7.2.
1 Home Directory
The term home directory often confuses new Linux users. To begin with, on most Linux
distributions there is a directory called home under the root / directory.
Under this /home directory there is a directory for each user on the system. The directory name is
the same as the name of the user, so a user named sysadmin would have a home directory called
/home/sysadmin.
The home directory is an important directory. To begin with, when a user opens a shell, they should
automatically be placed in their home directory, as typically this is where they do most of their work.
Additionally, the home directory is one of the few directories where the user has full control to create
and delete additional files and directories. On most Linux distributions, the only users who can
access the files in a home directory are the owner and the administrator on the system. Most other
directories in a Linux filesystem are protected with file permissions .
File permissions and ownership will be covered in detail later in the course.
The home directory has a special symbol used to represent it; the tilde ~ character. So if the
sysadmin user is logged in, the tilde ~ character can be used in place of the /home/sysadmin
directory.
It is also possible to refer to another user's home directory by using the tilde ~ character followed by
the name of the user account. For example, ~bob would be the equivalent of /home/bob.
7.2.2 Current Directory
To determine where the user is currently located within the filesystem, the pwd (print working
directory) command can be used:
pwd [OPTIONS]
sysadmin@localhost:~$ pwd
/home/sysadmin
The pwd command prints the working directory, which is the current location of the user within the
filesystem. The output of the above command indicates that the sysadmin user is currently in
their home directory, shown in the filesystem below:
7.2.3 Changing Directories
When a user opens a shell, they typically begin in their home directory. When you start a fresh
virtual machine in our course, either by opening the course or after using the reset button, you
are logged in as the sysadmin user, and you begin in the home directory for that user,
highlighted in the image below.
To navigate the filesystem, use the cd (change directory) command.
cd [options] [path]
There is a directory called Documents located in the home directory of the sysadmin user. To
move from the home directory into the Documents directory use the directory name as an
argument to the cd command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ cd Documents
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$
When used with no arguments, the cd command will take the user to their home directory.
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$ cd
sysadmin@localhost:~$
Notice our virtual machines employ a prompt that displays the current working directory,
emphasized with the color blue. In the first prompt, the tilde ~ character is equivalent to
/home/sysadmin, representing the user's home directory.
sysadmin@localhost:~$
After changing directories, the new location ~/Documents can also be confirmed in the new
prompt, again shown in blue.
sysadmin@localhost:~$ cd Documents
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$
Consider This
For some commands, no news is good news; there is no output if the cd command is successful.
If the user tries to change to a directory that does not exist, the command returns an error
message:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ cd Junk
-bash: cd: Junk: No such file or directory
7.3 Paths
The argument to the cd command is more than just the name of a directory, it is actually a path.
A path is a list of directories separated by the / character. If you think of the filesystem as a map,
paths are the directory addresses, which include step-by-step navigation directions; they can be
used to indicate the location of any file within the filesystem.
For example, /home/sysadmin is a path to the home directory:
There are two types of paths: absolute and relative .
7.3.1 Absolute Paths
Absolute paths allow the user to specify the exact location of a directory. It
always starts at the root directory, and therefore it always begins with the / character. The path
/home/sysadmin is an absolute path; it tells the system to begin at the root / directory, move
into the home directory, and then into the sysadmin directory.
If the path /home/sysadmin is used as an argument to the cd command, it moves the user into
the home directory for the sysadmin user.
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$ cd /home/sysadmin
Again, no output means the command succeeded. This can be confirmed by looking at the
prompt, or using the pwd command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ pwd
/home/sysadmin
7.3.2 Relative Paths
Relative paths start from the current directory. A relative path gives directions
to a file relative to the current location in the filesystem. They do not start with the / character.
Instead, they start with the name of a directory. More specifically, relative paths start with the
name of a directory contained within the current directory.
Take another look at the first cd command example. The argument is an example of the simplest
relative path: the name of a directory within the current working directory.
sysadmin@localhost:~$ cd Documents
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$
If the user is located in the Documents directory, moving to the Art directory can be
accomplished in a number of ways.
The absolute path to the Art directory can be used:
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$ cd /home/sysadmin/Documents/School/Art
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School/Art$
Multiple relative paths can be used:
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$ cd School
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School$ cd Art
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School/Art$
However, the simplest method is to use a single relative path that covers the journey from the
origin to the destination directory:
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents$ cd School/Art
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School/Art$
Use the pwd command to confirm the change:
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School/Art$ pwd
/home/sysadmin/Documents/School/Art
7.3.3 Shortcuts
The .. Characters
Regardless of which directory the user is in, two period .. characters always represents one
directory higher relative to the current directory, sometimes referred to as the parent directory .
To move from the Art directory back to the School directory:
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School/Art$ cd ..
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School$
The double dot can also be used in longer paths as well. The following relative path could be
used to move from the School directory to the Downloads directory (both highlighted in the
image below):
sysadmin@localhost:~/Documents/School$ cd ../../Downloads
sysadmin@localhost:~/Downloads$
The . Character
Regardless of which directory the user is in, the single period . character always represents the
current directory. For the cd this shortcut is not very useful, but it comes in handy for commands
covered in subsequent sections.
7.4 Listing Files in a Directory
For the previous examples, images were provided to show the layout of the filesystem. In
practice, maps like these aren’t provided, and users must rely on what’s available in the
command line, making the ls (list) command one of the most powerful for navigating the
filesystem.
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
This ls command is used to display the contents of a directory and can provide detailed
information about the files. By default, when it is used with no options or arguments, it lists the
files in the current directory:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
The ls command can also be used to list the contents of any directory in the filesystem. Provide
the path to the directory as an argument:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls /var
backups cache lib local lock log mail opt run spool tmp
Consider This
On many Linux distributions, including the one used in our virtual machines, the ls command
uses color to distinguish by file type. For example, directories may be displayed in blue,
executable files may be displayed in green, and symbolic links may be displayed in cyan.
Colored output is not the default behavior for the ls command, but rather the effect of the
--color option. The ls seems to perform this coloring automatically because there is an alias
for the ls command, so it runs with the --color option.
sysadmin@localhost:~$ type ls
ls is aliased to `ls --color=auto'
To avoid using the alias, place a backslash character \ in front of your command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
sysadmin@localhost:~$ \ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
7.4.1 Listing Hidden Files
When the ls command is used to display the contents of a directory, not all files are shown
automatically. The ls command omits hidden files by default. A hidden file is any file (or
directory) that begins with a dot . character.
To display all files, including hidden files, use the -a option to the ls command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -a
. .bashrc .selected_editor Downloads Public
.. .cache Desktop Music Templates
.bash_logout .profile Documents Pictures Videos
Why are files hidden in the first place? Most of the hidden files are customization files , designed
to customize how Linux, your shell or programs work. For example, the .bashrc file in the home
directory customizes features of the shell, such as creating or modifying variables and aliases.
These customization files are not ones that you work with on a regular basis, and having them
displayed makes it more difficult to find other files.
7.4.3 Human-Readable Sizes
The -l option to the ls command displays file sizes in bytes. For text files, a byte is 1 character.
For smaller files, byte sizes are fine. However, for larger files, it is hard to comprehend how large
the file is. For example, consider the output of the following command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -l /var/log/lastlog
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 292584 Dec 15 16:38 /var/log/lastlog
The file size is hard to determine in bytes. Is 292584 a large file or small? It seems fairly large,
but it is hard to determine using bytes.
Think of it this way: if someone were to give the distance between Boston and New York using
inches, that value would be meaningless. Most people think in terms of miles or kilometers.
Sometimes it is preferable to present the file size in a more human-readable size, like megabytes
or gigabytes. To accomplish this, add the -h option to the ls command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lh /var/log/lastlog
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 286K Dec 15 16:38 /var/log/lastlog
Important: The -h option must be used with the -l option.
7.4.3 Human-Readable Sizes
The -l option to the ls command displays file sizes in bytes. For text files, a byte is 1 character.
For smaller files, byte sizes are fine. However, for larger files, it is hard to comprehend how large
the file is. For example, consider the output of the following command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -l /var/log/lastlog
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 292584 Dec 15 16:38 /var/log/lastlog
The file size is hard to determine in bytes. Is 292584 a large file or small? It seems fairly large,
but it is hard to determine using bytes.
Think of it this way: if someone were to give the distance between Boston and New York using
inches, that value would be meaningless. Most people think in terms of miles or kilometers.
Sometimes it is preferable to present the file size in a more human-readable size, like megabytes
or gigabytes. To accomplish this, add the -h option to the ls command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lh /var/log/lastlog
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 286K Dec 15 16:38 /var/log/lastlog
Important: The -h option must be used with the -l option.
7.4.4 Listing Directories
When the -d option is used, it refers to the current directory, and not the contents within it.
Without any other options, it is rather meaningless. Recall that the current directory is always
referred to with a single period . character:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -d
.
To use the -d option in a meaningful way requires the addition of the -l option. In this case, note
that the following command lists the details of the contents in the /home/sysadmin directory:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -l
total 32
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 4 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 2 sysadmin sysadmin 4096 Dec 10 21:33 Videos
In comparison, the next command lists the /home/sysadmin directory itself:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -ld
drwxr-xr-x 1 sysadmin sysadmin 224 Nov 7 17:07 .
Note the single period at the end of the long listing. This indicates that the current directory is
being listed, and not the contents.
7.4.5 Recursive Listing
There are times when you want to display all of the files in a directory as well as all of the files in
all subdirectories under that directory. This is called a recursive listing .
To perform a recursive listing, use the -R option to the ls command:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -R /etc/ppp
/etc/ppp:
ip-down.d ip-up.d
/etc/ppp/ip-down.d:
bind9
/etc/ppp/ip-up.d:
bind9
Note that in the previous example, the files in the /etc/ppp directory were listed first. After that,
the contents of its subdirectories /etc/ppp/ip-down.d and /etc/ppp/ip-up.d were listed.
Be careful with this option; for example, running the command on the root directory would list
every file on the file system, including all files on any attached USB device and DVD in the
system. Limit the use of recursive listings to smaller directory structures.
7.4.6 Sort a Listing
By default, the ls command sorts files alphabetically by file name. Sometimes, it may be useful
to sort files using different criteria.
To sort files by size, we can use the -S option. Note the difference in the output of the following
two commands. The same files and directories are listed, but in a different order:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls /etc/ssh
moduli ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub ssh_host_rsa_key sshd_config
ssh_config ssh_host_ed25519_key ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
ssh_host_ecdsa_key ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub ssh_import_id
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -S /etc/ssh
moduli ssh_host_ed25519_key ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
sshd_config ssh_host_rsa_key.pub ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
ssh_host_rsa_key ssh_import_id
ssh_config ssh_host_ecdsa_key
Note
The option above uses a capital letter s.
While the -S option works by itself, it is most useful when used with the -l option so the file sizes
are visible. The following command lists files from largest to smallest and displays the actual size
of the file.
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lS /etc/ssh
total 580
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 553122 Feb 10 2018 moduli
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3264 Feb 10 2018 sshd_config
-rw------- 1 root root 1679 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1580 Feb 10 2018 ssh_config
-rw------- 1 root root 411 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_import_id
-rw------- 1 root root 227 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
It may also be useful to use the -h option to display human-readable file sizes:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lSh /etc/ssh
total 580K
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 541K Feb 10 2018 moduli
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K Feb 10 2018 sshd_config
-rw------- 1 root root 1.7K Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.6K Feb 10 2018 ssh_config
-rw------- 1 root root 411 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_import_id
-rw------- 1 root root 227 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
The -t option sorts files based on the time they were modified. It will list the most recently
modified files first. This option can be used alone, but again, is usually more helpful when paired
with the -l option:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -tl /etc/ssh
total 580
-rw------- 1 root root 227 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 411 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 1679 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_import_id
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 553122 Feb 10 2018 moduli
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1580 Feb 10 2018 ssh_config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3264 Feb 10 2018 sshd_config
It is important to remember that the modified date on directories represents the last time a file
was added to or removed from the directory.
If the files in a directory were modified many days or months ago, it may be harder to tell exactly
when they were modified, as only the date is provided for older files. For more detailed
modification time information you can use the --full-time option to display the complete
timestamp (including hours, minutes, seconds). It will assume the -l option automatically:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -t --full-time /etc/ssh
total 580
-rw------- 1 root root 227 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 411 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 1679 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000
ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 2018-07-19 06:52:16.000000000 +0000 ssh_import_id
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 553122 2018-02-10 02:31:46.000000000 +0000 moduli
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1580 2018-02-10 02:31:46.000000000 +0000 ssh_config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3264 2018-02-10 02:31:46.000000000 +0000 sshd_config
It is possible to perform a reverse sort by using the -r option. It can be used alone, or combined
with either the -S or -t options. The following command will sort files by size, smallest to largest:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lrS /etc/ssh
total 580
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 227 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_import_id
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 411 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1580 Feb 10 2018 ssh_config
-rw------- 1 root root 1679 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3264 Feb 10 2018 sshd_config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 553122 Feb 10 2018 moduli
The following command will list files by modification date, oldest to newest:
sysadmin@localhost:~$ ls -lrt /etc/ssh
total 580
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3264 Feb 10 2018 sshd_config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1580 Feb 10 2018 ssh_config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 553122 Feb 10 2018 moduli
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 338 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_import_id
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 399 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 1679 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_rsa_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 411 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ed25519_key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 179 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
-rw------- 1 root root 227 Jul 19 06:52 ssh_host_ecdsa_key