Basic File Management

Some of the tasks in managing files include creating, editing, deleting, and copying files. I summarized them below for some kind of reference. 🙂

C R E A T I N G   A   F I L E
syntax:
cat > filename
content
content
content

cat > todo_list
eat
rest
sleep
* use ctrl + D to denote the end of the line

syntax:
touch filename(s)

touch file1
touch file1 file2

D I S P L A Y I N G   F I L E   C O N T E N T S
syntax:
cat filename

cat todo_list

syntax:
less filename

less todo_list

F I N D I N G   F I L E S
syntax:
find directory criteria [-exec commandx{} \;]

find / -name "x*"
find / -user 1000
find / -type f -user 502 -exec rm -f{}\;

C R E A T I N G   D I R E C T O R Y
syntax:
mkdir directory

mkdir newDir
mkdir -p docs/programs/versions
- p: creates all subdirectories

C O P Y I N G   F I L E S
syntax:
cp oldfilename newfilename

cp old.pdf new.pdf

Most common options for cp
– d: do not follow symbolic link (when used with -R)
– f: force
– I:interactive, prompt before overwrite
– p: preserve file attributes
– R:recursively copy directories

cp -r /mydir/* dir2/: copy files from mydir
cp -r /mydir/* dir2/: copy files from mydir including mydir

M O V I N G   F I L E S
syntax:
mv oldfilename newfilename

mv old.pdf new.pdf

R E N A M I N G   F I L E S
syntax:
mv oldfilename newfilename

mv oldfilename.txt newfilename.txt

R E M O V I N G   F I L E S
syntax:
rm filename

rm todo_list

L I S T I N G   DI R E C T O R Y
syntax:
ls pathnames

ls ~: list contents of home directory
ls /:list contents of root directory
ls ../:list contents of parent directory
ls */:list contents of subdirectories
ls -d */:list directories in the current directory