Arjun Porwal

Posted on Aug 18, 2020

Command Line Cheat Sheet with Text Editors (Vim , Nano)

#bash #beginners #linux #productivity

Navigating and Finding Files
Shortcuts
Creating Files & Directories
MAN (Manual Pager) & Help
Extras
- Piping
- File Permissions
Command Line Tools

Command Line Cheat Sheet

This Sheet Contains all the basic command prompt commands, from moving and editing files to shortcuts for using the command line, This File also has Command Line editors' commands.

Markdown is available on my Github

Navigating and Finding Files

pwd = Tells the current working directory

Listing Files & directory

ls = list all files in the current directory
ls -a & ls -la = list files with extra info
ls ./documents = lists all the files of the relative path [./ is not necessary]

Changing directory

cd folder/sub_folder = can be used to go change current directory
cd .. OR cd ../.. = used to go up directories
cd = moves to home directory
D:= to change drive working on [for DOS/Windows]
pushd PATH= changes to specified path and saves the current path
popd = brings back to the saved path of pushd

Finding Files

locate FILE_NAME = finds all the directories where the file is

Shortcuts

ctrl+r : search all commands
ctrl+a : cursor to beginning
ctrl+e : cursor to end
ctrl+l OR clear : clear screen
ctrl+c : to stop a command that keeps running
killall firefox : kills a process
ctrl+d OR exit : exit the prompt

Creating Files & Directories

touch file_1.txt file_2.txt = creates empty files
echo "hello textfile" > file_2.txt = adds text and creates file
echo "hello again" >> file_2.txt = adds text to already created file
mkdir folder_name folder_name_2 = can create folder with these
mkdir -p folder/sub_folder = used to create directories

Copying and Moving/Renaming Files

cp from_dir/file to_dir/file = copies files , works with files in the current directory if no dir specified
mv old_file_name new_file_name = move command , when used in the same directory , deletes the old file and makes a new file with the new_file_name (Renaming)
mv from_dir/file to_dir/file = here move command copies the from file and deletes it , pastes it in to dir

Removing Files

rm file_name = the file will be deleted
rm * = remove all files in directory
rm file* = removes all the files in the directory starting with 'file'
rm -r = this removes the directory (-r mean recursively ,i.e remove all files all subdirectory and the directory itself)
rmdir DIR = removes directories that don't have anything in them

Reading and Writing files

cat file_name = reads the file and prints it in terminal
cat > file_name = creates a new file and saves the input text (ctrl+d to exit)
cat >> file_name = takes input of text to store and add it to file
cat file1 file2 = prints contents of both files
more file1 = shows the huge text of file in steps , can exit anytime pressing q

MAN (Manual Pager) & Help

man brings all information about specific command on terminal
Example : man bash , man git
whatis COMMAND = lets us know what the command does (executables)
help COMMAND = information of shell comands (ex. cd)

Extras

which command_name = checks if the command is there and where it is
history = lists all the commands typed in
watch free -h = watch , keeps on running a command every 2 seconds and free lists the space available in pc

Piping

history | less = opens history in less mode
ls -al / > lsout.txt = redirecting output of ls into a file

File Permissions

output of ls -l shows file permissions and users with file info
Groups - USER , GROUP , EVERYONE
Permissions - r = read (4 bit) , w = write(2 bit) , x = execute(1 bit) , all = 8 bit
adding the values will produce appropriate number for rights given
chmod 700 file1 - makes the file read write exec only for user
chmod 744 file1 - makes the file rwx for user , and read for others
chmod 644 file1 - user can rw and others only read
chmod 755 file1 - user can rwx and others can rx
chmod 755 dir - mostly used for directories , rwx[USER] | rx[Group] | rx[Every]

Command Line Tools

LESS Viewer

less file1 = opens the specific file

Commands	Action
`Down arrow`, `Enter`, `e`, or `j`	Move forward one line.
`Up arrow`,`y` or `k`	Move backward one line.
`Space bar` or `f`	Move Forward one page.
`b`	Move Backward one page.
`/pattern`	Search forward for matching patterns.
`?pattern`	Search backward for matching patterns.
`n`	Repeat previous search.
`N`	Repeat previous search in reverse direction.
`g`	Go to the first line in the file.
`Ng`	Go to the N-th line in the file.
`G`	Go to the last line in the file.
`p`	Go to the beginning of the file.
`Np`	Go to N percent into file.
`v`	Open Your Preferred CMD editor.
`h`	Display help.
`q`	Exit `less`.

Nano Editor

nano = create new file & open editor
nano file1.php = open a specific file using nano
Ctrl is represented as ^
Alt is represented as M

Commands	Actions
Ctrl + O , `^O`	Save A File
Alt + B , `M-B`	Create a Backup
^X	Exit file , with prompt
M-U	Undo an action
^G	Get Help

Commands	Navigate Actions
^F	Move one character forward
^B	Move one character backward
^Space	Move one word forward
M-Space	Move one work backward
^P	Move to previous line
^N	Move to next line
^V	Move to next page
^Y	Move to previous page
^A	Move to Beginning of line
^E	Move to End of line

Commands	Search Actions
^W	To open Search prompt
^T	To Search Line Number
M-W	Go to Next result
^R	Replace Searched Text

Commands	Text Actions
M-6	Cut Text / Line
^K	Copy Text / Line
^U	Paste Copied Data

Vim editor

Changing mode from one to another
From command mode to insert mode type a/A/i/I/o/O ( see details below)
From insert mode to command mode type Esc (escape key)

Text Entry Commands (Used to start text entry)

a =Append text following current cursor position
A = Append text to the end of current line
i = Insert text before the current cursor position
I = Insert text at the beginning of the cursor line
o = Open up a new line following the current line and add text there
O = Open up a new line in front of the current line and add text there

Cursor Movement Commands

h = Moves the cursor one character to the left
l = Moves the cursor one character to the right
k = Moves the cursor up one line
j = Moves the cursor down one line
nG or :n = Cursor goes to the specified (n) line (ex. 10G goes to line 10)
^F (CTRl F) = Forward screenful
^B = Backward screenful
^f = One page forward
^b = One page backward
^U = Up half screenful
^D = Down half screenful
$ = Move cursor to the end of current line
0 (zero) = Move cursor to the beginning of current line
w = Forward one word
b = Backward one word

Exit Commands

:wq = Write file to disk and quit the editor
:q! = Quit (no warning)
:q = Quit (a warning is printed if a modified file has not been saved)
ZZ = Save workspace and quit the editor (same as :wq)

Text Deletion Commands

x = Delete character
dw = Delete word from cursor on
db = Delete word backward
dd = Delete line
d$ = Delete to end of line
d^ (d caret, not CTRL d) = Delete to beginning of line

Yank (has most of the options of delete) -- VI's copy command

yy = yank current line
y$ = yank to end of current line from cursor
yw = yank from cursor to end of current word

Paste (used after delete or yank to recover lines.)

p = paste below cursor
P = paste above cursor

Undo & Restore

u = Undo last change
U = Restore line
J = Join next line down to the end of the current line

File Manipulation Commands

:w = Write workspace to original file
:W = file Write workspace to named file
:e = file Start editing a new file
:r = file Read contents of a file to the workspace

Pages

To create a page break, while in the insert mode, press the CTRL key

And l. ^L will appear in your text and will cause the printer to start

A new page.

Top comments (10)

Ben Sinclair • Aug 18 '20 • Edited

ls ./documents has an unnecessary ./ in it - this is needed when you're running a command because the current directory isn't generally in your $PATH environment variable, but when it's an argument it's not required. I think having it in an example like this adds a step that anyone who isn't already familiar with ls is likely to stumble over.

cd.. won't work because there's no such command (unless you alias it). All commands are separated from their arguments with a space. This is in contrast to DOS/Windows where this would work fine.

cd D: isn't a *nix thing, it's a DOS/Windows thing and I'm not certain it does what you think it does anyway. To change drive on a Windows command prompt you'd typically type d: on its own.

Less isn't an editor (though you can launch your configured editor from less by pressing v.