ITSC 1329 Module 4

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ITSC 1329 Module 4

• Changing the Solaris OS Directory Contents

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Module 4 Objectives

• Copy files and directories
• Move and rename files and directories
• Create files and directories
• Remove files and directories
• Use symbolic links

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Copying Files with the cp Command

• cp command syntax
• cp option source target
• The cp command is used to copy a file or files to
  a target file or directory
• cp file3 feathers
• cp feathers feathers_6
• ls

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Copying Multiple Files

• To copy multiple files, use the cp command with
  multiple file names for the source and a single
  directory name for the target
• cp feathers feathers_6 dir1
• ls dir1
• To prevent overwriting an existing file, use the
  i option
• cp i feathers feathers_6

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Copying Directories

• The cp command alone will not copy directories
• cp dir1 dir10
• The r option will copy a directory and all its
  contents
• cp r dir1 dir10

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More on Copying Directories

• If the target directory does not exist, the cp
  command will create it
• cp r dir1 dir11
• ls dir11
• If the target directory does exist, cp creates a
  directory with the source name inside the target
  directory
• cp r dir1 dir11
• ls dir11

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Moving and Renaming Files and Directories

• mv command syntax
• mv option source target
• The mv command has two uses
• Moving files and directories
• Renaming files and directories

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Renaming Files

• The mv command can be used to rename files within
  the same directory
• mv dante dantenew
• ls
• It didnt copy, because the source file is gone
• mv dantenew dante
• ls

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The touch Command Revisited

• The touch command will create an empty file
• Touch temp1 temp2 temp3 temp4 temp5

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The cat Command Revisited

• The cat command can create files by using
  redirection
• cat gt catfile enter
• This is a file created by cat. enter
• ctrld enter
• Always type ctrld on an empty line

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More About Redirection

• To append to an existing file, use two
  greater-than symbols
• cat gtgt catfile enter
• Now catfile has two lines. enter
• ctrld enter
• cat catfile

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Moving a File to Another Directory

• mv can be used to move a file to a different
  directory
• ls
• mv catfile dir1
• ls
• ls dir1
• The i option prevents overwrites
• cp dir1/catfile .
• mv i catfile dir1/catfile

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Moving and Renaming Directories

• The mv command when the source and target are in
  the same directory renames the target
• mv dir5 dir5new
• Moving a directory
• mv dir5new dir1
• ls dir1
• mv dir1/dir5new .
• mv dir5new dir5

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Creating Directories with mkdir

• Mkdir command syntax
• mkdir option directory_name
• mkdir Reports
• mkdir Reports/Weekly
• Creating multiple directories
• mkdir Once Upon A Time

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Creating Nested Directories

• The mkdir command will not create a directory
  inside a subdirectory that does not exist
• Make them one at a time
• mkdir one
• mkdir one/two
• mkdir one/two/three
• mkdir one/two/three/four
• Can be done on one line in order
• mkdir one one/two one/two/three
  one/two/three/four
• Or use the p option
• mkdir p four/five/six/seven

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Removing (Deleting) Files with rm

• rm command syntax rm options filename
• Caution By default, rm will NOT ask Are you
  sure? it will just delete the file
• rm feathers_6
• rm temp1 temp2
• The i option will prompt you for confirmation
• rm i feathers
• rm i temp3 temp4 temp5

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Removing Directories with rmdir

• rmdir command syntax rmdir directories
• The rmdir command will only remove empty
  directories
• rmdir one doesnt work!
• rmdir one/two/three/four
• rmdir one/two/three
• rmdir one/two
• rmdir one
• Or with one command
• rmdir one/two/three/four one/two/three one/two one

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The Restless Evil of rm r

• The rm command was created to remove files, not
  directories
• rm dir10 doesnt work!
• Using the recursive (- r) option will remove the
  directory and everything inside it without
  prompting you
• rm r dir10
• Be very careful with rm r! Throw in i to be
  safe
• rm ir dir11

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Symbolic Links

• Syntax to create a symbolic link
• ln s source_file target_file
• Two reasons to use a symbolic link
• Files have been moved to a new location. The
  symbolic link will allow users who are unaware of
  the move to access the files
• To provide a more convenient name for a long file
  path

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Creating Symbolic Links

• Create a symbolic link to a directory
• ln s dir1/coffees/beans beans
• ls l beans
• ls l dir1/coffees/beans
• cd beans
• pwd
• touch Starbucks
• ls
• ls /dir1/coffees/beans
• cd

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Linking to a File

• Create a symbolic link to a file
• ln s /etc/passwd passwd
• ls l passwd
• cat passwd
• cat /etc/passwd
• ls l /etc/passwd

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Review of Module 4 Objectives

• Copy files and directories
• Move and rename files and directories
• Create files and directories
• Remove files and directories
• Use symbolic links