Linux – Command Line Navigation

Navigating through the folder structure in Linux is easy if you know a few commands. A major issue for many technicians is that Linux cares about capitalization (FOLDER != folder), and using / with the cd command causes Linux to look for the folder in the System Root.

Notes

  • Capitalization matters in navigation. “FOLDER” is different than “Folder”. You can have 4 separate folders named: FOLDER, Folder, folder, foldeR.
  • when using cd to go into a lower level folder DO NOT use /. If you are in the “home” folder and want to go into the “bob” folder you would type “cd bob” NOT “cd /bob”

Find Where You Are

  • The “pwd” command tells you your location in the folder structure

Changing Directories

  • The basic command to change directories is “cd”.
  • “cd ..” moves you up one folder level.
  • “/” represents the system root.
  • From the “home” folder you could use “cd” like this:
cd ..
cd bob
cd /
cd /home/bob

Listing Folder Contents with “ls”

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