Tag Archives: command line

Command Line Basics: Create Custom Commands with Alias

In today’s Command Line Basics we’ll create some customized commands with alias. You can think of alias as a sort of command line shortcut. Odds are, your system already has a few aliases defined by default. If you enter the command by it’s self, without an argument, it will tell you what aliases already exist on your system. Open a terminal window and give it a try. Continue reading

Command Line Basics: Navigating the File System

Today’s Command Line Basics focuses on Navigating the File System with the cd command.

cd stands for change directory. The cd command on its own will take you to your home directory (/home/userid/). If you have a directory in your home called Documents, then cd Documents will take you there. Following are the basic uses of cd.

cd change to your home directory
cd /tmp change to the /tmp directory
cd ~/Documents change to /home/userid/Documents from anywhere
cd .. move up one directory in the structure
cd - change to the last directory you were in

Command Line Basics: echo

I’m starting a new feature called Command Line Basics. In this first installment I’m going to cover the echo command.

The echo command is used for sending text to the standard output. In most cases, the standard output is your terminal. For example, to print the word “echo” to your terminal output, enter the command Continue reading