When connected to a Unix system via the shell, understanding navigation is important. In this section, we will review some essential commands.

pwd

  • Description: Prints the current working directory.

  • Example usage:

    ubuntu:~$ pwd # Shows the current directory's path

From the next command, I’ll only display the command itself without the preceding ubuntu:~$.

ls

  • Description: Lists contents of the current directory.

  • Example usage:

    ls # Displays the contents of the current directory
ls -l # Displays detailed information about files
ls -a # Displays all files including hidden files
ls -la # Displays all files including hidden files with detailed information
ls -lt # Displays files sorted by modification time (latest first)

man

  • Description: Displays the manual pages for detailed information and usage instructions.

  • Example usage:

    # Install the 'man-db' package to set up the manual database for the first-time use
apt install man-db
# Use the 'man' command to display the manual page for 'ls'
man ls

mkdir

  • Description: Creates directories.

  • Example usage:

    mkdir new_folder # Generates a new directory named 'new_folder'

cd

  • Description: Changes directories.

  • Example usage:

    cd my_folder      # Moves into a directory named 'my_folder'
cd ..    # Navigates to the parent directory
cd ~/Documents    # Changes to the 'Documents' directory in the user's home folder
cd -               # Returns to the previous directory
cd /               # Navigates to the root directory (top-level directory)

Note: Directory Symbols

  • . represents the current directory.
  • .. refers to the parent directory.
  • - represents the previous directory visited, a quick navigation to the last accessed location.
  • ~ denotes the home directory.
  • / denotes the root directory.

* (Asterisk)

  • Description: Represents zero or more characters in a file or directory name.

  • Example Usage (with ls):

    ls *.txt # Matches file1.txt, file2.txt, etc.

? (Question Mark)

  • Description: Denotes a single character within a file or directory name.

  • Example Usage (with ls):

    ls file?.txt # Matches file1.txt, file2.txt, etc.

Mastering these navigation commands helps you traverse directories within the Linux system seamlessly, which is particularly important when working with a remote system.