Introduction

Now that you have your Linux CLI environment set up, it's time to dive into the real power of the command line: file operations. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore how to create, view, manipulate, and manage files and directories with incredible efficiency.

You'll discover one of Linux's most powerful features - the ability to chain commands together using pipes - which allows you to perform complex operations that would require multiple GUI steps in just a single command line.

Understanding Your Current Location

Before we start working with files, it's crucial to understand where you are in the file system at any given moment.

The Current Working Directory

Your terminal prompt typically shows your current location, but sometimes this information might not be visible depending on your shell configuration. When you're unsure of your location, use:

pwd

The pwd (print working directory) command tells you exactly where you are in the file system. This is essential for understanding relative paths and ensuring your commands operate on the correct files.

Creating and Viewing Files

Creating Empty Files

To create a new empty file, use the touch command:

touch hello.txt

This creates an empty file named hello.txt in your current directory. You can verify it was created using:

ls

Viewing File Contents

To see what's inside a file, use the cat command (short for concatenate):

cat hello.txt

Since our file is empty, nothing will be displayed. Let's look at a file with content:

cd lesson-01
cat dummy-file.txt