Navigation (cd, pwd, ls)

Navigation commands are used to move between directories and view files in the Linux filesystem.

The most important navigation commands are:

1. pwd → Show current directory
2. ls → List files and directories
3. cd → Change directory

These commands are used daily by:

1. Linux administrators
2. DevOps engineers
3. Developers
4. Cloud engineers

1. pwd Command

Meaning

pwd = Print Working Directory

Shows the current directory path.

Syntax

pwd

Example

/home/aryan/projects

This means:

• Current location is projects directory.

2. ls Command

Meaning

ls = List directory contents

Shows files and folders.

Basic Syntax

ls

Example

file1.txt
script.sh
projects/

Important ls Options

Command	Purpose
ls -l	Long listing format
ls -a	Show hidden files
ls -lh	Human-readable sizes
ls -lt	Sort by modified time
ls -R	Recursive listing

Long Format

ls -l

Output shows:

1. Permissions
2. Owner
3. File size
4. Modification date

DevOps Example

ls /var/log

View log files.

Kubernetes Example

ls ~/.kube

View Kubernetes config files.

3. cd Command

Meaning

cd = Change Directory

Used to move between directories.

Syntax

cd directory_name

Examples

Move into Directory

cd projects

Move to Absolute Path

cd /var/log

Move Back One Directory

cd ..

Move to Home Directory

cd

or

cd ~

Move to Previous Directory

cd -

Very useful in server administration.

Relative vs Absolute Paths

Absolute Path

Starts from /

Example:

cd /etc/nginx

Relative Path

Starts from current location.

Example:

cd projects/backend