Linux Basics#
Linux is the basis of a lot of different operating systems. Many companies and developers release their own versions of linux called distributions or distros. The biggest companies being RedHat (RedHat Enterprise Linux) and Canonical (Ubuntu). We at EODC offer some of those distros to use in our Openstack environments.
Linux basics cheat sheet#
Basic commands#
Some symbols have special meanings in the terminal:
/
refers to the root directory.
refers to your current working directory~
refers to the current users home directory
Command |
What it does |
---|---|
Navigate the filesystem |
|
ls |
Lists the files in your current working directory |
cd <path or directory> |
Move through the file system using either relative or absolute paths. |
pwd |
Prints your current working directory |
File manipulation |
|
cp <src> <dest> |
Copies files or directories |
mv <src> <dest> |
Moves files or directories |
rm [-r] <file or directory> |
Deletes files (add -r to delete recursively) |
cat <filename> |
Print out the contents of a file |
less <filename> |
Prints out the contents of a file but with the ability to scroll and search by typing /. Quit with q |
nano <filename> |
Is a basic and easy to use text editor |
mkdir <directoryname> |
Creates a new directory |
touch <filename> |
Creates a new empty file |
Miscellaneous |
|
sudo <command> |
Gives the user admin privileges for the command |
man <command> |
Opens a manual for the given command |
history |
Prints previously entered commands |
Managing packages#
Different distros use different tools to manage packages called package managers.\n
I will use nano
as an example package:\n
Nano is a popular and very easy to use terminal text editor.\n
Other examples would be Vim or Emacs but those aren’t as beginner friendly\n
Debian and distros based on it use apt
:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade # updates the system
apt search nano # search for nano in repositories
sudo apt install nano # installs nano
sudo apt remove nano # to remove the package
RedHat based distros like Almalinux use dnf
:
sudo dnf update # updates the system
dnf search nano # search for nano in the repositories
sudo dnf install nano # installs nano
sudo dnf remove nano # to remove the package