Working With Files and Directories
These commands can be used to: find out information about files, display files, and manipulate them in other ways (copy, move, delete).
| Linux Command | DOS Command | Description |
| file | Find out what kind of file it is. For example, file /bin/ls tells us that it is a Linux executable file. |
|
| cat | type | Display the contents of a text file on the screen. For example: cat mp3files.txt would display the file we created in the previous section. |
| head | Display the first few lines of a text file. Example: head /etc/services |
|
| tail | Display the last few lines of a text file. Example: tail /etc/services |
|
| tail -f | Display the last few lines of a text file, and then output appended data as the file grows (very useful for following log files!). Example: tail -f /var/log/messages |
|
| cp | copy | Copies a file from one location to another. Example: cp mp3files.txt /tmp (copies the mp3files.txt file to the /tmp directory) |
| mv | rename, ren, move |
Moves a file to a new location, or renames it. For example: mv mp3files.txt /tmp (copy the file to /tmp, and delete it from the original |
| rm | del | Delete a file. Example: rm /tmp/mp3files.txt |
| mkdir | md | Make Directory. Example: mkdir /tmp/myfiles/ |
| rmdir | rd, rmdir |
Remove Directory. Example: rmdir /tmp/myfiles/ |