If you are new to Linux and it’s terminal, you might be wondering how to move around? I’ll show you how with some basic terminal commands.

Below I’ll list a few examples with comments denoted by #

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#Displays contents in folder
ls 
 
# Changes Directory 
cd FOLDERNAME
 
# Go up one directory
cd ..
 
# Go to your home directory
cd
 
# Make directory
mkdir FOLDERNAME
 
# Remove a file
rm -- FILENAME
 
# Copy a file
cp ORIGINALFILE NEWFILE
 
# Move a file
mv SOURCE DESTINATION
 
# Install Program in Ubuntu and other Linux Distros
sudo apt-get install PROGRAMNAME
 
# To run a program you usually specify the name, 
# if text editor, its usually name of program and 
# text file to create, if no file is specified, the text editor still opens.
firefox
emacs hello_world.cpp
 
# Compile a program using g++ 
g++ hello_world.cpp
 
# Execute program 
./PROGRAMNAME

An example of finding help for a certain command is the following:

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man mkdir

The man command will give you the manual page for a given command.

Example using the terminal

Let’s say we want to view the contents of a folder, create a folder called Example, create a text file using emacs, compile it, run it, and go back to our home directory. To do this, we would simply do the following.

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ls
mkdir C++
cd C++
emacs hello_world.cpp
g++ hello_world.cpp
./a.out 
cd

Yes there are numerous ways to achieve this, its just a matter of how you want to navigate the terminal.

What now?

If you feel another basic command needs to be here or need more help, simply drop in a line in the comments box! I’ll be sure to put it down.

Expect advanced terminal commands in the near future.