Linux commands for working with files

Linux file commands allow you to manipulate and manage files and folders in the Linux operating system. The different commands provide a variety of functionality that is often used in system administration, software development, and everyday file manipulation.

What commands are used for

For example, the"ls" command allows you to view the contents of the current working directory, the"mkdir" and"touch" commands allow you to create new folders and files respectively, the"cp" and"mv" commands allow you to copy or move files and folders, the"rm" command allows you to delete files and folders, the"cat" command displays the contents of a file on the screen, and the"grep" command allows you to search for specific lines or patterns in a file.

Linux commands for working with files also allow you to change permissions on files and folders, change the owner of files, create links to files, search for files using various criteria, and more. File commands provide a wide range of tools and features that help in managing the file system and ensure efficient file and folder manipulation in Linux.

Examples of commands

A few basic Linux commands for working with files:

ls: Shows a list of files and folders in the current working directory.

ls

cd: Changes the working directory to the specified directory.

cd /path/to/directory

mkdir: Creates a new folder with the specified name.

mkdir new_folder

touch: Creates a new file or updates the modification date of an existing file.

touch new_file.txt

cp: Copies files or folders.

cp file.txt /path/to/destination

mv: Moves files or folders.

mv file.txt /path/to/destination

rm: Deletes files or folders.

rm file.txt

cat: Outputs the contents of a file to the screen.

cat file.txt

head: Outputs the first lines of the file (in the example: the first 10 lines of the file):

head -n 10 file.txt

tail: Outputs the last lines of the file (in the example: the first 10 lines of the file):

tail -n 10 file.txt

grep: Searches for lines with the given pattern in the file.

grep "pattern" file.txt

chmod: Changes the permissions of a file or folder (in the example, adds executable permissions to a script):

chmod +x script.sh

chown: Changes the owner of a file or folder.

chown user:group file.txt

ln: Creates a link to a file.

ln -s file.txt link.txt

find: Searches for files and folders based on specified criteria (in the example, searches for all files with the extension .txt in the specified folder):

find /path/to/search -name "*.txt"

These are just some of the commands available in Linux for working with files. There are many other commands that you can use to perform various operations on files and folders.