Translations by hialan

ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com (Ubuntu Documentation Project)

2006-09-07

Placeholder.

Using this Guide

This guide will make you familiar with basic GNU/Linux shell commands. It is not intended to be a complete guide to the command line, just an introduction to complement Ubuntu's graphical tools.

All command names, file names or paths to directories will be shown using a <command>monospace font</command>.

All the commands on this guide are to be issued from a command prompt in a <application>Terminal</application> and will be shown as: <screen>command to type</screen>

To open a <application>Terminal</application> do as follow:

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Accessories</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Terminal</guimenuitem></menuchoice>;

Or press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo> and type <command>gnome-terminal</command>.

File and Directory Commands

cd

To navigate to the previous directory (or back), type: <screen>cd -</screen>

pwd

ls

cp

mv

rm

mkdir

df

free

The <command>free</command> command displays the amount of free and used memory in the system. <screen>free -m</screen> will give the information using megabytes, which is probably most useful for current computers.

top

uname

lsb_release

Executing Commands with Elevated Privileges

The following commands will need to be prefaced with the <command>sudo</command> command. Please see <ulink url="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo">RootSudo</ulink> for information on using <command>sudo</command>.

Adding a New Group

The <command>addgroup</command> command is used to create a new group on the system. To create a new group, type: <screen>addgroup newgroup</screen> The above command will create a new group called <emphasis role="strong">newgroup</emphasis>.

The <command>adduser</command> is used to create new users on the system. To create a new user, type: <screen>adduser newuser</screen> The above command will create a new user called <emphasis role="strong">newuser</emphasis>.

To assign a password for the new user use the <command>passwd</command> command: <screen>passwd newuser</screen>

Finally, to assign the new user to the new group, type: <screen>adduser newuser newgroup</screen>

<emphasis role="strong"><emphasis>command</emphasis> --help</emphasis> and <emphasis role="strong">man <emphasis>command</emphasis></emphasis> are the two most important tools at the command line.

Move up and down the man file with the arrow keys, and quit back to the command prompt with <keycap>q</keycap>.

<screen>man man</screen> will bring up the manual entry for the <command>man</command> command, which is a good place to start.

There are also <command>info</command> pages, which are generally more in-depth than <command>man</command> pages. Try <screen>info info</screen> for the introduction to info pages.

This is the same as the <command>apropos</command> command.

<command>man -k foo</command>, will search the man files for <emphasis>foo</emphasis>. Try <screen>man -k nautilus</screen> to see how this works. <placeholder-1/>

This is the same as the <command>whatis</command> command.

<command>man -f foo</command>, searches only the titles of your system's man files. For example, try <screen>man -f gnome</screen><placeholder-1/>

<keycap>Up Arrow</keycap> or <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>p</keycap></keycombo>

<keycap>Down Arrow</keycap> or <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>n</keycap></keycombo>

Tab

The mouse won't work. Use the <keycap>Left/Right arrow</keycap> keys to move around the line.

When the cursor is where you want it in the line, typing <emphasis>inserts</emphasis> text, it doesn't overtype what's already there.

Ctrl

k

u

w