Console Quick Reference
CONVENTIONS USED

This isn't really a tutorial, but it is a reference of some of the most commonly used commands and parameters for the Linux console.

DOS Command
Linux Equivalent
Description
dir
dir *.txt
ls
ls *.txt
Lists files in the current directory.
Lists the text files in the current directory.
cd dirname
cd\
cd..
---
cd dirname
cd /
cd ..
cd
Changes the directory.
Changes to the root directory.
Go up one directory.
Go to user's home directory.
del filename rm filename
Deletes a file.
deltree dirname
---
rm -r dirname
rm -rf dirname
Deletes a directory and all of its contents.
Delete a directory and all of its contents without any confirmation.
md dirname
---
mkdir [-p] dirname
mkdir -p dirname1/dirname2
Creates a directory.
Creates a directory structure.
--- touch filename
touch filename1 filename2
Creates a new file or updates a file's date stamp.
move filename dest mv filename dest
Moves files to a destination directory.
ren oldname newname mv oldname newname
Renames a file.
copy originalfile clonefile cp originalfile clonefile
Copies a file.
xcopy source dest
xcopy32 source dest
cp -a source dest
Copies directories or files, maintaining the directory structure.
cls clear
Clears the screen and sets the prompt to the top of the screen.
type filename cat filename
Displays the contents of filename.
--- wc -l filename
wc -w filename
wc -c filename
Counts the number of lines contained in filename.
Counts the number of words contained in filename.
Counts the number of characters contained in filename.
--- command1 | command2
Pipes output of command1 to command2 to serve as command2's input.
(i.e. cat filename | wc -l, which counts the lines in filename).
command > filename
---
---
command >filename
command 1>filename
command 2>/dev/null
Redirects output of command to a new file.
Redirects output of command to a new file.
Redirects error messages of command to /dev/null.
--- chown -R user:group filename dirname
Changes ownership of files and/or directories and their contents.
--- chgrp -R group filename dirname
Changes ownership of files and/or directories and their contents.


I haven't tested all of these, so please inform me if any are incorrect.

Thank you!


© D. Olson 2001-2003 -- Originally found on The Mandrake eXPerience