When working in a command line environment such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), efficiently navigating through directories is a crucial skill. This article will focus on some of the most used commands to do just that.
Understanding the Current Working Directory with PWD
The pwd (Print Working Directory) command is used to print the path of the current working directory. It’s as simple as typing:
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pwd
This will output the full system path to your current directory.
Changing Directories with CD
The cd (Change Directory) command is perhaps the most frequently used command when navigating directories. It is used to change the current working directory. Here’s the basic usage:
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cd /path/to/directory
But the cd command comes with several shortcuts to help you move around quickly:
To go back to your home directory, you can use the cd command without any arguments:
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cd
Or you can use a tilde (~):
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cd ~
To navigate up one directory level, use:
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cd ..
And to navigate to the previous directory (or back), use:
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cd -
Listing Directory Contents with LS
The ls command is used to list the contents of a directory. By default, running ls will display the contents of the current directory:
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ls
You can also view the contents of a different directory by providing a path:
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ls /path/to/directory
Use -l to display in long format, showing permissions, number of links, owner, group, size, time of last modification, and name:
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ls -l
And -a to show hidden files:
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ls -a
Conclusion
The pwd, cd, and ls commands are the bread and butter of command line navigation. With them, you can always find out where you are, move to where you want to go, and see what’s there when you arrive. Master these commands, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming proficient in the command line!
