Linux Basics

Essential Linux commands for navigating and working on ARC clusters.

Getting Started

New to Linux? Start with these fundamentals:

Topic

Description

Navigation

Move around the filesystem

File Operations

Create, copy, move, delete files

Viewing Files

Read file contents

Text Editors

Edit files with nano or vim

Permissions

Manage file access

Monitoring

Watch system resources

Shell Tips

Keyboard shortcuts and efficiency

Advanced Shell

Globbing, pipes, redirection

Quick Reference

Common Patterns

Navigate:

pwd                    # Where am I?
ls -lh                 # What's here?
cd /path/to/dir        # Go somewhere
cd ..                  # Go up one level
cd ~                   # Go home

Work with files:

cp source dest         # Copy
mv old new             # Move/rename
rm file                # Delete (be careful!)
mkdir dir              # Create directory

View files:

cat file.txt           # Show all
head -n 20 file.txt    # First 20 lines
tail -n 20 file.txt    # Last 20 lines
tail -f log.txt        # Follow log in real-time

Manage permissions:

chmod +x script.sh    # Make executable
chmod go-w file.txt     # Read-only for others
ls -l                  # View current permissions

More Resources

These commands form the foundation for system navigation. Learn these first, then explore advanced commands as needed.