Manipulating files and directories

Character classes

• [:alnum:] (Matches any alphanumeric character)
• [:alpha:] (Matches any alphabetic character)
• [:digit:] (Matches any numeral)
• [:lower:] (Matches any lowercase letter)
• [:upper:] (Matches any uppercase letter)

Wildcards

• * (Matches any character)
• ? (Matches any single character)
• [characters] (Matches any character that is a member of the set characters)
• [!characters] (Matches any character that is not a member of the set characters)
• [[:class:]] (Matches any character that is a member of the specified class)
• Examples:
  • *
  • g*
  • b*.txt
  • Data???
  • [abc]*
  • BACKUP.[0-9][0-9][0-9]
  • *[[:lower:]123]

Note* - Wildcards can be used with any command that accepts filenames as arguments.

cp - copy

• This command is used to copy files and directories from one place to another in the filesystem.
• Usage: cp source... destination
• Note that when three periods follow an argument in the description of a command (as in the preceding example), it means that the argument can be repeated.
• To copy entire directory use the recursive flag -R
• To copy files along with all their attributes like ownership and permissions use -a or --archive
• Only copy the files that don't exist in the destination or have older versions of the file being copied using -u or --update
• You can also rename them while copying them.
• Examples:
  • cp /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt ./
  • cp -R ~/someDir/impDir ~/secretDir/
  • cp /usr/bin/oldVersion /usr/bin/kisiKoPtaNhiChalega/newVersion
  • cp ~/Desktop/*pdf ~/Documents
  • cp item1 item2 dir
  • cp item1 item2

mv - move

• This command is used to move files and rename files.
• Usage: mv file... Destination or mv oldName newName
• To have the mv command ask for confirmation use -i or --interactive flag.
• Examples:
  • mv oldFile newFile
  • mv someFile ../someDir/
  • mv file1 file2 file3 ../someDir/ or mv file[1-3] ../someDir/
  • mv dir1 ../someDir/
  • mv oldDirName newDirName

mkdir - make directory

• This command is used to create one or more directories.
• Usage: mkdir dir...
• Examples:
  • mkdir someDir
  • mkdir someDir ../parentDirSibling ./existingDir/existingDirChild

rm - remove

• This command is used to delete files and directories.
• Usage: rm file...
• To delete a directory recursively use -r or --recursive flag.
• To override prompts use -f or --force flag.
• Examples:
  • rm file
  • rm file0 file1 file2 file3 file4 file5 file6 file7 file8 file9
  • rm file[[:digit:]]
  • rm -rf garbageDir/