Basic commands

Ubuntu Command Line Tutorial for Beginners

Getting Started

1. Open the Terminal
   • You can open the terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or by searching for "Terminal" in the applications menu.

Basic Commands

1. Navigating the File System:

   • pwd

     : Print Working Directory. Shows the current directory you are in.

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     pwd

   • ls

     : List. Lists files and directories in the current directory.

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     ls

   • cd

     : Change Directory. Moves you to a different directory.

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     cd /path/to/directory

     Example:

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     cd Documents

2. File and Directory Operations:

   • mkdir

     : Make Directory. Creates a new directory.

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     mkdir new_directory

   • touch

     : Creates a new, empty file.

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     touch new_file.txt

   • cp

     : Copy. Copies files or directories.

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     cp source_file destination

     Example:

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     cp file.txt /home/user/Documents

   • mv

     : Move. Moves or renames files or directories.

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     mv old_name new_name

     Example:

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     mv file.txt new_directory/

   • rm

     : Remove. Deletes files or directories.

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     rm file.txt

     To remove a directory and its contents, use:

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     rm -r directory_name

3. Viewing and Editing Files:

   • cat

     : Concatenate. Displays the contents of a file.

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     cat file.txt

   • nano

     : A simple text editor. Opens a file for editing.

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     nano file.txt

   • less

     : Views the content of a file one screen at a time.

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     less file.txt

4. System Information and Management:

   • df -h

     : Displays disk space usage.

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     df -h

   • free -h

     : Displays memory usage.

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     free -h

   • top

     : Displays running processes and system resource usage.

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     top

   • uname -a

     : Displays system information.

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     uname -a

5. Installing and Managing Software:

   • sudo apt update

     : Updates the list of available packages and their versions.

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     sudo apt update

   • sudo apt upgrade

     : Installs the latest versions of all installed packages.

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     sudo apt upgrade

   • sudo apt install package_name

     : Installs a new package.

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     sudo apt install package_name

     Example:

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     sudo apt install curl

6. Using man (Manual) Pages:

   • man

     : Displays the manual for a command.

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     man command_name

     Example:

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     man ls

Shortcuts and Tips

• Ctrl + C: Stops the current command.
• Ctrl + Z: Suspends the current command.
• Ctrl + R: Searches command history.
• Tab: Auto-completes file and directory names.

Practice

Try creating a directory, navigating into it, creating a file, and then viewing its contents:

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mkdir my_first_directory
cd my_first_directory
touch hello.txt
echo "Hello, Ubuntu!" > hello.txt
cat hello.txt

This should give you a good start with using the command line in Ubuntu. Practice these commands, and you'll become more comfortable with the terminal.