Espresso: A Concentrated Introduction to Java

Important Unix Commands

pwd

Give the name of the present working direcotry

ls

List all the files and directories in the present working directory.

ls directory

List all the files and directories in the specified directory.

less file

Look at the contents of a file. The space bar pages down, the b key pages up, and the q key quits. The slash key lets you search for a particular sequence of characters.

cd directory

Change the working directory to the specified directory. For subdirectories, you need only give the name of the subdirectory and not the full path.

cd ..

Change the working directory to the directory "above" the current directory.

mkdir directory

Create a new directory.

chmod options file

Set permissions on a file.

chmod a+r file

Make a file readable by everyone (all add read).

chmod go-r file

Make a file unreadable by others (group/other subtract read).

chmod a+x directory

Allow others to access files in the specified directory, provided those files are readable.

chmod a+r directory

Allow others to see what files are in the specified directory.

cp filename newfilename

Make a copy of the named file.

cp filename directory

Make a copy of the named file in the specified directory.

mv filename newfilename

Rename the file.

mv filename directory

Move the named file to the specified directory.

man command

Get information on the specified command.