The following is a list of commands that you might find helpful when modifying your files on the server.
For more complete information on using commands, you can refer to the manual by typing man [command] at the shell prompt, where “[command]” represents the command you would like more information about. You can also type [command] -? and [command] –help.
Note: When something is specified in brackets, such as [command] or [filename], it is used to indicate that you must input your desired information here. Do NOT include brackets in your command.
pwd Shows the full path of the current directory
ls Lists all the files in the current directory
ls -al Lists all files and information
ls –alR Lists all files and information in all subdirectories
ls -alR | more Same as ls –alR, pausing when screen becomes full
ls -alR > filename.txt Same as ls –alR, outputs the results to a file
ls *.html Lists all files ending with .html
cd [directory name] Changes to a new directory
cd .. Changes to directory above current one
clear Clears the screen
vdir Gives a more detailed listing than the “ls” command
exit Log off your shell
mv [old filename] [new filename] Move/rename a file
cp [filename] [new filename] Copies a file
rm [filename] Deletes a file
rm * Deletes all files in current directory
rm *.html Deletes all files ending in .html
mkdir [directory name] Creates a new directory
ls -d */ Lists all directories within current directory
cp -r [directory] [new directory] Copies a directory and all files/directories in it
find . -name [filename] -print Searches for a file starting with current directory
grep [text] [filename] Searches for text within a file
File permissions:
0 = — No permission
1 = –X Execute only
2 = -W- Write only
3 = -WX Write and execute
4 = R– Read only
5 = R-X Read and execute
6 = RW- Read and write
7 = RWX Read, write and execute
chmod 604 [filename] Minimum permissions for HTML file
chmod 705 [directory name] Minimum permissions for directories
chmod 755 [filename] Minimum permissions for scripts & programs
chmod 606 [filename] Permissions for data files used by scripts
chmod 703 [directory name] Write-only permissions for public FTP uploading