /mnt
• cd .. - Moves you up one directory, e.g. from /home/user to /home:
• cd ..
• ~ - Move to the users home directory:
• ~
• ls - Lists the directory contents (minimal):
• ls
• ls -laF - Lists the directory contents (detailed):
• ls -laF
• mkdir - Creates a directory, e.g:
• mkdir some-directory
• Note: you cannot use spaces when creating directories
• rm - Removes (deletes) a file, e.g:
• rm some-file
• rm -r - Removes (deletes) a directory and its contents, e.g:
• rm -r some-directory
• rmdir - Removes (deletes) an empty directory, e.g:
• rmdir some-directory

Mounting drives:

• mount - Mounts a drive, e.g:
• mount /dev/hd-drive /mnt/hd-drive
• To auto mount the drive on boot you need to edit fstab:
• vi /etc/fstab
• then add a new line in the file:
• /dev/hd-drive /mnt/hd-drive ext3 defaults 0 0
• Note: the options (ext3 defaults 0 0) above may vary depending on the drive being mounted

Editing with gedit:

• gedit - Opens the gedit text editor from the terminal, e.g:
• gedit /some-directory/some-file
• Note: add sudo / su for root permissions

Miscellaneous:

• shutdown -r now - shuts down the system, then reboots
• shutdown -h now - shuts down the system and leaves it off (halts)
• fdisk -l - shows hard disk and partition information
• Ctrl + h - within Ubuntu, shows all hidden files

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