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Chetan Tekam
Chetan Tekam

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Linux Filesystem and Navigation for DevOps (With Practical Demo)

#devops #linux

Introduction

As someone preparing for a DevOps role, I’m learning Linux with a lean approach — focusing only on what’s required to operate and debug real servers.

This post covers Linux Filesystem and navigation and hands-on demonstrations on Youtube, from a DevOps perspective.

Practical demonstration

YouTube Demo:

In this video, I demonstrate:

  • Filesystem - /, /etc, /var, /var/log, /home, /opt, /tmp
  • Navigation command - ls, cd, pwd, tree, pushd, popd, dirs
  • What are absolute and relative paths
  • Operation on files and directories - cp, mv, rm, mkdir, ln -s, touch, file

Linux directory structure (DevOps view) 

/        → root of everything
/etc     → configuration files
/var     → variable data (logs, runtime)
/var/log → application & system logs
/home    → user home directories
/tmp     → temporary files
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Commands Overview

Navigation commands:

# print working directory - return absolute path
~$ pwd
/home/username
# change directory to /
~$ cd /
# to list directory contents
/$ ls
# to add directory to stack
/$ pushd etc/alternatives/ # path not start with / i.e relative path
# to check stack
/etc/alternatives$ dirs -v
# to remove directory to stack
/etc/alternatives$ popd
# to go back to home directory
/$ cd
# to list contents of directories in a tree-like format.
~$ tree [dirctory ...]
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Operation on directory:

# To make directory
/tmp$ mkdir DIRNAME
# To make directory along with subdirectory
/tmp$ mkdir -p DIRNAME/SUB-DIR/SUB-SUB-DIR
# To copy the directory
/tmp$ cp -r DIRNAME/ OTHERDIR/
# To make duplicate directory with different name
/tmp$ cp -r DIRNAME/ NEW_DIR/
# To move directory
/tmp$ mv TARGET_DIR/ DEST_DIR/
# To rename directory
/tmp$ mv DIRNAME/ RENAMED_DIR/
# To remove/delete directory
/tmp$ rm -r DIRNAME
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Operation on file:

# To make file
/tmp$ touch FILE
# To copy the file
/tmp$ cp FILE DEST
# To make duplicate file with different name
/tmp$ cp FILE NEW_FILE
# To move file
/tmp$ mv TARGET_FILE DEST
# To rename file
/tmp$ mv FILE RENAMED_FILE
# To remove/delete file
/tmp$ rm FILE
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Common mistakes

  • Confusing relative and absolute paths
  • Deleting files without checking path
  • Deleting and copy directory without flag

Validation test

If you:

  • Can find current directory path.
  • Can list files of current directory.
  • Able to change directory.
  • Can use the tree command.
  • Know put stack for change directories.
  • Understand the distinction between absolute and relative paths.
  • Can operate on files and directories.
  • Know directories on the filesystem which follows DevOps methodologies.

Then this topic is DONE.

What’s next

Next, I’m learning Linux permissions & ownership, which causes most deployment failures.

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