{"id":3857,"date":"2019-09-02T11:25:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T10:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/csf3\/?page_id=3857"},"modified":"2026-02-24T11:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:34:06","slug":"linux-commands","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/csf3\/getting-started\/linux-commands\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux Commands"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CSF runs the Linux operating system. Interaction with the system is done by typing commands into a terminal<\/em> program. This can be a little daunting at first. The table below contains the basic Linux commands you will likely use on the CSF.<\/p>\n

It is worth remembering that when you login to the CSF, the folder you will be first in<\/em> is your home directory<\/em> (Windows users can think of this as similar to “My Documents”.) The home directory is private to you and where you should keep important files (it is backed-up storage).<\/p>\n

The other useful thing is that the Linux term directory<\/em> is what Windows users call a folder<\/em> when talking about storage.<\/p>\n

Commands specific to the batch system (not a default part of Linux) are covered in other sections<\/a> of our documentation. Other useful Linux commands may also be mentioned elsewhere.<\/p>\n

While logged into the CSF, you can read the manual for each command by running man command<\/em><\/code> on the login node (for example man ls<\/code>.) This displays the command’s “man” page – a manual usually describing what the command will do, what command-line flags it accepts and what any error messages mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Commands<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\ncd dir1<\/code>
\ncd ~\/dir1\/dir2<\/code>
\ncd ~\/scratch<\/code>
\ncd ..<\/code>
\ncd<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nChange directory (go into dir1<\/code> which is located inside the current dir).
\nGo into dir2<\/code> in dir1<\/code> in home (~<\/code> is shorthand for home<\/emphasis>)
\nGo into your scratch<\/em> directory (CSF-specific)
\nGo up to parent directory (e.g., from ~\/dir1\/dir2<\/code> to ~\/dir1<\/code>)
\nGo back to your home<\/em> directory from where ever you currently are (useful if you become lost)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\npwd<\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nLost? Print Working Directory (display your current location – the folder you are currently working in)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nls<\/code>
\nls -lh<\/code>
\nls -lh file1 dirA<\/code>
\nls -lh dirA\/*.dat<\/code><\/p>\n<\/td>\n		\nList content (names of files and directories) of current directory
\nList in long form (dates, file sizes, names) current directory
\nList in long form (dates, file sizes, names) specified files, directories \u2026
\nList in long form all files ending in .dat<\/code> in directory dirA<\/code>
\n(note that the -l<\/code> in these commands is a lower-case letter L (not a number one)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ncp fileA fileB<\/code>
\ncp fileA dirA<\/code>
\ncp fileA ~\/scratch<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nCopy (duplicate) a file (copy fileA<\/code> to a new file fileB<\/code>)
\nCopy (duplicate) a file into the directory named dirA<\/code>
\nCopy (duplicate) a file into your scratch<\/em> directory (CSF-specific)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nmv fileC fileD<\/code>
\nmv fileE dirA<\/code>
\nmv fileF dirA\/fileG<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nRename a file (from fileC<\/code> to fileD<\/code>). Works for directories too.
\nMove fileE<\/code> into sub-directory dirA<\/code> (dirA<\/code> must exist)
\nMove fileF<\/code> AND rename it all in one go (dirA<\/code> must exist)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nrm fileH<\/code>
\nrm dirA\/fileB<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nDelete (remove) a file (caution!!)
\nDelete (remove) a file named fileB<\/code> from dirA<\/code>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nmkdir dirA<\/code>
\nmkdir -p dirA\/dirB\/dirC<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nCreate (make) a new folder named dirA<\/code> in current location (don’t use spaces in folder names!)
\nCreate (make) a tree of folders starting at current location\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nrmdir dirA<\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nDelete (remove) an empty<\/em> directory.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nrm -rf dir1<\/span><\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nDelete a directory and all<\/strong> files and other directories in there, down the entire tree (caution!!!!!<\/span>)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ngzip bigfile<\/code>
\n 
\ngunzip bigfile.gz<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nCompress a file (becomes bigfile.gz<\/code>) to make better use of diskspace. Text files usually compress well.
\nUncompress previously compressed file (becomes bigfile<\/code>).\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nless file1<\/code>
\nzless file2.gz<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nDisplay the content of file1<\/code> (text file) a page at a time on screen.
\nIf you’ve compressed file2<\/code> with gzip<\/code>, no need to uncompress first.
\nBoth commands accept the following keystrokes to navigate:
\nPress space<\/code> to page down through a long file
\nPress return<\/code> to scroll down a line at a time
\nPress b<\/code> to scroll back up a page
\nPress G<\/code> to go to end of file
\nPress q<\/code> to quit\/exit\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ncat file1<\/code>
\nzcat file2.gz<\/code>\n<\/td>\n		\nDump entire file to screen (a quick way to look at text files).
\nIf you’ve compress file2<\/code> with gzip<\/code>, no need to uncompress first.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ngedit file1\n<\/td>\n\nEdit file1<\/code> using a simple graphical text editor (similar to notepad on Windows). Make sure you have logged in enabling the ability to open graphical programs<\/a>
\non the CSF so that they display a window on your computer.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nfile filenameA<\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nTry to tell us what type of data is in filenameA<\/code>. Useful to determine the output of some program where you are not sure what type of output it has generated. For example:
\nfile output.dat<\/code>
\nMight be ASCII text<\/code> (so we can look at it with less<\/code> or gedit<\/code>)
\nor might be data<\/code> (you'll need some other program to read it)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ndu -sh .<\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nHow much disk space is current directory (all files and subdirs) using?\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\ndf -h .<\/code>\n<\/td>\n\nHow much free space is there in the current area?\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Further Information<\/h2>\n

If you would like to learn more we recommend the following training materials<\/p>\n