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File commands

pwd, cd, ls, tree, mkdir, rmdir, touch, cp, mv, rm and find with their common options: what each one does, what it refuses and what it destroys.

  • 30 cards
  • 5 topics
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  1. Concepts
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  • ls -la: what is it?

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    Lists a directory's content in detail (type, permissions, owner, size, date), hidden files included.

    -l gives the long format, -a adds the files whose name starts with a dot, such as .bashrc, which a plain ls does not show.

  • The directory archive does not exist. What does mv rapport.txt archive do?

    • It renames rapport.txt to archive
    • It creates the archive directory and moves the file into it
    • It fails, because the destination archive does not exist
    • It copies the file under the name archive and keeps the original
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    It renames rapport.txt to archive

    When the destination is not an existing directory, mv takes it as a new name. It is a classic way to lose files: the file is now a file called archive.

  • pwd prints the … directory; cd with no argument goes back to the … directory, and cd - to the … one.

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    pwd prints the current directory; cd with no argument goes back to the home directory, and cd - to the previous one.

    cd - switches back and forth between two directories: handy to hop without retyping paths.

  • mkdir -p a/b/c: what is it?

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    Creates a, a/b and a/b/c in one go, and reports no error if one of them already exists.

    Without -p, mkdir a/b/c fails (“No such file or directory”) if a/b does not exist, and mkdir a fails if a already exists.

  • cp src sauvegarde answers “cp: -r not specified; omitting directory 'src'” and copies nothing. Which fix?

    • Add root's rights: sudo cp src sauvegarde
    • Add recursion: cp -r src sauvegarde
    • Force the copy: cp -f src sauvegarde
    • Preserve permissions: cp -p src sauvegarde
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    Add recursion: cp -r src sauvegarde

    The message says it: src is a directory and cp only goes into a directory with -r. sudo, -f and -p do not change this refusal.

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