UNIX Shell For Dummies

Learning a few UNIX commands can be useful. Since it’s the ‘default’ programming language that pops up when you run the Terminal, it’s worth knowing a few of the more basic commands: These are sorted by ‘difficulty’ - you should know the first ones first.

cd - changes the current directory.#

  • cd ~ - changes where you are to HOME directory
  • cd Documents - goes one file deeper into the ‘Documents’ folder
  • cd .. - goes up one directory

ls - list files or directories in current directory#

  • ls -la - uses the options ‘-l’ (list in detail) and ‘-a’ (show hidden files)

pwd - print working directory. Shows where you are (relative to the root folder)

Copying#

cp - copy#

  • cp anchovy.txt fishes/anchovy.txt - creates a copy of the file under the ‘fishes’ directory.

cp -r - copy recursively. Useful for directories.

  • cp -r anchovy fishes/anchovy - copies all the anchovy-related files from the folder ‘anchovy’

Deleting#

rm - remove#

  • rm platypus.txt - deletes the specified file

rmdir - remove directory#

Moving / Renaming#

mv - move#

  • This works like cp, except it removes the initial file / directory
  • mv anchovy.txt fishes/anchovy.txt - moves & removes the file.
  • Renaming: mv anchovy.txt sardine.txt

Creating Folders#

mkdir - creates a new directory#

  • mkdir pelicans

mkdir -p - creates a series of new directories.

  • mkdir -p Pelecanidae/Pelicans/Great-White-Pelican

Getting help#

man - find the manual#

  • man man
  • man pwd

Showing files#

cat - show pure text version of the file.#

  • Concatenates & prints the file cat gerbil_name.txt - simply outputs text: ‘Fred’

less - outputs text with more features.#

  • Better for larger files. Includes scrolling, searching, etc..
  • less encyclopedia.txt - won’t crash & is still useful

sort - guess what this one does…#

  • Go on. Guess. I’m not going to tell you.

Comparing files#

diff - shows the differences between two files#

  • diff red_spotted_woodpecker.txt lesser_woodpecker.txt

Finding programs#

whereis#

  • Useful if you’re running the wrong version of ruby. Or something similar.
  • Provides the location of the executable file.

Changing File Permissions#

chmod#

  • A common chmod file permission to set is chmod 755, which is rwx for the Owner but only rw for other users.

Search for text#

grep#

I’ve written a quick primer on UNIX file permissions [here]({{ site.url }}/_posts/2014-10-18-unix-permissions.md)

Grep’s a fairly big topic:

![Grep Book]({{ site.url }}/assets/grep.jpg)

  • grep "some string" filename
  • grep "REGEX" filename
  • grep -i "some string" filename - case insensitive

Flags#

Flags are optional parameters that you can pass in to a shell command. We’ve met some already; here’re two: ls -la. You can see a full list of available options under the man page of the commands.