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Aisalkyn Aidarova
Aisalkyn Aidarova

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simple Linux commands

✅ So these are SAME: 

cd ~
cd /Users/jumptotech
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🔹 Correct usage examples

Go to home: 

cd ~
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Go to Desktop: 

cd ~/Desktop
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👉 Expands to:

cd /Users/jumptotech/Desktop
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Create file in home: 

touch ~/file.txt
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🔹 Absolute vs Shortcut

Type Example Meaning
Absolute /Users/jumptotech/Desktop Full path
Shortcut ~/Desktop Same, shorter

👉 ~ ONLY works at the beginning

✅ Correct:

~/Desktop
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❌ Wrong:

/Desktop/~
/Users/jumptotech/~
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🔹 Real DevOps Example

When installing tools:

mv terraform ~/bin/
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👉 Means:

/Users/jumptotech/bin/
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👉
“~ is a shortcut for your home folder.
Don’t mix it with full paths.”

🔥 Interview answer (short)

👉
“~ represents the current user’s home directory. It is a shortcut used instead of writing the full absolute path.”

🔹 1. Navigation Commands

pwd

👉 Show current directory

pwd
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ls

👉 List files and folders

ls
ls -l     # detailed view
ls -a     # show hidden files
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cd

👉 Change directory

cd /home/ubuntu
cd ..        # go back one folder
cd ~         # go to home
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🔹 2. File & Directory Management

mkdir

👉 Create folder

mkdir project
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touch

👉 Create empty file

touch file.txt
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cp

👉 Copy files

cp file.txt backup.txt
cp -r folder1 folder2
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mv

👉 Move or rename

mv file.txt newfile.txt
mv file.txt /home/ubuntu/
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rm

👉 Delete files/folders

rm file.txt
rm -r folder
rm -rf folder   # force delete (danger)
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🔹 3. File Viewing

cat

👉 Show file content

cat file.txt
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less

👉 View large file (scroll)

less file.txt
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head / tail

👉 Show start/end of file

head file.txt
tail file.txt
tail -f log.txt   # live logs (VERY IMPORTANT)
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🔹 4. Permissions & Ownership

chmod

👉 Change permissions

chmod 777 file.txt
chmod +x script.sh
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chown

👉 Change owner

sudo chown ubuntu file.txt
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🔹 5. User Management

whoami

👉 Current user

whoami
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sudo

👉 Run as admin

sudo apt update
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🔹 6. Package Management (Ubuntu)

apt

👉 Install/update packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx
sudo apt remove nginx
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🔹 7. Process & System

ps

👉 Show processes

ps aux
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top

👉 Live system monitoring

top
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kill

👉 Stop process

kill 1234
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🔹 8. Networking

ping

👉 Check connectivity

ping google.com
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curl

👉 Call API / URL

curl http://example.com
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ssh

👉 Connect to server

ssh ubuntu@ip-address
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🔹 9. Disk & Storage

df -h

👉 Disk usage

df -h
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du -sh

👉 Folder size

du -sh *
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🔹 10. Redirection & Output (VERY IMPORTANT)

echo

👉 Print text

echo "Hello"
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>

👉 Overwrite file

echo "Hello" > file.txt
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>>

👉 Append to file

echo "World" >> file.txt
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🔹 11. Search & Text Processing

grep

👉 Search text

grep "error" log.txt
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find

👉 Find files

find . -name "file.txt"
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🔹 12. Archive & Compression

tar

👉 Compress/extract

tar -cvf archive.tar folder/
tar -xvf archive.tar
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🔹 13. History & Help

history

👉 Show commands history

history
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man

👉 Command manual

man ls
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🔥 MOST IMPORTANT (Tell your students)

If they remember only these → they will survive:

ls
cd
pwd
mkdir
touch
cp
mv
rm
cat
tail -f
chmod
sudo
apt
grep
ssh
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