Linux: File/Directory Operations

List Files

ls

List files in current directory

ls -al

List all files in current dir, including dot files, and also show detail, such as File Permission , owner, and size.

ls -al | grep string

Show file name matching string

Create a new file

touch fileName

Create a new file with empty content. If the file exists already, update its timestamp.

Create a new file link

ln -s newPath existingPath

Create a new file that is a symbolic link (aka soft link) to another file.
(symbolic link is a file whose content is a file path to another file.)

ln newPath existingPath

Create a new file that is a hard link of a file.
(Hard link makes 2 files pointing to the same index in the file system (hard disk).)

Delete File/Dir

rm fileName

Delete a file

rm -r dirName

Delete a directory. (BE CAREFUL)

rmdir dirName

Delete a dir only if it is empty

Create a new dir

mkdir newDirName

Create a new dir

Copy a file/dir

cp fileName newFileName

Copy a file

cp -r dirName newName

Copy a dir

Move/Rename File/Dir

mv fileName newName

Rename file, or move to a diff dir.

Show Dir Size

• Show Directory Size: du