Using the command line

Donald Tournier
Last updated 23/09/2004

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is the command line?
• How to access the command line
• Basic structure of a command
• Command line arguments
• Command line options
• Dealing with spaces in arguments
• Specifying filenames
• Files and folders
• Absolute paths
• The working directory
• Relative paths
• Special filenames
• Using wildcards
• Basic commands
• pwd - print working directory
• cd - change working directory
• ls - list files
• cp - copy files or folders
• mv - move/rename files or folders
• Examples of typical command use
• Useful tips
• Previous command history - the up arrow key
• Command completion - the tab key