2 FileHierarchy

Exploring Linux Filesystems
Objectives
Understand and navigate the Linux
directory structure using relative and
absolute pathnames
Describe the various types of Linux files
View filenames and file types
Use shell wildcards to specify multiple
filenames
Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e
Objectives (continued)
Display the contents of text files and
binary files
Search text files for regular expressions
using grep
Use the vi editor to manipulate text files
Identify common alternatives to the vi
text editor used today
The Linux Directory Structure
Directory: Used to organize other files

into a logical tree structure
Stored in a filesystem of a specific partition
in the hard disk
Absolute pathname: Pathname from the

root directory to a certain file or directory
Root: The top level directory
Referred to using the / character

Forms root of a hierarchical tree

(continued)
Figure 3-1: The Windows file system structure


(continued)
Figure 3-2: The Linux file system structure

Changing Directories
Home directory: unique to each user

~ metacharacter used to refer to home directory
pwd (print working directory) command:

displays current directory in the directory
tree
cd (change directory) command: change
the current directory in the directory tree
Argument specifies the destination directory
Relative pathname: pathname of file or

directory relative to current directory
Changing Directories (continued)
Parent directory: directory one step closer

to the root of the tree
Referred to by .. (two dots)
Subdirectory: directory residing within

another directory
Tab-completion: pressing the Tab key fills
in remaining characters of a unique
filename or directory name
BASH shell feature

Alerts user if there is more than one possible
match
Viewing Files and Directories: File

Types
Text files: store information in a readable
text format, contain configuration
information
Binary data files: store information
associated with executable programs
Executable program files
Directory files: serve as placeholders to
organize other files
Viewing Files and Directories: File

Types (continued)
Linked files: associated with another file
Special device files: represent system
devices
Named pipes: identify channel that
passes information between processes
Socket files: allow a process on another
computer to write to a local file
10
Filenames
Filename: identifier given to a file

Up to 255 characters
Can use alphanumeric characters, dash (-),
underscore (_), and dot (.)
Filename extensions: identifiers

following a dot (.) at end of filename
Denote file type
Most files on Linux do not have filename
extensions
11
Table 3-1: Common filename extensions

12
Listing Files
ls command: List the files in a directory

May pass an argument indicating the
directory to be listed
F option: Argument to indicate file types
l option: Argument to list long file listings
13
Listing Files (continued)
Long listing for each file includes eight

components
File type character

List of permissions (mode of the file)
Hard link count
Owner
Group owner
File size
Most recent modification time
Filename
14
Alias: shortcut for a command

ll command: Alias for ls -l
File command: displays file type of any file

Argument indicates what file or files to analyze
Identifies between different types of executable
files
Identifies empty files
Hidden files: files not normally displayed to

user
Configuration files often hidden
Filenames start with a dot (.)
ls a command: displays hidden files
15
Table 3-2: Common options to the ls command

16
Table 3-2 (continued): Common options to the ls command

17
Wildcard Metacharacters
Wildcard metacharacter: used to simplify

commands specifying multiple filenames
Can match the entire filename or portions of
filenames
Can be used with most Linux filesystem
commands
18
Wildcard Metacharacters
(continued)
Table 3-3: Wildcard metacharacters
19
Displaying Content of Text Files

Concatenation: joining text together
cat command: displays (concatenates)
contents of a text file to the screen
-n option: displays line number and contents
Log files: contain records of past system

events
New events appended to end
tac command: displays contents of a

text file in reverse order
20

(Continued)
head command: view first ten lines of a
file
tail command: view last ten lines of a file
For head and tail commands
Line count includes blank lines

Can provide numeric option to specify the
number of lines to be displayed (e.g., head 2 filename)
21

(continued)
Large text files can not be viewed using
the cat command, because the screen
will only fit a portion of the file
more command: displays text files pageby-page
Pressing Spacebar displays the next page

Pressing Enter displays the next line
less command: same as more

command, but can also use cursor to
scroll
22

(continued)
Users can use keyboard shortcuts to

interact with shell while in more and less
commands.
e.g., pressing h key gets Help screen
e.g., pressing q key quits more and less
commands
more and less can be used with output of

other commands
If output is too large to fit on terminal screen,
use | metacharacter and more or less

command
e.g., ls -l | more
23
Displaying the Contents of Binary

Files
Typically use program that created the
file
strings command: searches for and
displays text characters in a binary file
Might indicate purpose of binary file
od command: displays contents of file in

octal format (numeric base 8 format)
-x option displays contents of the file in
hexadecimal format (numeric base 16

format)
24
Searching for Text Within Files

Text tools: commands that search for and
manipulate text
Regular expressions (regexp): text
wildcards that ease the search for specific
text
Match patterns of text within a text document

Used by many text tools and programming
languages
Including grep, emacs, C++, PERL, and many
more
25
Regular Expressions
Different from wildcard metacharacters

Wildcard metacharacters interpreted by shell;
regexps interpreted by text tools

Wildcard metacharacters match characters in
filenames; regexps match characters within text
files
Wildcard metacharacters have different
definitions that regexps
More regexps than wildcard metacharacters
Regular expressions are divided into

common regexps and extended regexps
26
Table 3-4: Regular expressions

27
The grep Command

grep (global regular expression print)
command: displays lines in a text file
that match common regexps
egrep command: displays lines in a text
file that match extended regexps
Can be written as grep -E
fgrep command: does not interpret any

regular expressions
Returns results much faster than egrep
Can be written as grep -F
28
The grep Command (continued)
grep requires two arguments

Text to search for
Can use regular expressions
Files in which to search
grep is case sensitive

For case-insensitive search, use i option
grep matches patterns of text, ignoring

division into words
To search only for occurrences of a word,
surround it by space characters

29
Editing Text Files: The vi Editor

One of the oldest and most popular text editors
for UNIX OSs
Vim: Linux equivalent of vi
Standard on most Linux distributions
Advantage is portability, not usability

Used on Unix and Linux
Bi-modal editor (two possible modes):

Command mode: Performs text editing tasks not
related to inserting text

Insert mode: Inserts text, but nothing else
User environment is customizable
30

(continued)
Table 3-5: Common keyboard keys

used to change to and from insert mode
31

(continued)
Table 3-6: Key combinations commonly used in command mode
32

(continued)
Table 3-6 (continued): Key combinations

commonly used in command mode
33

(continued)
Table 3-6 (continued): Key combinations

commonly used in command mode
34

(continued)
Table 3-7: Key combinations commonly used at the

command mode : prompt
35
Other Common Text Editors
Emacs (Editor MACroS) editor: comparable

functionality to vi
Ctrl key combinations to perform special
functions
Supports LISP (LISt Processing) artificial
intelligence programming language
Emacs editor is not easy to use

Must memorize key combination
Emacs can be run in a GUI environment to

get a graphical version of the editor
Much easier to use; icons replace key
combinations
36

(continued)
Table 3-8: Keyboard functions commonly

used in the GNU Emacs editor
37

(continued)
Figure 3-3: A graphical Emacs session

38

(continued)
Nano editor: text editor that uses Ctrl key

combinations for performing functions
Based on the pine UNIX editor
Ctrl key combinations listed at the bottom of the
screen
Very basic and easy-to-use

Used by Linux administrators to modify files
when advanced functionality is not needed
39

(continued)
gedit editor: a graphical text editor

functional in a GUI environment
Does not have advanced functionality like vi
and Emacs
Easiest editor to use
Functionality is analogous to the Windows
Wordpad and Notepad editors
40

(continued)
Figure 3-4: The gedit text editor

41
Summary
The Linux filesystem is arranged
hierarchically using a series of directories
to store files
Location of directories and files can be
described using absolute or relative
pathnames
Linux filesystem can contain many types of
files
text files, binary data, executable programs,
directories, linked files, and special device files
The ls command is used to view filenames

Wide range of options to modify views
42
Summary (continued)
Wildcard metacharacters are special

keyboard characters
can simplify selection of several files when
using common Linux file commands
Text files are the most common file type

whose contents can be viewed by
several utilities, such as head, tail, cat,
tac, more, and less
43
Summary (continued)
Regular expression metacharacters can be

used to specify certain patterns of text
used with certain programming languages and
text tool utilities such as grep
vi (vim) is a powerful, bimodal text editor

that is standard on most UNIX and Linux
systems
44

2 FileHierarchy

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

2 FileHierarchy

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Exploring Linux Filesystems

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

The Linux Directory Structure

Directory: Used to organize other files

in the hard disk

Absolute pathname: Pathname from the

Referred to using the / character

The Linux Directory Structure

Figure 3-1: The Windows file system structure

The Linux Directory Structure

Figure 3-2: The Linux file system structure

Home directory: unique to each user

pwd (print working directory) command:

Argument specifies the destination directory

Relative pathname: pathname of file or

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Changing Directories (continued)

Parent directory: directory one step closer

Subdirectory: directory residing within

BASH shell feature

Viewing Files and Directories: File

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Viewing Files and Directories: File

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Filename: identifier given to a file

underscore (_), and dot (.)

Filename extensions: identifiers

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Table 3-1: Common filename extensions

ls command: List the files in a directory

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Listing Files (continued)

Long listing for each file includes eight

File type character

Listing Files (continued)

Alias: shortcut for a command

File command: displays file type of any file

Hidden files: files not normally displayed to

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Listing Files (continued)

Table 3-2: Common options to the ls command

Listing Files (continued)

Table 3-2 (continued): Common options to the ls command

Wildcard metacharacter: used to simplify

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Table 3-3: Wildcard metacharacters

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Displaying Content of Text Files

-n option: displays line number and contents

Log files: contain records of past system

tac command: displays contents of a

Displaying Content of Text Files

Line count includes blank lines

number of lines to be displayed (e.g., head 2 filename)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Displaying Content of Text Files

Pressing Spacebar displays the next page

less command: same as more

Displaying Content of Text Files

Users can use keyboard shortcuts to

more and less can be used with output of

use | metacharacter and more or less