Important Linux Commands - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 - DEPLOYMENT GUIDE 08-05-2008 Deployment Manual

15.3 Important Linux Commands

This section gives insight into the most important commands. There are many more
commands than listed in this chapter. Along with the individual commands, parameters
are listed and, where appropriate, a typical sample application is introduced. To learn
more about the various commands, use the manual pages, accessed with man followed
by the name of the command, for example, man ls.
In the man pages, move up and down with PgUp and PgDn . Move between the beginning
and the end of a document with Home and End . End this viewing mode by pressing Q .
Learn more about the man command itself with man man.
In the following overview, the individual command elements are written in different
typefaces. The actual command and its mandatory options are always printed as
command option. Specifications or parameters that are not required are placed in
[square brackets].
Adjust the settings to your needs. It makes no sense to write ls file if no file named
file actually exists. You can usually combine several parameters, for example, by
writing ls -la instead of ls -l -a.
15.3.1 File Commands
The following section lists the most important commands for file management. It covers
anything from general file administration to manipulation of file system ACLs.
File Administration
ls [options] [files]
If you run ls without any additional parameters, the program lists the contents of
the current directory in short form.
-l
Detailed list
-a
Displays hidden files
Working with the Shell 367