Crash Course: Linux For Absolute Beginners
Lec1:
$man man : "Show me the manual for the man command."
$man Printf: shows manual for printf command.
$ls –help: meant double dash --help, not a single en dash –) is used in Linux to display the help
information for the ls command.
Lec2:
Remote Login using SSH: ssh username@hostname_or_ip
Lec3:
$apropos : The apropos command is used to search the manual (man) page descriptions for
keywords. It helps you find relevant commands when you don’t know the exact command name.
Syntax: apropos [keyword]
Example: apropos copy
apropos searches a database built by man. If it doesn’t return results, you may need to update the
database with: sudo mandb
$apropos -s: The -s (or --section) option in the apropos command lets you limit your search to a
specific section of the man pages.
Syntax: apropos -s [section_number] keyword
📘 Manual Page Sections in Linux:
Section Description
1 User commands
2 System calls
3 Library calls
4 Special files (e.g., /dev)
5 File formats and conventions
6 Games and screensavers
7 Miscellaneous
8 System administration commands
$apropos –s 1,8 director : will open that matches the keyword “director” in the manual section 1 to 8.
Auto Completion technique: type starting word and press “TAB”.
Auto Suggestion technique: type starting word then press “Space” and press “TAB””TAB”.
Lec4:
Listing Files and Directories:
$ls-la or $ls –a-l:
ls = list directory contents
-l = long listing format (detailed view)
-a = include hidden files (those starting with .)
$ls –l:
Lists directory contents in a long (detailed) format, but does not include hidden files.
$ls –a:
lists all files and directories, including hidden ones, in the current directory.
$ls –alh:
is a very common and powerful way to list all files, including hidden ones, in long, human-readable
format.
File System Tree:
/ (root) is the top-level directory — everything starts here.
Users’ personal data is stored under /home/username.
/etc holds system-wide config files.
/var/log contains system and application log files.
Current Working Directory:
$PWD: Print Working Directory
cd: Change Directory
$cd/var/log
$cd/home/mamun
cd . .
../invoice.pdf: one step up from current directory
../../invoice.pdf: two step up from current directory
Master Tips:
$cd / : take you to root directory.
$cd - : Go to previous directory.
$cd: Go to home directory.
Lec4: Create File & Directories
Create File in working directory: $touch receipt.pdf
Create File in another directory: $touch/home/mamun/ receipt.pdf
Or $touch ../mamun/receipt.pdf
Create a New Directory: $mkdir Receipt mkdir = Make Directory
Copying files:
$cp [Source] [Destination] cp= Copy
$cp receipt.pdf Receipts/
Or $cp receipt.pdf Receipts
$cp receipt.pdf Receipts/ReceiptCopy.pdf : will copy the Receipt.pdf file to same directory with a name
ReceiptCopy.pdf
Copying Directory:
$cp –r [Source] [Destination] -r=Recursive
$cp –r Receipts/BackupOfReceipts/ : Will copy all the sub directories and files of Receipts directory
and save the directory as BackupOfReceipts.
Moving Files: $mv [Source] [Destination] mv= Move
$mv receipt.pdf Receipts/
***Note: Best practice to identify a directory always use a slash(/) as mentioned above line.
Rename a File:
$mv Receipt.pdf oldReceipt.pdf
Rename a Directory:
$mv Receipts/ oldReceipts/
Deleting Files: will delete the specific file
$rm invoice .pdf : will remove/delete invoice.pdf
Deleting Directories: will delete the directory and sub directories.
$rm –r invoices/
