Using SSH and Unix commands
Having some basic knowledge of SSH and Unix commands is very useful. Developed in 1995, SSH (Secure Shell) was created as a secure alternative to Telnet. Telnet is a protocol allowing for command line access to a Unix, Linux or FreeBSD based remote computer. I’ve listed some basic commands to get you familiar with them.
The cd command is used to move to a specific directory.
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Command: cd Format: cd /directory/to/browse |
The cp command will copy the file or folder from the source, to the destination.
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Command: cp Format: cp /directory/source /directory/destination |
mkdir creates a directory.
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Command: mkdir Format: mkdir /directory_to_create |
The rmdir command deletes a directory.
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Command: rmdir Format: rmdir /directory/to/delete |
The rm command deletes a file.
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Command: rm -f Format: rm -f filename |
The mv command will rename or move a file stated in the first portion to the name or location stated in the second portion.
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Command: mv Format: mv /directory/you/want/to/rename/or/move /new/directory/name/or/location |
This command will tar zip the files in the directory specified in the second portion into a tar file specified in the first portion.
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Command: tar cvf Format: tar cvf filename.tar.gz /directory/you/wish/to/archive |
The tar -xvf will extract all files from the tarball specified into the directory you are currently in.
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Command: tar -xvf Format: tar -xvf filename.tar.gz |
This will create a zip file, with the name specified in the first portion from the file or directory listed in the second portion.
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Command: zip Format: zip filename.zip /file/or/folder/you/want/to/zip |
This command will unzip or un pack the named zip file, into the directory you’re currently in.
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Command: unzip Format: unzip filename.zip |
The Ls command lists files, and folders within the directory you specify
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Command: ls Format: ls /directory/you/wish/to/list/files/ |
This will add a forward slash to the directory names within the directory you specify
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Command: ls -f Format: ls -f /directory/you/wish/to/list/files/ |
This will show “hidden” files in the directory you specify
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Command: ls -a Format: ls -a /directory/you/wish/to/list/files/ |
This command shows detailed info about each file in the directory you specify.
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Command: ls -l Format: ls -l /directory/you/wish/to/list/files/ |
Also, a lightweight, freeware application which supports SSH commands for windows is PuTTY if you aren’t on a MAC.
Great post! Bookmarking this one!
Hi,
my two cents in your post:
– cp: to copy also directories you must use the -r attribute, otherwise you get an error.
– mkdir: a tip… if you use -p attribute you can create all the tree 😉
– rmdir: remove an empty directory… if you want to remove a not empty directory you’ll use the rm -Rf /path/to/remove.
– Ls is a ‘typing error’… i think 🙂
I hope you find my comment useful 🙂
Cheers
Strap
Wow, huge thanks! I’m still learning some Unix/terminal commands to get a better functionality out of my mac; I’m somewhat familiar with cp and cd as I’ve used them, but this is definitely getting a bookmark.
Putty is nice too; I used it while I was still on Windows.
WOW! What a great list. Thank you so much. This is extremely helpful.
Very good post! It will be helpful with the configuring I do of Ubuntu boxes for clients!
Question though….I have some boxes that when I remotely run the ls -al command through SSH that return blank information. I have to log into the boxes to check the status of updates. All the boxes happen to be Ubuntu 8.10. Is there something in SSH and it’s key that may be causing it?
Hey thanks for giving us knowledge about these useful commands. It really helps me a lot. This is also an useful information hoping its also helpful how to view hidden files in linux