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LFCA: Learn Basic File Readers
Management Commands in
Linux – Part 2
James Kiarie Last Updated: March 26, 2021 LFCA, Linux
Certi�cations 3 Comments

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 This article is Part 2 of the LFCA series, here in this part, we
will explain about Linux �le system and cover the basic �le
management commands, that are required for the LFCA
certi�cation exam.

As you get started out in Linux, you’ll spend a great deal of

time interacting with �les and directories. Directories are also
known as folders, and they are organized in a hierarchical A Beginners Guide
structure. To Learn Linux for
Free [with
In the Linux operating system, each entity is regarded as a
Examples]
�le. In fact, there’s a popular statement in Linux circles that
goes: ‘Everything is a �le in Linux’. This is just an
oversimpli�cation and in the real sense, most �les in Linux
are special �les that include symbolic links, block �les, and so
on.
Red Hat

Linux File System Overview RHCSA/RHCE 8

Certi�cation Study
Let’s take a moment and have an overview of the main �le Guide [eBooks]
types:

1. Regular Files Linux Foundation

LFCS and LFCE
These are the most common �le types. Regular �les contain Certi�cation Study
human-readable text, program instructions, and ASCII Guide [eBooks]
characters.

Examples of regular �les include:



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 Simple text �les, pdf �les
Multimedia �les such as image, music, and video �les
Binary �les
Zipped or compressed �les

And so much more.

2. Special Files

These are �les that represent physical devices such as

mounted volumes, printers, CD drives, and any I/O ) input
and output device.

3. Directories

A directory is a special �le type that stores both regular and

special �les in a hierarchical order starting from the root (
/ ) directory. A directory is the equivalent of a folder in the
Windows operating system. Directories are created using the
mkdir command, short for making the directory, as we shall
see later on in this tutorial.

The Linux hierarchy structure starts from the root directory

and branches out to other directories as shown:

Learn Linux
Commands and
Tools

How to Run Shell

Scripts with Sudo
Command in Linux

How to Kill Linux


Process Using Kill,
Linux Directory Structure
Pkill and Killall

3 of 31
 Let’s understand each directory and its usage. 6 Best CLI Tools to
Search Plain-Text
The /root directory is the home directory for the root Data Using Regular
user. Expressions
The /dev directory contains device �les such as
How to Find and Kill
/dev/sda.
Running Processes in
Static boot �les are located in the /boot directory.
Linux
Applications and user utilities are found in the /usr
directory. How to Append Text
The /var directory contains log �les of various system to End of File in Linux
applications.
7 ‘dmesg’
All system con�guration �les are stored in the /etc
directory. Commands for
Troubleshooting and
The /home directory is where user folders are located.
Collecting
These include Desktop, Documents, Downloads,
Information of Linux
Music, Public, and Videos.
For add-on application packages, check them out in Systems

the /opt directory.

The /media directory stores �les for removable devices
such as USB drives.
The /mnt directory contains subdirectories that act as
temporary mount points for mounting devices such as
CD-ROMs.
The /proc directory is a virtual �lesystem that holds
information on currently running processes. It’s a
strange �lesystem that is created upon a system boot If You Appreciate

and destroyed upon shutdown. What We Do Here On

The /bin directory contains user command binary �les. TecMint, You Should

The /lib directory stores shared library images and Consider:

kernel modules.

Linux File Management

Commands 

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 You will spend a great deal of time interacting with the
terminal where you will be running commands. Executing
commands is the most preferred way of interacting with a
Linux system as it gives you total control over the system
compared to using the graphical display elements.

For this lesson, and the coming lessons, we will be running

commands on the terminal. We are using Ubuntu OS and to
launch the terminal, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL +
ALT + T .

Let’s now delve into the basic �le management commands

that will help you create and manage your �les on your
system.

1. pwd Command

pwd, short for the print working directory, is a command that

prints out the current working directory in a hierarchical
order, beginning with the topmost root directory ( / ) .

To check your current working directory, simply invoke the

pwd command as shown.

$ pwd

The output shows that we are in our home directory, the

absolute or full path being /home/tecmint.

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 Print Current Working Directory

2. cd Command

To change or navigate directories, use the cd command

which is short for change directory.

For instance, to navigate to the /var/log �le path, run the

command:

$ cd /var/log

Navigate Directories in Linux

To go a directory up append two dots or periods in the end.

$ cd ..

To go back to the home directory run the cd command

without any arguments.

$ cd

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 cd Command Examples

NOTE: To navigate into a subdirectory or a directory within

your current directory, don’t use a forward slash ( / )
simply type in the name of the directory.

For example, to navigate into the Downloads directory, run:

$ cd Downloads

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 Navigate to Downloads Directory

3. ls Command

The ls command is a command used for listing existing �les

or folders in a directory. For example, to list all the contents in
the home directory, we will run the command.

$ ls

From the output, we can see that we have two text �les and
eight folders which are usually created by default after
installing and logging in to the system.

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 List Files in Linux

To list more information append the -lh �ag as shown.

The -l option stands for long listing and prints out
additional information such as �le permissions, user, group,
�le size, and date of creation. The -h �ag prints out the �le
or directory size in a human-readable format.

$ ls -lh

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 Long List Files in Linux

To list hidden �les, append the -a �ag.

$ ls -la

This displays hidden �les which start with a period sign

(.) as shown.

.ssh
.config
.local


List Hidden Files in Linux

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 4. touch Command

The touch command is used for creating simple �les on a

Linux system. To create a �le, use the syntax:

$ touch filename

For example, to create a �le1.txt �le, run the command:

$ touch file1.txt

To con�rm the creation of the �le, invoke the ls command.

$ ls

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 Create Empty File in Linux

5. cat Command

To view the contents of a �le, use the cat command as

follows:

$ cat filename

View Contents of Files

6. mv Command

The mv command is quite a versatile command. Depending

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 on how it is used, it can rename a �le or move it from one
location to another.

To move the �le, use the syntax below:

$ mv filename /path/to/destination/

For example, to move a �le from the current directory to the

Public/docs directory, run the command:

$ mv file1.txt Public/docs

Move Files in Linux


Alternatively, you can move a �le from a different location to

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 your current directory using the syntax shown. Take note of
the period sign at the end of the command. This implies this
location’.

$ mv /path/to/file .

We are now going to do the reverse. We will copy the �le

from the Public/docs path to the current directory as shown.

$ mv Public/docs/file1.txt .

Move Files from Location in Linux

To rename a �le, use the syntax shown. The command 

removes the original �le name and assigns the second

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 argument as the new �le name.

$ mv filename1 filename2

For example, to rename �le1.txt to �le2.txt run the command:

$ mv file1.txt file2.txt

Rename Files in Linux

Additionally, you can move and rename the �le at the same
time by specifying the destination folder and a different �le
name.

For example to move �le1.txt to the location Public/docs and

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 rename it �le2.txt run the command:

$ mv file1.txt Public/docs/file2.txt

Move and Rename Files in Linux

7. cp Command

The cp command, short for copy, copies a �le from one �le
location to another. Unlike the move command, the cp
command retains the original �le in its current location and
makes a duplicate copy in a different directory.

The syntax for copying a �le is shown below.

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 $ cp /file/path /destination/path

For example, to copy the �le �le1.txt from the current

directory to the Public/docs/ directory, issue the command:

$ cp file1.txt Public/docs/

Copy Files in Linux

To copy a directory, use the -R option for recursively

copying the directory including all its contents. We have
created another directory called tutorials. To copy this
directory alongside its contents to the Public/docs/ path, run
the command: 

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 $ cp -R tutorials Public/docs/

Copy Directory in Linux

8. mkdir Command

You might have wondered how we created the tutorials

directory. Well, it’s pretty simple. To create a new directory
use the mkdir ( make directory) command as follows:

$ mkdir directory_name

Let’s create another directory called projects as shown:



18 of 31
 $ mkdir projects

Create Directory in Linux

To create a directory within another directory use the -p

�ag. The command below creates the fundamentals
directory inside the linux directory within the parent directory
which is the projects directory.

$ mkdir -p projects/linux/fundamentals

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 Create Directory in Linux

9. rmdir Command

The rmdir command deletes an empty directory. For

example, to delete or remove the tutorials directory, run the
command:

$ rmdir tutorials

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 Delete Empty Directory in Linux

If you try to remove a non-empty directory, you will get an

error message as shown.

$ rmdir projects

Delete Directory in Linux



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 10. rm Command

The rm (remove) command is used to delete a �le. The

syntax is quite straightforward:

$ rm filename

For example, to delete the �le1.txt �le, run the command:

$ rm file1.txt

Additionally, you can remove or delete a directory recursively

using the -R option. This could either be an empty or a
non-empty directory.

$ rm -R directory_name

For example, to delete the projects directory, run the

command:

$ rm -R projects

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 Delete Directory Recursively in Linux

11. �nd and locate Commands

Sometimes, you may want to search the location of a

particular �le. You can easily do this using either the �nd or
locate commands.

The �nd command searches for a �le in a particular location

and takes two arguments: the search path or directory and
the �le to be searched.

The syntax is as shown

$ find /path/to/search -name filename

For example, to search for a �le called �le1.txt in the home

directory, run:

$ find /home/tecmint -name file1.txt

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 Search Files in Linux

The locate command, just like the �nd command, plays the
same role of searching �les but only takes one argument as
shown.

$ locate filename

For example;

$ locate file1.txt

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 Locate Files in Linux

The locate command searches using a database of all the

possible �les and directories in the system.

NOTE: The locate command is much faster than the �nd

command. However, the �nd command is much more
powerful and works in situations where locate does not
produce the desired results.

That’s It! In this topic, we have covered the basic �le

management commands that will give you the know-how in
creating and managing �les and directories in a Linux
system.

Become a Linux Foundation Certi�ed IT Associate

(LFCA)

 LFCA Certi�cation Exam

25 of 31
  LFCA: Understanding Linux LFCA: Learn Basic Linux System
Operating System – Part 1 Commands – Part 3 

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3 thoughts on “LFCA: Learn Basic

File Management Commands in
Linux – Part 2”

Anupa patil
July 19, 2021 at 7:20 pm

28 of 31
 Your explanation is too excellent. I can understand
very easily..

Thank you

Reply

Gérard Talbot
April 21, 2021 at 7:16 pm

The -l option stands for long listing and prints out

additional information such as (...) date of
creation.

This is inaccurate. The date and time of the last

modi�cation (ctime) of the �le will be printed out. Not
the date of �le creation.

Gérard

Reply

dragonmouth
April 20, 2021 at 7:10 pm

James,

You need to include a warning about using the “rm 

29 of 31
 -rf” command as its improper use can wipe an entire
directory, an entire HOME directory, or if used with
superuser privileges, the ENTIRE system.

Reply

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