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Command Line Basics and File System Guide

The document provides an overview of the Linux command line environment and file system structure. It describes basic commands like ls, pwd, and man to navigate and get help. It also explains the hierarchy and purpose of the main directories in the Linux file system like /bin, /usr, /var, /etc, and how the root directory / acts as the top of the structure with subdirectories dividing system files.

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Soumyak Dutta
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48 views17 pages

Command Line Basics and File System Guide

The document provides an overview of the Linux command line environment and file system structure. It describes basic commands like ls, pwd, and man to navigate and get help. It also explains the hierarchy and purpose of the main directories in the Linux file system like /bin, /usr, /var, /etc, and how the root directory / acts as the top of the structure with subdirectories dividing system files.

Uploaded by

Soumyak Dutta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Command line environment

First few steps


●
Open a Terminal emulator (Terminal, Konsole, xterm, guake, ...)
● pwd
● ls
● ps
● uname
● clear or ctrl+L to clear the screen
● exit or ctrl+D to close the shell
user@machine:~$ ls -a
hostname
path
username
Command

user@machine:~$ ls -a

Command Prompt Option


user@machine:~$ man ls

Command Argument
man page sections
Section Type of pages
1 Executable programs or shell commands
2 System calls provided by kernel
3 Library calls
4 Special files usually found in /dev
5 File formats and conventions
6 Games
7 Miscellaneous: macro packages, conventions
8 System administration commands
9 Kernel routines
command

user@machine:~$ man 1 ls

option argument
File system
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

FHS 3.0 released on June 03, 2015


Available at
https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/fhs.shtml
/
sbin media

bin etc home tmp usr lib var mnt

apt bin sbin share


gphani

Desktop Documents Downloads Pictures MyCode


File system: traversing the
tree
/ is the root of the file system
/ is also the delimiter for sub-directories
. is current directory
.. is parent directory

Path for traversal can be absolute or relative


/

bin home

gphani

Desktop Documents Downloads Pictures MyCode


/bin Essential command binaries

/boot Static files of the boot loader

/dev Device files

/etc Host specific system configuration

/lib Essential shared libraries and kernel modules

/media Mount points for removable devices

/mnt Mount points

/opt Add on application software packages


/run Data relevant to running processes

/sbin Essential system binaries

/srv Data for services

/tmp Temporary files

/usr Secondary hierarchy

/var Variable data


/usr hierarchy
/usr/bin User commands

/usr/lib Libraries

/usr/local Local hierarchy

/usr/sbin Non-vital system binaries

/usr/share Architecture dependent data

/usr/include Header files included by C programs

/usr/src Source code


/var hierarchy
/var/cache Application cache data

/var/lib Variable state information

/var/local Variable data for /usr/local

/var/lock Lock files

/var/log Log files and directories

/var/run Data relevant to running processes

/var/tmp Temporary files preserved between reboots


sharable unsharable

/usr /etc
static
/opt /boot

/var/run
variable /var/mail
/var/lock

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