UNIX Practice Questions
Basic System Commands
1. Write a command to print the full path of the directory you are currently working in.
2. Write a command to display the list of all users currently logged into the system.
3. Write a command to print the username of the person currently logged in.
4. Write a command to display the current system date and time.
5. Write a command to display only the current year using formatting options of the date
command.
6. Write a command to show the calendar of the present month.
7. Show the calendar for August 2028.
8. Write a command to display the calendar for the entire year 2027.
Pipeline Commands
9. Write a command using a pipeline to list all files in the current directory and count how
many entries are there.
10. Display the contents of [Link] and count how many lines it contains using a
pipeline .
11. View a large file named [Link] page by page and also count the total number of
words in it using a pipeline .
12. Check how many files are there in a directory and show the number. Use pipeline for
the task.
13. Display [Link] page by page and count how many lines are in the file using a
pipeline .
File Copying Commands
14. Create a file named [Link] and write 20 lines in it. Write a command to copy it to a
new file called [Link] in the same directory.
15. Assume a directory /home/student/docs exists. Copy [Link] from the current
directory into that directory.
16. Copy [Link] , [Link] , and [Link] into a directory named archive .
17. There is a directory named project. Write a command to copy the entire directory
(including subdirectories and files) into /backup .
18. Copy [Link] to data_backup.txt but prompt before overwriting if the file already
exists.
File Moving/Renaming Commands
19. Rename [Link] to [Link] using the mv command.
20. Move [Link] from the current directory to /home/user/pictures .
21. Copy [Link] to [Link] only if [Link] is newer than [Link] .
22. Move [Link] to report_final.txt , but keep a backup of the existing destination
file if it already exists.
File Deletion Commands
23. Write a command to delete a file named [Link] .
24. Delete [Link] , [Link] , and [Link] using a single command.
25. Delete [Link] but ask for confirmation before removing it.
26. Delete [Link] without showing any warning or confirmation.
27. Delete an empty directory named backup .
28. Delete a directory named project along with all files and subdirectories inside it.
29. Delete a directory testdir and all its contents, but ask before each deletion.
30. Delete empty directories named dir1 , dir2 , and dir3 in one command.
Calculator Commands bc
31. Use bc to calculate the result of: 25 + 37
32. Use bc to divide 10 by 3 and display the result up to 2 decimal places.
33. Use bc to calculate 5 raised to the power 3.
34. Use bc to find the square root of 144.
35. Use bc to evaluate the expression: (8 + 2) × 5 – 6
Directory Navigation and Creation
36. Write a command to create a directory named projects.
37. Create a directory structure college/bca/semester1 in a single command.
38. Write a command to move into the directory /home/user/docs .
39. You are inside /home/user/docs/reports . Write a command to move one level up.
40. Create a directory named practice and then move into it using commands.