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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Linux Commands to get you started

'man'
  • Command mode accessible through ESC
  • /<search string>  - use 'n' to continue search
  • 'b' to go up a page
'info'
  • Control-S used to search
  • 'control-s' to continue the search
  • Control-G to end that task
  • Set up cursor on index points and hit enter to be taken to that section
  • Use 'l' to return to previous position with relation to indexed point
'man -k <keyword>' looks for keyword one-line synoposis entries
'apropos <keyword>' identical to above

'vi'
  • vi editor, command mode accessible through ESC
  • 'dd' - deletes a line
  • '/' search, similar to man pages
  • :wq - write and quit
  • :q! - quit without writing
'rm <file>' remove a file
'rm -i <file>' , interact flag for rm - prompt for confirmation on file deletion
'mkdir <name>' , create a directory
'rmdir <name>', remove an empty directory

'ls' - list the contents of current location
'ls -a' - list the contents of current location including all files beginning with a period (.)
'ls -l' - long listing format, includes DAC layout, along with other properties.

'cp' - copy
'mv' - rename/move

Terms to be aware of:  Absolute path - begins with a '/'
Relative path: - relative to the current directory inwhich the command is executed

Special files for easy configuration.

.bash_profile, easily modify the path to search for programs!
.bashrc , easily modify aliases surrounding common commands you may use.
example:  alias rm='rm -i'

source <file> , ie: source .bashrc
implement changes/take effect the current changes made, without exit/relogging.

nroff input for man pages is kept in /usr/share/man/manX, compressed with gzip to save space.  'man' knows how to uncompress on the fly.

Formatted versions of the manuals are kept in /var/cache/man/catX.  Should the directory be writable, man will also deposit the formatted pages as they are created, generating a cache of commonly read man pages.

'manpath' will display the path 'man' utilizes when searching for manual pages as per your request.  The system wide default can be configured in /etc/man.config (on some distributions)  The PAGER environment variable controls the way inwhich the listing of the man pages is utilized, typically using 'less'.

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